Spartan Nation EXCLUSIVE: New MSU Football Defensive Coach Mark Snyder
Spartan Nation EXCLUSIVE: New MSU Football Defensive Coach Mark Snyder
Q: The gentleman Michigan State has brought on to add to their defensive staff is somebody whose defensive resume speaks for itself. Coach Mark Snyder, how are you sir?
A: I'm doing good, Hondo. How are you?
Q: I'm doing good. Back at your very first press conference I asked this question of you: When most new coaches get hired it's to fix a problem, but in your case you weren't. You have a top defense you get to work with. How refreshing is that as a coach? How appealing was that?
A: Very appealing. Very, very refreshing. Two of my last four have been rebuilding projects, and that's what made this job so attractive. Along with the staff and Coach Dantonio, the tradition of the defense already being installed, having that reputation out there...very, very refreshing as a coach.
Q: A lot of who Coach Dantonio is is underrated as to why he keeps staff members. What is it about Mark Dantonio that makes great coaches like yourself want to coach with him?
A: Well, it's just the person that he is. Our business is rough, it's about winning. It's about developing young kids. It's about developing them into men. There's a lot of challenges involved there. He goes about it the right way. He truly cares about his players; he truly cares about his staff; he truly cares about the staff's families; and he makes it very functional, if you will, to be in this profession and still have a family, and still have kids, and still go to their ball games, and those kind of things. That's what makes it so attractive.
Q: He not only wants your families to come around, he wants to see them walking through the hallways. It means something to him. What does that mean to you that your wife and kids can stop by and you don't have to worry that the coach is gonna think you're cutting a corner?
A: That's kind of how we grew up in this profession with Coach Tressle along the way. I think it's good for the players to see families, to see their coaches. Because we kind of take on the mentor role: uncle, Dad, father, whatever you wanna call it. It's good for our players to see that. To see the family bond and to see the kids running around the office. I think it instills a little bit of trust when the players get to know your family and your kids. And again, I think that's why Coach D's winning.
Q: Pat Narduzzi had a lot of personality. They needed some of his fire, and they got that with you. You haven't tried to come in and be Pat, and you've earned a ton of respect from your players because of that. Tell us about your mindframe when you came here.
A: Well I appreciate that, Hondo. It's good to hear. Kids gotta know that... They've gotta trust ya. You have to build a trust. That's my first order of commission. When we get off the road here starting Monday... You gotta get kids to buy-in to ya. You've gotta be real. I'm gonna be Mark Snyder, there's no doubt. I can't be anybody else. I gotta be me. That's what's gotten me where I'm at today. I think I have a good relationship with kids nowadays. Times have changed. It's interesting to watch Coach D with them and how he interacts. Our whole staff, that whole staff really relates well to young people.
Q: Mark Dantonio is one of the most blunt coaches I've ever seen in my life. What is the Mark Snyder way?
A: It's the same way. I think you've gotta tell kids the truth. It's about the truth. I'm not gonna lie to anybody. You're gonna get the truth...good, bad, or indifferent. Again, it goes back to that... Kids can see through stuff. I really believe that. And if you're not being real with them, if you don't tell them the truth, again it goes back to that trust factor. They're gonna see right through you. You get nowhere if that's the case. So if you're asking who I am, I'm the exact same way. I'm gonna tell them the truth...good, bad, or indifferent. Most of the time kids want discipline. They wanna respect older people, and that's the way I feel.
Q: There was a young man who left this program and I asked him what his defining moment was. He said that Coach Dantonio was the first man to ever tell him he loved him.
A: How about that? Wow. That's strong. That's strong words. It's not used a lot, Hondo, in our profession. You don't hear that a lot. I think sometimes... There's a million ways to skin a cat, just like you said. But I think the main ingredient of our society is love. If you're too big of a man to tell a young man that you love him, shame on you.
Q: Mark Dantonio is also not ashamed of his faith, he doesn't hide it from people. Did that environment of faith appeal to you also?
A: Yeah, there's no doubt. Again, I was with Coach Tressle for 10 years -- 6 at Youngstown and 4 1/2 at Ohio State. That's kind of the way I was brought up in this profession. I think it's very healthy.
Q: Let's turn to football now. What would you call the Mark Snyder defensive style?
A: Very aggressive, to a fault sometimes. But very, very aggressive.
Q: I asked Narduzzi that once and he said he's like Patton. He never wants to fight for the same real estate twice and it's always attack.
A: That's pretty good.
Q: You've been the big dog on a defensive staff as coordinator. At Michigan State they have a collective staff approach. How different will that be for you?
A: It is what it is. Once you leave that room, everybody has to be on the same page. Whether you're the boss or not the boss, when you leave that room everybody has to be on the same page and everybody's gotta buy-in to what the final decision is. Again, that's the way I coordinated when I was a coordinator. Everybody has a say, but obviously at the end of the day it was on me. But when we left that room everybody was on the same page and everybody was buying in to whatever we decided when we left that room.
Q: What are some key ingredients that you feel go into making a great linebacker?
A: Well, you can mold the perfect... There's no perfect player. Again, it depends on what your style is, but at the inside linebacker position you always want a smart guy. That guy's gotta be your quarterback. Obviously you'd like for him to run, you'd like for him to be a good blitzer, you want him to have good ball skills, you want him to play in space, and you want him to be a thumper. Again, that's kind of... If you had to mold a guy... I've been doing this awhile. There's no perfect player. Very rarely do you find a kid that has all those intangibles and then leadership skills on top of it. So you pick and choose as you go out recruiting and you try to recruit what fits your needs best.
Q: Bill Polian once told me that the teams that put emphasis on special teams win Super Bowls. Obviously you're not gonna give us your scheme, but for you personally what's your motto on special teams?
A: Again, be aggressive. Coach Polian is a great example. I love Bill. Obviously that's his mindset because I worked with his son Brian, who's now the Head coach at Nevada Reno, and Brian was our special teams coordinator. He cut his teeth in this business and he's really good at it. So I can see where Bill is coming with that. He put his son right in the middle of that special teams deal. But again, it's about trying to be aggressive when you can be and trying to (?).
Q: Last question. A. Are you looking forward to recruiting being over so you can stay and have dinner one night at home? And B. Has your family gotten here so Mark Snyder isn't bach-ing it?
A: Well, no Mark's gonna be bach-ing it for awhile. I have a daughter that will graduate A&M in May. I have another one that's at a junior college, she'll be going to Lansing Community College when she gets here. We'll let her finish up. And then I have an 8th grader who I'm gonna let finish up in Texas and start high school there in East Lansing some place. So I'll be a bachelor for about the next 3 months. We'll sell the house, get the family moved, and get rolling.
Q: Mark, thanks for your time and congratulations on being a part of Spartan Nation. I'm really liking the feedback I'm getting from guys. Good stuff on your part.
A: Hondo, I appreciate the kind words.
This article is reprinted from the March issue of Spartan Nation Magazine. If you are not a subscriber to this 100% free magazine you should be. CLICK RIGHT HERE and do it now!
