Nick Daschel is a veteran sports writer and columnist who has worked on the West coast for nearly three decades. Nick has covered the Pac-10 for about 15 years, primarily focusing on the Northwest schools.
The Pac-10 was touched with sad news Monday when Bruce Snyder passed away after complications from cancer.
Snyder, 69, was successful at both of his head coaching stops in the Pac-10, and was part of one hell of an assistant coaching staff at Oregon during the late 60s and early 1970s.
About that staff at Oregon: Head coach Jerry Frei resigned in January of 1972 after he was told to fire some of his assistant coaching staff. Too bad the Ducks brass didn’t know what they had.
Among the assistants on Frei’s staff: John Robinson, a future USC coaching legend as well as an NFL head coach; George Seifert and Gunther Cunningham, both NFL head coaches, and Seifert was a Super Bowl winner; John Marshall, a longtime NFL defensive coordinator.
And Snyder, who more than proved his worth in the Pac-10.
Snyder put a moribund California on the map. In 1990, Snyder was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year as the Bears played in just their second bowl game in 32 years. The following year, Cal went 10-2, its first 10-win season since 1949. The Bears were the only team that year to stand up to co-national champion Washington. Cal lost 24-17, taking the game down to the final play.
California finished the season ranked No. 8 in the country, the school’s highest ranking since 1950 -- a final ranking that hasn’t been topped during the Jeff Tedford era.
Snyder left California following the 1991 season for Arizona State, where in 1996 he put the Sun Devils on the brink of a national championship.
First came a head-turning 19-0 win over two-time national champion Nebraska during the regular season. Then in the 1997 Rose Bowl, Arizona State was 100 seconds from capping an unbeaten season when Jake Plummer dove into the end zone to give the Sun Devils a 17-14 lead over Ohio State. But the Buckeyes rallied during the final moments when Joe Germaine hit David Boston with a 5-yard touchdown pass to deny ASU and Snyder a shot at the national championship.
Snyder’s tenure at Arizona State didn’t end well, just like his life. The school fired Snyder following the 2000 season, but he handled it with grace -- just as he did the diagnosis of Stage IV cancer last summer. Snyder went on to help Robinson at Nevada-Las Vegas. When told of his grim cancer news, Snyder chose to make a run at beating it, while updating his story through a journal at caringbridge.org.
There are several Pac-10 coaches who have been legends at one school. But influential at multiple league schools? Snyder is certainly on a short list, if not at the top.
Nick Daschel covers the Pacific-10 Conference for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com. Follow Nick on Twitter.
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