Snyder Is Fired at Arizona St.

Arizona State Coach Bruce Snyder was fired Wednesday with one game remaining in a third consecutive disappointing season.

Snyder, who four years ago directed the Sun Devils to an 11-0 regular season, will coach through the remainder of this season.

Athletic Director Gene Smith, a former Notre Dame football player who has been at Arizona State since July, had said he would make a decision on Snyder’s future after the season.

But he changed his mind after the Sun Devils’ dismal 29-7 loss Saturday at Stanford.

“I came to the realization very recently that this is a decision that was best for our program for the future,” Smith said. “Once I make a decision, I’m the type of individual that likes to act.”

Smith told Snyder his decision Wednesday morning, then the coach met with players to tell them. The Sun Devils don’t resume practice until today, and Snyder told athletic department officials he wouldn’t be available to comment until then.

Snyder will coach the Sun Devils (5-5) in their season finale at Arizona on Nov. 24. A victory would make Arizona State eligible for a bowl game.

Snyder is 57-44 in nine seasons at Arizona State, but only 16-17 in the last three years. He has a 125-105-5 record in 25 years as a head coach, including stints at Utah State and California.

Snyder had three years remaining on his contract. Smith said that the total buyout for the coach and his staff would be “under $2 million” and that most, if not all, of the money would come from boosters.

In 1996, Snyder won consensus national coach-of-the-year honors after guiding Arizona State to an unbeaten regular season. The Sun Devils lost to Ohio State, 20-17, in the Rose Bowl and finished fourth in the national rankings.

Arizona State was 9-3 in 1997, including a Sun Bowl appearance, but the team went 5-6 in 1998 and 6-6 last season.

Smith declined to talk about the specifics of why Snyder was fired, but said the win-loss record was important.

In Wednesday’s Arizona Republic, former Sun Devil and Dallas Cowboy quarterback Danny White said he had talked to Smith about the job should Snyder be dismissed.

White, coach of the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League, said Smith told him that he would be on a short list of candidates if Snyder were fired.

Smith said that he had not talked with anyone about becoming the new coach and that White would be considered the same as any other candidate.

Smith, who was the athletic director at Iowa State before coming to Arizona State, said he would conduct a national search and hoped to attract someone with experience as a major-college head coach who had ties to the West.