Snyder ready to retrace first steps at Utah State

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

It will be something of a sentimental journey preparing a game plan for the Utah State Aggies for UNLV offensive coordinator Bruce Snyder this week.

Snyder, 64, had his first college head coaching job in Logan from 1975 to 1982. It turned out to be a springboard to two Pac-10 coaching jobs at Cal and Arizona State, where he was named the national coach of the year in 1996.

"I have very good memories from my time there," Snyder said. "That was my first head coaching job. I was 35. I was one of the youngest head coaches in America, and I was proud of that fact."

Snyder, who had left an assistant coaching position at USC to take over the Aggies, didn't exactly hit the ground running.

"We struggled," he said. "My first year we started 0-6 and then we got our first victory against Utah (28-17) at home. I still have that game ball. But after a couple of years we were a real good football team."

In fact, Snyder led the Aggies to back-to-back PCAA championships in 1978 and 1979 and second-place finishes in 1980 and 1981. He had three winning seasons in his seven years and beat BYU twice.

Utah State has had just two winning seasons in the 21 years since Snyder left to join John Robinson as a running backs coach with the Los Angeles Rams. The Utes have gone 1-17 in 18 games against BYU since his departure.

Snyder said he was fortunate to have put together an excellent coaching staff and recruited some top-notch players during his time in Logan.

"I had a great staff," he said. "We had Kent Baer (currently offensive coordinator at Notre Dame), Rod Marinelli (defensive line coach with Tampa Bay), Al Saunders (offensive coordinator with the Chiefs), Terry Shea (assistant with the Chicago Bears), Keith Gilbertson (head coach at the University of Washington) and Denny Shuler (longtime Pac-10 assistant).

"We didn't even know it at the time. You know when you're real young and you don't know? But I felt good about those guys. They loved football. You couldn't really pay them any money hardly. But as it turned out over the years that was a really good football staff."

Among the players Snyder coached there were quarterback Eric Hipple, who would go on to a long career in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, defensive lineman Rulon Jones, the AFC defensive player of the year with the Denver Broncos, and James Murphy, a wide receiver who set numerous Canadian Football League records.

"I really think that's where I learned to be a head coach," Snyder said. "It was a fun time in my life. The people and players there were very nice to me. We still have friends in Logan who are still dear friends."

Snyder said a number of his ex-players will make the trip to Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday night for the game.

"They're going to have a reunion down here," he said. "I have a lot of fond memories of them."

However, Snyder doesn't have very many fond memories of the Rebels offense this year. UNLV ranks 108th in the nation in total offense with an average of just 257.0 yards per game and 112th out of 117 teams in scoring offense (10.0 ppg).

"We're trying to get our airplane righted," Snyder said. "There have been a number of plays where if this block had just been made or if this route had been run ... we're so close. But that might be true of football in general. A bad play is probably only one person away from being a good play. And that's where we are right now."