Nov. 15, 2000

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m. MST, Arizona State athletic director Gene Smith held a press conference in which he announced the planned departure of football coach Bruce Snyder at the close of this season.

The following is Smith's general statement to the media:

(NOTE: Athletic Director Smith did not comment on any potential candidates for the position of head football coach at ASU. Bruce Snyder did not appear or send a statement Wednesday, but will be available to the media following Thursday's practice.)

"I want to share with you a decision I have come to in the last couple days. I've made a decision that we need change in the leadership of our football program. I met with Coach (Bruce) Snyder earlier today. We've come to an understanding that he will be our football coach until the conclusion of this season and at that point in time he will step down as Sun Devils football coach.

"I would like to say a couple things. One, you all appreciate that this is one of the most difficult decisions that any administrator has to make. It's the difficult part of what I do as an athletic director and leader of this program, and as part of this family.

"Bruce Snyder is a gentleman. He's a class man. He's always operated with the highest (degree) of integrity. We have an outstanding foundation and one of the challenges that I live with, being in this capacity as an athletic director, is the business part of what we do. But I wanted to make sure that we all understand, the Sun Devil family, that Bruce Snyder has operated this program with class and dignity and integrity, and for that we need to be thankful.

"Many of you are wondering why I made this decision today, which is a departure from what I shared at the beginning of this season and throughout the season. I came to a realization recently that this is the decision that's best for our program for the future. But once I make a decision, I'm the type of individual that wants to act.

"I want to be honest with this staff, with this team, with Sun Devil fans, that there was nothing that could occur from yesterday (until the end of the season) that would make me change my mind. I was firm in my decision.

"I was grounded. There was no need for me to continue to allow speculation to occur, to continue to allow the cloud (of doubt) of what would happen with this staff and our family, relative to our football leadership.

"I felt it was the right thing to do, to provide this staff an opportunity of what occurs in the marketplace once the season is over, so that hopefully they can place themselves at other institutions. We will provide the best service that we can, relative to any level of support that we can, to help them make a smooth transition from the Sun Devil program.

"Many people probably wonder what effect this will have on our program over the next few weeks as we continue to compete. I believe that these young men in this football program are outstanding young men and they have a great deal of pride and support in their football coach. And I believe that they will respond to his leadership.

"Until the end of this season, Bruce Snyder is our football coach, he is the leader of this program, and I believe strongly that he will continue to operate with integrity and lead this program so that these young men have an opportunity to win each Saturday that they have a chance to play.

"I want to also address this morning's article (appearing in the Arizona Republic which reported former Sun Devil Danny White to be on a "short list" of candidates for head football coach next year). I was obviously highly disappointed in that article. I had an opportunity since I've been here, all the way back to the San Diego State game (August 31) out in San Diego, to meet with former student-athletes.

"Danny White, without a shadow of a doubt, is a legend here. For me not to meet with a legend and get his opinion of being a Sun Devil, and get his opinion of being a former player in this program and a leader in this community would be negligence on my part.

"I met with many Sun Devils. I met with John Pitts, I met with Duane Morrison, and we can go on. (I met with) a number of Sun Devils at the UCLA game (September 30), to talk about the football program. I'm a football guy, so I'm going to talk to football people, and that's the reality.

"Relative to the search (for a new head coach), we're going to do anything that we can to go out to contract a coach who has demonstrated success in the collegiate environment, who has demonstrated the ability to lead student-athletes and young men, who has demonstrated the ability to develop winning programs, (who) has all the requisite skills relative to compliance in the NCAA, (and who) operates with integrity and understands how to operate at higher education.

"So we're going to do our best, once the season is done, to really get hard-pressed to try and find an experienced football coach that has had an opportunity to be a part of the educational environment."

The following contains Smith's answers to several of the media's questions:

Who initiated the meeting with Snyder today?
"I initiated the meeting today with Coach Snyder at noon. Obviously, Coach Snyder and I had been having conversations over the year about our program. When I came to the decision that I wanted to make a change, I set up the meeting yesterday for him to come in and meet with me at noon today. I talked about my decision and why I came to that decision, and Coach Snyder understood it, which is the hard part of this business . . . I wanted to assure him that I respected everything that he has done here. But where we are today is the business part of this deal."

Why make this decision today?
"I made the decision pretty much over the last 36 hours or so that this was the decision that I needed to make. There are so many factors when you look at where our program is today and where we need to be tomorrow. I don't know if I want to particularly get into some of the details of what I think as a football person, but I must say that it was just time for leadership change and I can't see wanting to get into the specific details of my decision making process in that regard. But yesterday I was pretty firm and that's why we moved forward."

Will Snyder be the coach if ASU qualifies for a bowl game?
"Yes. He will continue to be our coach until the end of the season, and I hope that's in late December."

What's the timetable for finding a replacement?
"We're going to take our time . . . We're going to really evaluate the marketplace and make sure that all of the coaches that are currently coaching and leading great programs will have a really good chance to evaluate us and determine if they would be interested in us. I can't say I have a particular date in mind, because I've really started to think about that process now and my resolve be to find the best guy. That may take a month, a month-and-a-half, I don't know yet."

How much outside pressure was put on you to make this change?
"I'm a listener. I do my best to listen to my constituency, and I think it's important to provide opportunities for everyone to have a say. But there's only one vote and ultimately there was no real pressure on me, to make this decision that I made, from anyone. I go internal. I make these decisions myself. I evaluate where we are relative to the program and I make these decisions. And of course I have to listen to the constituency, they're stakeholders, they're investors, but there was no pressure to say, `Gene you need to do this.' The reality is, I don't respond to that."

Do you have to consider finding a coach with West Coast ties for recruiting (and other) purposes?
"Yes, I have to take that into consideration. We are, obviously, in the West Coast market and we have a great number of schools throughout the West Coast that have sent athletes here to all of our sports programs. So we have to have someone who has the expertise to recruit in this territory, but that's not to say that we can't hire someone who's been on the East Coast the last ten years because it's all about who your staff is and where their experiences are."

At what level of excellence should this program compete annually on a national scale?
"This program has an opportunity to every year be a contender in a major bowl opportunity. We should periodically contend for the Pac-10 Championship and be a part of the BCS Series. Is that every year, is that every other year? Who knows?"

Is there a short list of candidates? Are there people you have in mind to fill the position?
"Sure, and there's not a short list. In our business you always have a short list. I had one at Iowa State, I had one as Eastern Michigan for certain jobs, but I have a very long list here because of this program. The unbelievable pool of people that I think we need to pay attention to and see if they would be interested in us. This will take more time than probably people understand. This is a very attractive job and there's going to be a lot people interested in my view and I'm going to take my time to really wait and do that appropriately."

Are you looking for a coach with head-coaching experience?
"I would hope we would have that opportunity to attract someone who has demonstrated in their experiences that they can lead a program successfully relative to compliance, academics, competitiveness, regarding a quality environment for student-athletes. You would hope that we could do that. So I'm definitely going to lean that way and I'm sure as I move through the process that there will be those who we'll talk to who are not sitting head coaches because they demonstrated in whatever capacity they are in that they have that potential."

Only recently hired yourself as ASU's AD, do you feel the need to make a splash with the hire, to get a big-name individual who would immediately create excitement?
"That's a good question. No. I'm trying to make a decision and do the best job that I can for a particular circumstance, I don't play into it a whole lot relative to what happens to me. What I'm trying to look for is the best coach, the best teacher that operates with integrity, that understands the academic environment, that knows how develop winning programs. If that individual happens to be in another part of the world and I'm able to find him, and no one here has ever heard of him, but I ultimately sit down with him and I look him in the eye and I believe that they can get it done, I'm going to hire that person...If we wanted to do lights and fireworks and things of that nature, we could make it happen. But that's not what it is all about. So I'm going to take my time and find the purest coach that we can find to lead this program."