Weiser said that he's had a number of discussions with the 17th-year Wildcat coach throughout the year, which included three or four since the end of Saturday's game at the University of Nebraska.
The last of those talks came around 8:30 Monday night.
''That was a hard time for me. Selfishly, it was a time that I never wanted to be faced with ... Bill Snyder not being the head football coach. But that was a very selfish view on my part, but this is in the best interest of Bill.''
On Snyder's decision, President Jon Wefald said, ''It's almost impossible to express how important Bill Snyder has been to Kansas State over the last 17 years to our football program and our University.
''Back in the 1980s, our fans were not even dreaming about Big 12 championships and going to bowl games year after year,'' Wefald said. ''They had hoped we would win a few, and from time to time, win more than we would lose. With Bill, we exceeded all expectations and became a national football power.''
In honor of Snyder, Weiser said, KSU Stadium will be renamed Bill Snyder Family Stadium with dedication ceremonies to take place prior to the 2006 season opener.
Without going into detail, Weiser said a combination of things led to Snyder's decision, but that poor health was not one of them.
''Bill needs to answer this, but I honestly think he reached a point that now was the right time.''
Weiser said that he intended for Snyder to stay within the KSU program as a special assistant to the AD.
''We want him to continue to be an ambassador for the department and help in the transition with the new head coach.''
Out of respect for Snyder, that search, Weiser said, would not be discussed until next week. (See related story on D3).
''We will move on when the time is appropriate,'' Weiser said. ''I promise you that we are not going to let what Bill has established erode and slip away. Football has been, and will always be, the priority of the athletic department.
''It's not as if we are going to close the door and say it's over,'' Weiser said. ''We're just moving on to the next chapter.''
Wefald added, ''I knew it would end sometime, but I guess I didn't think it would be this year. He's worked so hard for us ... seven days a week and 24 hours a day ... I just think he's looking forward to time with his family, taking his shoes off and enjoying life.''
Sunday morning, Snyder was good-naturedly asked whether the series of 2005 games, and how they were lost with senseless penalties and costly turnovers, was giving him reason to consider focusing on golf, or an ordinary lifestyle in general.
His answer was short and light-hearted, but evasive.
Today it's filled with meaning.
Snyder's list of accomplishments at Kansas State is seemingly endless.
He did what 31 coaches who came before him had failed to do.
A three-time national coach of the year, his 135-68-1 record gives him 96 more wins than the second winningest coach (Mike Ahearn, 1905-1910) in K-State history.
Taking over a program in 1989 that had lost 13 straight and had endured 27 straight winless Saturdays of football, Snyder's Wildcats first won one, then five, then seven. From 1993 through 2003, K-State won at least nine games in 10 of the 11 years, and went to bowl games in all 11 seasons.
In 2003, Kansas State defeated No. 1 ranked Oklahoma, 35-7, for the Big 12 Championship. The Wildcats also won or shared a total of four North Division titles.
In 1998, K-State completed the regular season with an 11-0 record. After a 49-6 victory over Baylor on Nov. 7, the Wildcats reached No. 1 status in the USA Today Coaches Poll. It was a position they held until a double-overtime 36-33 loss to Texas A&M in the Big 12 title game. The loss deprived K-State of a chance to play for the national championship.
Kansas State also played for the Big 12 title in 2000, but lost to the Sooners.
The list of postseason bowl games includes two Fiesta appearances, plus two in the Cotton Bowl.
Snyder recorded victories over each Big 12 team, including three wins in a row over Nebraska, five against Oklahoma, 10 over Iowa State, 11 over Kansas, and a current run of 12 against Missouri.
Prior to the season, Snyder, who turned 66 on Oct. 7, told The Mercury, "If you start thinking retirement, then it's probably time to do it."
At that time, Snyder admitted that outsiders "... mention it to me from time to time, but I can't say I've asked myself that question. My only answer is that I'll know when the time comes, and the time hasn't come."
The time came this weekend.
K-State went just 4-7 last year, and has won just three of its last 15 Big 12 Conference games heading into play Saturday.
Three losses this year have been by two or three points; last year, all six league losses were by 14 points or less, which included two by a touchdown or less.
Snyder is the elder statesman of the Big 12 Conference. He is eight years older than the 58-year-old Gary Barnett at the University of Colorado, and 29 years more mature than Oklahoma State's first-year 37-year-old coach Mike Gundy.
Snyder's 17 seasons at Kansas State are six years more than Dan McCarney's 11-year stay at Iowa State. Add the coaching tenures at Kansas, Baylor, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Oklahoma State together, and one comes up with only 13 collective seasons.
Still, just three months ago, he was saying, "If I couldn't do what I did for 15 years before this, and if I wasn't motivated like I've been for the last 15 years ... really 40 years, then that would send a message to me that it's time."
Snyder's message came Monday night.
