It’s Snyder’s call

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

Two years ago Bruce Snyder found himself up in the press box at Sam Boyd Stadium calling UNLV football games as a radio analyst.

This year, however, Snyder, a former national coach of the year, will be on the field calling the plays for John Robinson's Rebels.

Snyder, 64, was promoted to offensive coordinator by Robinson in the offseason after spending the 2003 campaign working as tight ends and H-backs coach for the Rebels. He replaces Rob Boras, who left for an NFL coaching position with the Chicago Bears.

Snyder got a head start with his new duties in UNLV's final two games last year when Robinson turned over play-calling duties to him.

"I basically called (the plays) the last two games last season under different circumstances but I felt OK," Snyder said. "I thought we moved the ball OK but we didn't score enough. But we scored more than we were scoring and got more yardage than we had been getting. It just seemed that we functioned better."

If not for a blown 23-yard field goal by normally reliable placekicker Dillon Pieffer with a little more than two minutes to go in a 24-23 loss to Colorado State, Snyder would have been 2-0 as offensive coordinator last fall. The Rebels finished the season the following week with a 35-24 come-from-behind win at Wyoming.

"I think the players responded to me," Snyder said. "I think I've got for the most part their respect."

Snyder and running backs coach John Jackson will spend most of their practice time focusing on developing UNLV's running attack while Robinson, quarterbacks coach Brad Otton and wide receivers coach Kris Cinkovich will focus on putting together the game plan for the passing game.

"(Robinson) is obviously the head coach and everything goes through that office," Snyder said. "From a practice standpoint, he has kind of divided it into two. I think we're going to take about an equal responsibility to make sure both are done right. It will be a collaborative effort. But I have the freedom within the structure that we've all agreed upon to call (the plays). So that's what I'm going to do."

Robinson said: "Bruce will call the plays."

The last time Snyder was a college offensive coordinator was in 1974-75 at USC. The Trojans won the national championship in 1974.

Snyder then became head coach at Utah State in 1976 where he remained until joining Robinson as an assistant with the Los Angeles Rams in 1983, where he helped coach Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson. He left the NFL four years later to take over a foundering Cal football program and led the Bears to back-to-back bowl games including a win against Atlantic Coast Conference champ Clemson in the 1991 Citrus Bowl.

Snyder moved on to Arizona State in 1992 and earned the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award as national coach of the year in 1996 after leading the Sun Devils to a 11-1 record and within about two minutes of a national title before losing to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. He remained at Arizona State until 2000 before being let go despite consecutive trips to the Aloha Bowl.

Until the end of the 2003 season with the Rebels, that was the last time Snyder had called plays in a game.

"I didn't call all the plays (at Arizona State)," he said. "There were portions of the game that I did call. I always called the last two minutes of the game --- the two-minute offense --- and I also called the last four minutes of a game when we had a lead. Those are real critical times. More games are lost in the last four minutes than are won in the last two. I also called all reverses, trick plays, short yardage and goal-line.

"Now in situations like first-and-10 at our own 35, I didn't feel I needed to call that play. I may want to talk to the defensive coordinator or whatever. You have to be a head coach, too. So that's what I did. That's what I felt was best for me. And from the standpoint from what we're looking at this year, it's been awhile. But I feel like I'm prepared for it. I'm not fearful of it."

Although most people remember his Arizona State squads for the passing of Jake "The Snake" Plummer, Snyder's offenses have always been known to be among the most physical in the Pac-10. And he wants to try to instill that toughness in the 2004 Rebels offense.

"I don't think you can score enough just running the football," Snyder said. "I'm smart enough to know you have to pass effectively. You've got to get big chunks to score. But if you go out with only that as your objective, it is harder to do than if you're really physical. If you come out and you're very physical as an offense, I think it makes the other stuff work better.

"My phrase is, 'We're going to throw to score, but we're going to run to win.' ... I would like us to have the most feared offensive line and backs in the conference. If you're standing around they're going to knock you down."

Snyder has made no secret of his desire to be a college head coach again. He could put himself in position to perhaps one day take over for Robinson if the Rebels offense, which ranked a dreadful 106th nationally in 2003, can turn it around and have a successful season.

"If we have a good year, the team particularly, it is good for everybody in these halls," Snyder said. "Everybody. It's good for (Robinson). It gives him options. It helps me, no question. If we end up winning seven or eight games and are good in scoring, I think an AD someplace would look at me differently than if we're 4-7. They just will and I don't blame them. So I don't think there's any question that all of our careers and goals would be better met if we're pretty good."