The run is over

On the day he stepped down, Huntington was unseasonably warm and comfortable. Twenty-four hours later, the town he called "home" five years ago went back to being dark, cold and windy.

Fitting.

Mark Snyder's up-and-down Marshall coaching career came to an end Sunday when he announced his resignation from the position. The decision came on the heels of the Thundering Herd's eye-popping 52-21 loss at 4-8 UTEP on Saturday, guaranteeing Marshall (6-6) its fifth consecutive non-winning regular season.

Snyder, who compiled a 22-37 record at MU, was at the helm for all of them.

"It has been an honor to coach here, and I will always be appreciative of the opportunity my university gave me," Snyder, a former Marshall defensive back, said in a statement. "I want to thank all of the fans for their support and all of my players and assistant coaches for their hard work and dedication. I wish the program nothing but the best."

At 3 p.m. Sunday, Marshall players were advised to head to the Shewey Building for a meeting.

What transpired rattled them — to say the least.

"We got a text message to come (to the Shewey Building), we came and it was like ‘wow'" freshman receiver Aaron Dobson told WSAZ's Keith Morehouse. "I was kind of shocked. Everybody's kind of down right now.

"It's going to be a huge change."

That change became official after Snyder had a sit-down with Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick.

"Coach Snyder and I met (Sunday) morning into the afternoon," Hamrick said. "And we assessed the program and where we were at and where we wanted to go.

"And what came out of it was that Coach Snyder and I both care about Marshall and we care about Marshall athletics and Marshall football.

"To make a long story short, at the end of the conversation, he indicated that he thought it would be in the best interest in the program if he resigned — he did and I accepted his resignation."

Now, Hamrick must accept the remainder of his paycheck.

Snyder will be bought out for the remainder of his contract, which runs through June 30, 2013. That total is estimated in $500,000-range and will be taken care of by private funds, Hamrick said.

The same reigns true for his staff, who will stay on board at least until the Herd figures out its bowl destination.

Or non-destination.

With its loss Saturday, Marshall put itself in jeopardy of qualifying for postseason play. The Herd is conditionally bowl-eligible with six wins, but could have assured itself an extra game had it knocked off the Miners. Now, it must sit-and-wait, potentially, for another two weeks.

If Navy defeats Army on Dec. 12, then, in all likelihood, Marshall will fill Army's void and play in the EagleBank Bowl on Dec. 29 in Washington, D.C.

If the case, the Herd will be coached by defensive coordinator Rick Minter. Minter, a former Cincinnati head coach (1994-2003) and assistant under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame (1992-93), was relieved of his defensive play-calling duties following the Herd's 52-10 loss at Virginia Tech earlier this season.

Marshall gave up 605 yards that game.

But if the Black Knights (5-6) upset the Midshipmen (8-4), then all signs indicate the Herd, once again, will be staying home for the holidays.

"It's up to whoever runs the bowls I guess," said junior quarterback Brian Anderson. "Hopefully we'll get called and if we do, we'll be ready."

Perhaps Snyder, 44, wasn't ready for what he called his "dream job" when he was hired by then-athletic director Bob Marcum and interim president Mike Farrell on April 14, 2005.

After a successful stint as a defensive assistant under Jim Tressel at Ohio State, Snyder came to Marshall a month after legendary coach Bobby Pruett retired.

Pruett went 94-23 in nine seasons in Huntington, including five bowl wins and a Division I-AA national championship in 1996.

"Those are big shoes, but I'm ready to try to fill them," Snyder said on the day of his hire.

Unfortunately, those shoes never really got touched.

Beyond his 37 losses, including 25 on the road, was a declining fan base that made their presence (or lack thereof) felt in Snyder's final two home games.

In contests featuring Conference USA contenders Southern Miss and SMU, Joan C. Edwards Stadium drew a combined 40,682 spectators. By comparison, in games against William & Mary and Kansas State in 2005, Snyder's first two home tilts as head coach, the Joan drew a combined 62,016.

Only 10,766 season tickets were sold this year, the lowest in Snyder's tenure.

"(The fan base) was fractured," Hamrick said. "We need everybody. We can't be successful here. We can't win here without everybody on the same wavelength.

"We need everybody to buy into what we're doing and our fans were not doing that. And Mark understood that, and I understood that.

"So that was part of (the resignation.)"

Snyder was a bleak 17-23 against C-USA opponents and 0-12 against teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences.

Andrew Ramspacher can be contacted at ramspacher@marshall.edu.