STILLWATER — With the hiring of a legendary coach’s son Wednesday, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy took the first step toward one of college football’s least talked about rule changes.
While much of the conversation in recent months has focused on everything from the still-evolving world of name, image and likeness to the new uses of technology now allowed in sport, the elimination of limits on training has gone largely unnoticed. .
At the end of last month, the NCAA Division I council approved a proposal to remove the limit on the number of coaches on the fieldwhich had a maximum limit of 10. Now, analysts and other auxiliary staff that make up a college football team’s support staff can be involved in on-field training.
Less than a month into the unlimited coaching world, Gundy hired Sean Snyder to work with the team’s kickers and punters. Snyder is the son of legendary Kansas State coach Bill Snyder and served alongside his father for several years.
Snyder was at Kansas State for nearly 30 years, concluding after the 2019 season. He was the team’s punter from 1990-92, then held various administrative and football roles from 1994-2010. He then took on the role of special teams coordinator and associate head coach from 2011-18 and as a special teams analyst in 2019.
Since then, he spent two seasons as special teams coordinator at USC in 2020-21, one season in the same role at Illinois, and last year served as special assistant to the head coach at Kansas, where he also assisted with the Jayhawks special teams .
Snyder’s hiring comes a few months after Gundy and athletic director Chad Weiberg worked to provide raises for the program’s 10 coaches, plus strength coach Rob Glass.
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Eight of the 11 coaches have been with Gundy for at least five years, and some for much longer.
“I think a big part of our success was the consistency we had,” Weiberg said oklahoma. “Furthermore, it is a reflection, in many aspects, of the market.
“When coaches come here and do a good job, we want to take care of them so they stay here and we have that consistency.”
Gundy, of course, would always love to have more money for his staff and support staff, but programs need to be diligent in how they spend their funding. Still, Gundy was happy to offer raises to his team — which included $100,000 raises for Glass and associate head coach/offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn.
“There’s never enough money available for these guys,” Gundy said earlier this month at Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas. “As we move forward in this new league, our salary pool for our 10 guys who will be recruiting on the road – which I think would be the best way to define it now, with the new rule – we need that pool to be close to the highest of the league, in my opinion, if we want to compete at a high level.
“So we try to continue to do that and take care of the people who have been loyal to the football program. It’s important to me, selfishly, to reward loyalty and not make people feel like they need to take other jobs for compensation, when if they stay here and are loyal to our program, we will reward them for that.”
Now, with the elimination of the on-field training limit, these position coaches have additional help from the seven analysts and other support staff.
That’s where hiring Snyder becomes important because Gundy can adjust how his special teams coaching is handled.
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In recent years, Gundy has used a special teams analyst — first MK Taylor and now Joseph Foteh — to construct game plans, but that analyst was not allowed to directly coach players.
So a group of four position coaches were tasked with working with the analyst and getting the game plans to the players – one coach for each team, kickoff coverage, kickoff return, punt coverage and punt return.
Now, Foteh could be involved in direct on-field coaching throughout the week, and Snyder, with extensive experience as a special teams coordinator, could also be involved in planning and preparation.
This could help limit additional work for position coaches and create additional continuity within each of the special teams units.
The Cowboys previously did not have a coach who worked specifically with kickers and punters, often resulting in these players working together to help overcome any difficulties. Snyder has a base of experience and knowledge to provide helpful feedback.
And Snyder’s experience, especially at K-State, where he was part of the incredible creation of his father’s Wildcat program, makes him a valuable voice in coaches’ offices.
“Sean brings years of experience with kickers, punters and special teams concepts,” Gundy said in a press release. “We are very excited about what he brings to our coaching staff.”
This article originally appeared in the Oklahoman: NCAA rule change allowed Oklahoma State football to add Sean Snyder
