A day after what was still standing crumbled all around him, Mark Snyder hung up his Marshall whistle.

With Thundering Herd fans either screaming for his head or simply staying away from games, Snyder had at least the public support of his players. After that seemed to disappear in a stunning 52-21 loss at Texas-El Paso, a Sunday of reckoning took place in the Shewey Athletic Building.

At the end of a long meeting with athletic director Mike Hamrick, Snyder agreed to resign. Hamrick refused to call it anything but a resignation, and would not say if a firing was imminent, but after a five-year stint that produced a 22-37 record, the circumstances were clear.

"It has been an honor to be the coach here and I will always be appreciative of the opportunity my university gave me," Snyder said in a statement Sunday. "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."

Snyder will receive the base salary for the remaining years of his contract, which ran through the 2012-13 fiscal year. That buyout, which will top $500,000, is expected to come from private donations.

"It was Mark's decision to resign," Hamrick said. "Mark and I met this afternoon and went over the program, where it was and where it is not. After a lot of conversation, Mark felt it was in the best interest of Marshall football to resign.

"He's handled everything with total class. The way we communicated, we were very candid with each other. Mark's a Marshall guy, and that makes his resignation much more difficult. But at the same time, we're looking forward to the future."

Rick Minter, who was head coach at Cincinnati from 1994-2003, will serve as interim coach, with assistant coaches staying on board. The Herd's season is probably not over, as it is 6-6 and likely waiting on a berth in the Washington-based EagleBank Bowl.

Barring unforeseen developments, the Herd will have to wait until Dec. 12, when Army plays Navy. The Black Knights must beat heavily favored Navy to gain eligibility for their spot in the bowl; otherwise it falls to Conference USA.

It does not appear that Marshall, at 6-6, can be offered the EagleBank's other spot, which the Atlantic Coast Conference failed to fill. That likely will go to a 7-5 at-large team, perhaps Northern Illinois.

A day after what was still standing crumbled all around him, Mark Snyder hung up his Marshall whistle.

With Thundering Herd fans either screaming for his head or simply staying away from games, Snyder had at least the public support of his players. After that seemed to disappear in a stunning 52-21 loss at Texas-El Paso, a Sunday of reckoning took place in the Shewey Athletic Building.

At the end of a long meeting with athletic director Mike Hamrick, Snyder agreed to resign. Hamrick refused to call it anything but a resignation, and would not say if a firing was imminent, but after a five-year stint that produced a 22-37 record, the circumstances were clear.

"It has been an honor to be the coach here and I will always be appreciative of the opportunity my university gave me," Snyder said in a statement Sunday. "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."

Snyder will receive the base salary for the remaining years of his contract, which ran through the 2012-13 fiscal year. That buyout, which will top $500,000, is expected to come from private donations.

"It was Mark's decision to resign," Hamrick said. "Mark and I met this afternoon and went over the program, where it was and where it is not. After a lot of conversation, Mark felt it was in the best interest of Marshall football to resign.

"He's handled everything with total class. The way we communicated, we were very candid with each other. Mark's a Marshall guy, and that makes his resignation much more difficult. But at the same time, we're looking forward to the future."

Rick Minter, who was head coach at Cincinnati from 1994-2003, will serve as interim coach, with assistant coaches staying on board. The Herd's season is probably not over, as it is 6-6 and likely waiting on a berth in the Washington-based EagleBank Bowl.

Barring unforeseen developments, the Herd will have to wait until Dec. 12, when Army plays Navy. The Black Knights must beat heavily favored Navy to gain eligibility for their spot in the bowl; otherwise it falls to Conference USA.

It does not appear that Marshall, at 6-6, can be offered the EagleBank's other spot, which the Atlantic Coast Conference failed to fill. That likely will go to a 7-5 at-large team, perhaps Northern Illinois.

For now, the players will recharge their batteries from a long, hard regular season.

"Players will do academic work, weight room," Hamrick said. "We will not practice this week. We need some time off."

The break-even season is a measure of progress, compared to campaigns of 4-7, 5-7, 3-9 and 4-8. But 21-17 losses to East Carolina, a 21-20 meltdown at Central Florida and a 27-20 loss to Southern Mississippi inflamed a long-irritated fan base. Marshall was 2-13 against those division rivals under Snyder.

The Herd was 17-23 against foes in its new home, Conference USA. Against opponents from Bowl Championship Series conferences, it was much worse - not only was the Herd 0-12 against those foes, it only had one legitimate shot to win at game's end.

That was Snyder's second game, when his "honeymoon" probably met its early end. In field goal range, a miscommunication led to an intercepted pass, which allowed Kansas State to escape from Joan C. Edwards Stadium with a 21-19 victory before a then-stadium record 36,914 fans.

Snyder turned into a second-guesser's piñata after many games, most recently the UCF debacle. Marshall was up 20-7 deep into the fourth quarter, but the Knights rallied to go ahead in the final minute, on a goal-line play in which receiver Rocky Ross began his pass route uncovered.

The second-guessers may have grown in numbers, but actual attendees certainly did not. The Herd averaged 22,236 fans per home game, down from 24,766 last year and 30,020 in 2007, a year that featured West Virginia on the home slate. Season-ticket sales that year were 19,630 but fell to 10,766 this season.

Hamrick said the search for a new head coach is under way, and he wants to complete it as soon as possible. He also said that "to protect the integrity of the search, he will not comment on any aspect of it during the process."

He did say he has contacted major donors to help foot the salary of the new coach. "My response has been very good," he said. "We have to get the salary up to get the candidate we want."

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.