Kansas State University President Kirk Schulz threw a flag after football coach Bill Snyder appeared this week in a television commercial for U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Dodge City.



The ad is called �Coach� and begins: �Who is coach Bill Snyder supporting for the U.S. Senate?�



�My good friend Pat Roberts, of course,� says Snyder, with the image of a football field providing a backdrop. During the ad, there are scenes of Snyder and Roberts in a football stadium, including one photo where they are wearing purple jackets.



�He is as good as it gets for the state of Kansas,� Snyder says of Roberts.



The Roberts campaign announced the Snyder commercial in a �breaking� news release Thursday.



On Friday, Schulz posted on Twitter: �K-State does NOT endorse particular political candidates � Reminder from President Schulz about university policy:�



The attached policy from Schulz said:



�As we get closer to election day, I�ve been getting some questions about university political activities. I just want to remind everyone that Kansas State University does not endorse political candidates, and employees do not speak for the university when they endorse candidates. Employees should also avoid using their university affiliation in any endorsements or statements.�



In an email Schulz wrote some K-State staff members, he explained: �As soon as we became aware of the video, John Currie (by phone from out of town) and Sue Peterson (in person) visited with Coach Bill Snyder about this video, and he indicated that he was unaware it was going to be used in such a fashion and was apologetic for the resulting issues.



�I asked Sue Peterson, as Director of Governmental Relations, to ask the Pat Roberts re-election campaign to withdraw the video and not use it any further. They declined to honor our request,� Schulz wrote.



Currie is the athletic director at K-State.



When The News initially asked Roberts� campaign manager, Corry Bliss, if the campaign would pull the commercial, Bliss said he wasn�t sure what The News was referring to.