but Coach Old Balls nixed it...
Brett McMurphy
20 mins ·
Jim Leavitt had a verbal agreement last year to become Kansas State’s head coach-in-waiting and become its current coach in 2018, but KSU coach Bill Snyder nixed it because he wanted his son Sean as his replacement.
Sources said Kansas State’s top officials, including president Richard Myers, and the school’s highest-profile boosters were all on board with Leavitt, then a Colorado assistant, joining KSU's staff and then replacing the legendary Snyder after the 2017 season. Leavitt and the school had an agreement, guaranteeing Leavitt $3 million if he wasn’t named K-State’s coach by Jan. 1, 2018.
However, last December, Snyder pushed back on Leavitt, a former KSU assistant, being named his replacement because Snyder wanted his son Sean, currently KSU’s associate head coach and special teams coordinator, to replace him, sources said.
Snyder’s K-State contract stipulates when he’s done coaching at KSU he will be a “special assistant to the athletic director” and “shall also have appropriate input … regarding the selection of the next head football coach.”
After Snyder refused to give his approval of Leavitt as his replacement, Leavitt left Colorado to become defensive coordinator at Oregon. Leavitt’s contract at Oregon includes a clause that he won’t have to pay UO a buyout “should he voluntarily terminate this agreement to become the head football coach at Kansas State University.”
In late 2016/early 2017, Kansas State officials were prepared to approach Snyder again about approving Leavitt as his replacement. However, Snyder, who turned 78 on Oct. 7, was diagnosed with throat cancer, so the school opted to no longer pursue the plan for Leavitt to replace Snyder.
In 2015, Snyder told me he wanted his son Sean to follow in his footsteps.
“I have a strong belief, and my preference is Sean,” Snyder said. “He knows more about our football program than anyone. He runs our program. I have great confidence in him.
“It's easy to say, ‘He's your son,’ but I don't wish coaching on anyone,” he said, adding he would support his son “if that's what he wants to do.”
In his 26th season at KSU, Snyder is 207-110-1. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Snyder is responsible for the greatest turnaround of a program in college football history.
The desire to have Leavitt return to Kansas State as its coach-in-waiting wasn’t the first time the Wildcats reached out to Leavitt.
Late in the 2005 season, K-State contacted Leavitt, then USF’s head coach, about being Snyder’s replacement when Snyder first retired. USF had two games remaining and if the Bulls won out, they could have played in a BCS bowl. KSU wanted an immediate commitment from Leavitt, who told KSU he wouldn’t talk to them until after the season. KSU wouldn’t wait and hired Ron Prince instead.
Leavitt came to USF from K-State, where he was an assistant from 1990-95, the final four seasons as a co-defensive coordinator with Bob Stoops.
Leavitt was at USF from 1995 to 2009. He was a San Francisco 49ers assistant from 2011-14 and Colorado’s defensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016 before taking the Oregon DC job in December.
Brett McMurphy
20 mins ·
Jim Leavitt had a verbal agreement last year to become Kansas State’s head coach-in-waiting and become its current coach in 2018, but KSU coach Bill Snyder nixed it because he wanted his son Sean as his replacement.
Sources said Kansas State’s top officials, including president Richard Myers, and the school’s highest-profile boosters were all on board with Leavitt, then a Colorado assistant, joining KSU's staff and then replacing the legendary Snyder after the 2017 season. Leavitt and the school had an agreement, guaranteeing Leavitt $3 million if he wasn’t named K-State’s coach by Jan. 1, 2018.
However, last December, Snyder pushed back on Leavitt, a former KSU assistant, being named his replacement because Snyder wanted his son Sean, currently KSU’s associate head coach and special teams coordinator, to replace him, sources said.
Snyder’s K-State contract stipulates when he’s done coaching at KSU he will be a “special assistant to the athletic director” and “shall also have appropriate input … regarding the selection of the next head football coach.”
After Snyder refused to give his approval of Leavitt as his replacement, Leavitt left Colorado to become defensive coordinator at Oregon. Leavitt’s contract at Oregon includes a clause that he won’t have to pay UO a buyout “should he voluntarily terminate this agreement to become the head football coach at Kansas State University.”
In late 2016/early 2017, Kansas State officials were prepared to approach Snyder again about approving Leavitt as his replacement. However, Snyder, who turned 78 on Oct. 7, was diagnosed with throat cancer, so the school opted to no longer pursue the plan for Leavitt to replace Snyder.
In 2015, Snyder told me he wanted his son Sean to follow in his footsteps.
“I have a strong belief, and my preference is Sean,” Snyder said. “He knows more about our football program than anyone. He runs our program. I have great confidence in him.
“It's easy to say, ‘He's your son,’ but I don't wish coaching on anyone,” he said, adding he would support his son “if that's what he wants to do.”
In his 26th season at KSU, Snyder is 207-110-1. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Snyder is responsible for the greatest turnaround of a program in college football history.
The desire to have Leavitt return to Kansas State as its coach-in-waiting wasn’t the first time the Wildcats reached out to Leavitt.
Late in the 2005 season, K-State contacted Leavitt, then USF’s head coach, about being Snyder’s replacement when Snyder first retired. USF had two games remaining and if the Bulls won out, they could have played in a BCS bowl. KSU wanted an immediate commitment from Leavitt, who told KSU he wouldn’t talk to them until after the season. KSU wouldn’t wait and hired Ron Prince instead.
Leavitt came to USF from K-State, where he was an assistant from 1990-95, the final four seasons as a co-defensive coordinator with Bob Stoops.
Leavitt was at USF from 1995 to 2009. He was a San Francisco 49ers assistant from 2011-14 and Colorado’s defensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016 before taking the Oregon DC job in December.
