Kansas State co-offensive coordinator Del Miller, who coached alongside Bill Snyder for 20 years, is retiring.
“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity I’ve had here at Kansas State,” Miller said in a released statement. “I’ve enjoyed my time with many players that I’ve coached through the years. They are the guys that make it worthwhile. I certainly want to express my thanks to Coach Snyder for the opportunity he presented me in 1989.”
Miller was the first assistant coaching hire under Snyder when Snyder was originally hired by the university. Miller has orchestrated 12 school passing records as a team and has coached a good number of some of the best offensive players in school history, including former quarterback Collin Klein (who is expected to join the Kansas State staff as an assistant).
“I am very grateful to Del for staying with us as long as he has. He is a major contributor to the foundation of Kansas State Football as we know it today,” Snyder said. “Having been the very first assistant coach hired for us in 1988 and still with us today, speaks volumes. Del left the program for four years to serve as a head coach but came back to us shortly thereafter because this was where he wanted to be. Del has been a great contributor to our program, our University and our community,”
Prior to joining Snyder at Kansas State, Miller was a key assistant under former Iowa head coach Hayden Fry from 1978 through 1988. He took on a role as head coach of Southwest Missouri State (Missouri State) in 1995. He then spent a year as a graduate assistant at Kansas State in 1999 and offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State in 2000. He also spent a few years at San Diego State as an offensive coordinator from 2006 through 2008 before ultimately returning to Manhattan in 2009 to rejoin the formerly-retired Snyder.
Earlier in the day, Snyder announced he had been diagnosed with throat cancer, but he plans on continuing to coach at Kansas State.