K-State athletic director John Currie announced the new contract Thursday morning in a letter to fans, but said it has been in the works for quite some time. The Wildcats are coming off an 11-win season in which they won their first Big 12 championship since 2003 and played in the Fiesta Bowl.
Currie said he is also in the process of raising the salaries of Snyder's assistants. He reworked their contracts last offseason and gave Snyder a $250,000 raise last summer. Snyder becomes the fifth-highest paid coach in the Big 12, according to data compiled by USA Today. Texas' Mack Brown ($5.3 million), Oklahoma's Bob Stoops ($4.55 million), TCU's Gary Patterson ($3.47 million) and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy ($3.275 million) make more than $3 million a year. Snyder's raise puts him ahead of KU's Charlie Weis, who makes $2.5 million a year.
K-State has improved each season since Snyder returned to the sideline. The Wildcats won six games his first season back, seven in his second, 10 in his third and 11 last year.
Still, Snyder's new contract will help signify stability at the top of K-State's program at a time when speculation about his future was starting to build. In the past month, the Wildcats lost two long-term assistants who both played for Snyder. Former defensive ends coach Joe Bob Clements left for Oklahoma State and receivers coach Michael Smith left for Arkansas. They were regarded as K-State's top two recruiters, and some thought they left over concerns of how long Snyder, 73, wanted to continue coaching.
With national signing day less than a week away, those concerns have been put to rest.
Snyder will be 78 in 2017. When asked if he expects Snyder to still be coaching at that time, Currie said he had no reason to suspect otherwise.
Snyder's new contract contains new benefits such as 10 hours of private use on the university's airplane and a free yearly physical at Mayo Clinic or Scripps Health. Snyder will also be allotted the use of one courtesy car, use of a suite at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and a membership to Manhattan Country Club.
Currie and Snyder have signed the contract. K-State said president Kirk Schultz was traveling and would sign the contract and licensing agreement Friday.
Currie said he is proud of what that will represent.