Snyder was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015 and won several conference and national coach of the year awards.

In recognition of his contributions to the program, Kansas State has named its home field the Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium.

He helped Fry build Iowa from a program that had not had a winning season since 1961 into a two-time Big Ten champion.

Kansas State had a cumulative record of 299–510 (.370) in 93 years of play, which was easily the most losses of any team in Division I-A at the time.

Prior to Snyder's first season in 1989, Sports Illustrated published an article about Kansas State football entitled "Futility U," which labeled the school "America's most hapless team.

"[9] In hopes of distancing K-State from its losing history, Snyder had art professor Tom Bookwalter create a new logo for the team's helmets, a stylized wildcat's head known as the "Powercat."

The 1991 season saw another breakthrough when the Wildcats finished with a winning record of 7–4 and narrowly missed a bowl bid.

That win was also Snyder's 40th victory at K-State, vaulting him past Mike Ahearn to become the winningest coach in school history.

The loss stopped them from reaching the National Championship and sent them to the Alamo Bowl, where they lost and finished the season 11–2.

Not only did this make him far and away the winningest coach in Kansas State history, but his 136 wins were as many as his combined predecessors had won in the 54 years prior to his arrival.

"[11] Ron Prince, formerly an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Virginia, was named Bill Snyder's replacement on December 5, 2005.

In the first season of Snyder's second tenure, the team posted a 6–6 record overall and finished tied for second in the Big 12 North division with a 4–4 conference mark.

In his second season in 2010, the team had a 7–6 record and played in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl against the Big East's Syracuse University at Yankee Stadium in New York City.

During the same season, Snyder became the first FBS coach to have a son (Sean) as an assistant and a grandson (Tate) playing for him at the same time.

[citation needed] Coach Snyder led the 2011 team to a 10–2 record in the regular season, finishing second in the Big 12, and earned a berth in the Cotton Bowl.

The 2012 team started the season 10–0 and reached the school's first #1 ranking in the BCS standings, before falling to the Baylor Bears in week 11.

[14] On August 9, 2018, it was announced that Bill Snyder had signed a 5-year extension that will run through the 2022 season, worth $3.45 million with $300,000 bonuses, and incentives with them to be determined after 2 years.

Eleven of Snyder's assistants have gone on to become head coaches at other Division I schools, including: Phil Bennett (SMU), Bret Bielema (Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Illinois), Jim Leavitt (South Florida), Mark Mangino (Kansas), Dana Dimel (Wyoming, UTEP and Houston), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Mike Stoops (Arizona), Carl Pelini (Florida Atlantic), Del Miller (Missouri State), Nick Quartaro (Fordham), and Brent Venables (Oklahoma) On January 9, 2015, Snyder was announced as an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame.

In addition to his work as the football coach, Snyder was active in raising funds for the library at Kansas State University.