Here's to you, Bruce Snyder

In memoriam: Bruce Snyder

3/14/1940 - 4/13/2009

I was very sad to hear today's news: Bruce Snyder has left this world.  And he's left us far too soon.

It's been obvious from many of my posts that I have no love for ASU athletics.  I'm not only a die-hard Arizona Wildcats fan -- and have been since I was in grade school -- but I also graduated from the U of A.  But Coach Snyder has always had my utmost respect.  He was not only a great football coach, but he was an even better man.  My junior year of college, I dated a girl who worked in ASU's public events office.  She saw Coach Snyder on a somewhat regular basis and had nothing but good things to say about him.  She said he was like "the campus grandpa" and that everyone loved him.  I can see why.  Everytime he spoke to the press, he did so with class.  As I've said before, I've never EVER liked the Sun Devils -- but his ASU teams always played with high character on the field.  (Their fans were a different story, but that's best left for another column. . .)

I remember the 2000 college football season.  It was my junior year of college.  Both ASU and UA had their long-time coaches run out of town by ungrateful/ruthless alumni and a fanbase with remarkably short memories.  UA and its supporters treated Coach Tomey -- the winningest coach in school history -- terribly, for the most part.  I was pretty angry about that. The football program went into a tailspin that it still hasn't recovered from.  

ASU treated Snyder worse than UA treated Tomey.  They showed no gratitude for his nine successful years.  He not only coached football well but he also transformed his players into great young men, and ASU turned around and badmouthed his coaching and unceremoniously shoved him out the door.  That was shameful.  Disgraceful.  Thinking about it still makes me mad.  That's how highly I think of Coach Snyder.  He deserved so much more.  He deserved to go out on his own terms.  He deserved a "Bruce Snyder Day" in his honor, and to have his name added to some Ring of Honor.  He deserved to have a field or a stadium or a seating section named after him.  And he deserved to see it done, and to hear fans applaud and cheer in appreciation.  ASU should be playing on Kush-Snyder Field.  His statue needs to be erected outside Sun Devil Stadium next to Frank Kush's bust.  Yes, he's that important. He's that deserving.  After all, Coach Snyder is the second-winningest coach in school history, behind only Frank Kush.

Instead, he was bought out unceremoniously and replaced by the Anti-Snyder.  Dirk Koetter may have known X's and O's, but he was a pompous jerk.  Ask any players recruited by Coach Snyder, except for Andrew Walter and Terrell Suggs, whom Koetter buddied up to because he knew he couldn't win without them.  Ask UA punter Danny Baugher.  According to his father, when Danny decided to go to U of A, he felt that he should call Dirk Koetter to inform him of his decision, since Koetter had been the first coach to try to recruit him.  Keep in mind that Danny was a high school senior at the time.  Koetter reacted to Danny's decision by screaming at him and cussing a blue streak.  Would Snyder have done that?  No way.

And who was ASU's coach when the post-game fight happened in 2001?  Not Snyder.  It probably wouldn't have even happened had he still been the coach.

Coach Snyder, you were a great man.  You have left us far too soon.  Your death has left heavy hearts all across the Grand Canyon State.  RIP.

And ASU, wake up and honor this man.  You have nine years to make up for.