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After spending his entire coaching career at Kansas State, where his father is the program's legendary former coach and the stadium bears his family's name, Sean Snyder knew it was finally time to move on this offseason.

He had been moved to an off-field role last fall as new head coach Chris Klieman replaced his father Bill Snyder, and so it was time to explore his options.

So the younger Snyder sent USC head coach Clay Helton a text message "on a whim" to express his interest in the special teams coordinator job that came open following John Baxter's dismissal in late December.

"And then as time went, the conversation started. So that's how that all began. And I'm sure when Todd [Orlando] and Craig [Naivar] got here and when they had conversations about it, I'm sure that helped a little bit," Snyder said this week.

Indeed, Orlando and Naivar -- USC's new defensive coordinator and safeties coach -- are plenty familiar with Snyder from their time at Texas coaching against Kansas State in the Big 12.

Snyder was a well-known name in the conference. In part, because his father had made it clear he wanted Kansas State to consider letting his son succeed him as head coach, but also because the younger Snyder compiled an impressive track record of efficient and productive special teams units.

"He is the most detailed and prepared coach in collegiate football as far as special teams," said Naivar, who also coached special teams during his time with the Longhorns. "You're not going to find a weakness in scheme or technique playing against that guy. Your guys are going to have to physically whip and win a one-on-one to beat him. He is extremely detailed, he's got a ton of experience and he does a great job of getting guys to play extremely hard and buy into their roles. ... He's damn good at what he does. I'm fired up we got him here."

Snyder had been an All-American punter for the Wildcats in the early 1990s and then joined the staff there as a part-time assistant coach in 1994. He then served as director of football operations (1994-96), assistant athletic director (1999-01), associate athletic director (2001-08), senior associate athletic director (2009-10) and then coached the special teams from 2011-18 while progressing through an interesting career path. He spent last season as a senior special teams analyst for the program.

"Me being not on the field as a coach at Kansas State and in an analyst role, I wasn't ready to go that route. So getting back on the field was really important to me," he said. "I gotta say, when Coach Helton called, we had several conversations, but he is a very genuine, straightforward person. And it fits the mold that I'm used to. So for me it couldn't have been a better fit."