NCAA Football utah state Aggies

Sad news out of Tempe where Arizona State has announced that former football coach Bruce Snyder has died at the age of 69. Snyder was diagnosed with cancer last June. Snyder coached nine seasons with the Sun Devils (1992-2000) and 20 overall. His 58 victories at ASU are second only to Frank Kush's 176.

Snyder also coached at Utah State and California before joining the Sun Devils. His signature season was in 1996 when ASU held a 17-13 lead over Ohio State in the Rose Bowl before surrendering a last-second touchdown that spoiled their chance at a national championship. He left after 2000 but was remembered for coaching a slew of NFL players, All Americans and ASU greats Pat Tillman, Jake Plummer and Terrell Suggs.

Its a thankless job coaching Utah State football. It's the No. 3 football program in a state with two good ones -- Utah and BYU. There's not much recruiting appeal, as selling talented young men with options on hiking Logan Canyon can only take you so far. He tried, but failed.

His termination had been rumored for months, but now is final. Ultimately this likely came down to wins, of which he had a measly eight in nearly four seasons of work. The Salt Lake Tribune said he was given a bad hand, acquiring talent just in time to watch somebody else make something of it.

Guy is a meager 8-38 in his tenure. But whomever succeeds him won't have a bare cupboard like the one Guy inherited when he replaced Mick Dennehy in 2005.

Amusingly, slappy John L. Smith is rumored to be a candidate for the job but its also noted he could be a hot candidate for the Wyoming job. The entire college football world has been waiting with bated breath for Smith to resurface as a leading man somewhere. John L. Smith, we miss you so.