College football: Kansas State’s Bill Snyder retires; Akron fires Terry Bowden

Bill Snyder is retiring as the coach of Kansas State, ending his three-decade relationship with the program that included 27 years on the sideline interrupted by a brief retirement.

The 79-year-old Snyder decided to step away Sunday, a day after the Wildcats finished a 5-7 season with a disheartening loss to Iowa State that eliminated them from bowl eligibility.

The school announced that a search for his replacement would begin immediately.

Snyder turned around one of the worst programs in college football when he arrived in 1988, making it a perennial powerhouse in the Big 12. He finishes his career with a record of 215-117-1, trips to 19 bowl games, two Big 12 championships and a spot in college football’s Hall of Fame.

Along the way, he overcame throat cancer, sent dozens of players to the NFL and gave countless assistants a path to becoming head coaches.

Terry Bowden out at Akron

Akron has fired coach Terry Bowden after seven seasons.

Athletic director Larry Williams announced Bowden’s dismissal on Sunday, a day after the Zips were beaten 28-3 by South Carolina to finish 4-8. Bowden went 35-52 at Akron, including a 23-33 record in Mid-American Conference play, and led the Zips to two bowl appearances.

Williams thanked Bowden for bringing respectability to the program but said after a thorough review “it is clear that we need to make a change if we are going to consistently achieve at an even higher level.”

Bowden, who led Auburn to an 11-0 season in 1993 and worked for a period in TV, said it “saddens me that I will not be able to work through this with my coaches and players. But the university feels it is time to bring in new leadership and a new direction.”