Mark Snyder was officially introduced by Mark Dantonio on Sunday as the newest defensive assistant coaching hire for next season.
Snyder, 50, will replace Mike Tressel as the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. Tressel was promoted to co-defensive coordinator with Harlon Barnett after Pat Narduzzileft for Pittsburgh following the Cotton Bowl.
The hiring was first reported by Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports, who announced it last Thursday.
Snyder has spent the past three seasons as the defensive coordinator of Texas A&M, in which his tenure ended with huge disappointment after leading one of the worst units of the SEC.
Giving up an average of 27.3 points per game, the Aggies were ranked last in the conference in total yards allowed per game (449), rushing yards allowed this season (2,682) and total interceptions (five).
He was relieved of his duties following the Aggies’ defeat to LSU the day after Thanksgiving. Other notables losses include a 59-0 performance against Alabama back in October and giving up 48 points against Mississippi State on the road.
“Mark is an outstanding coach,” Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin said after letting go of Snyder at the end of the season. “And an even better person, but he understands the production needed to be better on the defensive side of the football.”
With the new position, Snyder will work once again underneath Dantonio. Both coached at Ohio State from 2001 to 2003. Snyder was then promoted to defensive coordinator from linebackers coach when Dantonio accepted the head coaching position at Cincinnati in 2004.
Snyder also spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at South Florida from 2010 to 2011 and before that he was the head coach of Marshall from 2005 to 2009, where he posted an overall record of 23-37 while finishing as high as third in the Eastern Division of Conference USA.
“Mark is extremely loyal and develops outstanding player relationships,” Dantonio told the Detroit Free Press about Snyder last Thursday. “He also has a fiery personality, which we lost with Pat Narduzzi a little bit, but I think that his personality is a plus — he brings energy to the field every day, which is good.”
