UCLA interim coach Jedd Fisch wants picture with Bill Snyder, not awkward handshake

The last time Bill Snyder shook hands with a UCLA football coach, video of the exchange went viral.

Jim Mora was upset that Kansas State players fought for the ball as the Bruins took a knee at midfield while closing out a 40-35 victory in the 2015 Alamo Bowl, and he shared his frustration with Snyder as they met at midfield afterward. Mora immediately ripped his right hand away and walked off. Snyder was stunned. A few minutes later, Mora found Snyder for a longer handshake and a conversation.

It was an awkward moment that ended up getting more attention than the game itself.

Don’t count on it happening again when UCLA and K-State meet again on Tuesday at the Cactus Bowl. The Bruins fired Mora last month, and interim coach Jedd Fisch has the utmost respect for Snyder.

“I am looking forward to this game,” Fisch said. “It is one of those moments where you want to make sure you get a picture with (Snyder) before the game, because when you are coaching against the guys that are on the Mount Rushmore of college coaches you want to make sure that you can celebrate all of their successes.”

It seems as though Snyder has moved beyond that game, as well.

That was nearly three full seasons ago, and the majority of players that appeared in that game have graduated.

“We don’t play for revenge,” Snyder said. “For us, it’s the old adage of 1-0, just a day at a time, a game at a time, and what happened in the past from any ballgame that we played is not really going to have an impact on this bowl game. We look at it that way.”

If anyone enters this game thinking of revenge it should be Fisch. The only two times he has coached against Snyder, K-State came out on top.

Fisch served as a Miami assistant when the Wildcats and Hurricanes played a home-and-home series in 2011 and 2012.

K-State won the first game in Miami with a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter and then dominated the return game in Manhattan 52-13.

Those two games, combined with Snyder’s long resume of victories, make this a difficult coaching matchup for Fisch, who took over for Mora as interim coach before the Bruins’ final game against California.

“I looked it up last night, and (Snyder) has been a head coach for 320 games and this is my second,” Fisch said. “I have a better win percentage, but I noticed that he is an icon. He is an icon in this industry. He is an icon in football and anybody that knows college football respects everything that Coach Snyder has done.”

This story was originally published December 24, 2017 at 10:18 AM with the headline "UCLA interim coach Jedd Fisch wants picture with Bill Snyder, not awkward handshake."