It's completely coincidental that my follow-up to the coach Paul Johnson blog is this coverage of another coach I believe deserves mention as one of the greatest in college football, and his name is Bill Snyder. The biggest distinction I will make between Snyder and Johnson is this: Johnson is one of the greatest right now; Snyder is one of the greatest of all time. I make that distinction because Snyder returned last year to coaching after a spectacular stint as a KSU coach. My biggest question is that Snyder returned at the age of 70, and I wonder if he can still perform the miracles he performed in his earlier KSU days.( I have often used KSU as a model for a team can do when they have a good coach. The Wildcats may have been the worst Division 1 team in the nation, prior to Snyder's arrival. When he showed up, the Cats made it to 11 consecutive bowls and were in national contention numerous years. His accomplishments at KSU are what gave me hope at Temple. I always argued that if Snyder could do it at KSU, any program could be turned around)
Snyder has a tough job, again on his hands. But, here are encouraging signs for me: Snyder continues to recruit top-rated Junior College players, who, like in Snyder's past, will help Immediately; the Wildcats improved rushing the ball from 133 y.p.g in 2008, to 180 in 2009 under Snyder(and their 1000 yard rusher returns), and, more importantly, Snyder's rush defense improved from 218 y.p.g. in 2008, to 105 y.p.g. in 2009!
Those aren't minor differences, so it's my hope Snyder can return to glory. After all, if he follows Joe Paterno's lead, Snyder has a good 13-18 years left at KSU!!!!!
Question: Can a 70-year-old college football head coach relate to today's kids? Your opinions wanted.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment