Year of the Quarterback, Part 5: Sacred Heart football excited to have Poochie Snyder

Editor's note: Steve Doerschuk spent months researching quarterbacks. The result is three waves of a series, "Year of the Quarterback." The first wave revolves around tremendous high school quarterbacks fighting to find the field in college. This is the fifth article in the first wave.

Jim Tressel has seen a million quarterbacks, but few like this one, he was told.

The only thing more colorful than Jack "Poochie" Snyder's nickname was his playing style, a la scampering tableside chef with hibachi knives in the air and eyes in the back of his head.

The famous coach drove to Wadsworth on a frozen November night to see for himself.

Canton South vs. Cleveland Glenville in the 2023 OHSAA Division IV state semifinals gave Tressel a chance to catch up with old friends Matt Dennison and Ted Ginn , the opposing head coaches.

It was a night to find out if an Ohio Mr. Football finalist from Stark County could work his magic against a loaded team.

Tressel's trove of Stark County stories dates to being a little boy when his dad, Lee, was head coach of the Massillon Tigers, with future Detroit Tigers World Series pitcher Joe Sparma at quarterback.

Tressel grew up to be a Berea High School quarterback. He was Lee Tressel's quarterback in 1974 at Baldwin-Wallace, opening the season with a win over NCAA Division III national champion Wittenberg, delivering the game's lone touchdown on a pass to Doug Shook, a Louisville kid.

Jim Tressel soon was a University of Akron graduate assistant under head coach Jim Dennison, Matt's dad.

At Ohio State, one of Tressel's top recruits was Devon Torrence, from Canton South.

"I had heard about Poochie," Tressel said. "Matt spoke glowingly of what he had done for Canton South."

The Tarblooders were bigger and faster than the Wildcats and the rest of Division IV.

"They chased Poochie around a little bit," Tressel chuckled, "but you could see he's a special kid. You could see he is a playmaker and a competitor. You could just see he's a good player."

It was a nice compliment from a man who piloted Ohio State to a national championship in 2002 and a 9-1 record against Michigan.

Flattery isn't a full ride.

Jack 'Poochie' Snyder rewrote Canton South, Stark County high school football records ... but Division I colleges didn't take notice

Snyder is Stark County's all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, but the Big Ten and Mid-American Conference steered clear.

"Poochie" grew up at the wrong time, when programs trade heavily in experienced transfer portal QBs and lightly in incoming freshmen, especially ones who are just 6 feet tall.

Dennison coached three scholarship quarterbacks in 18 years at New Philadelphia. He is convinced Snyder will find the field at Sacred Heart University.

"The fact he didn't get more looks was pretty much because of the portal," Dennison said. "All those teams at the next level, the FBS, the MAC and Conference USA, are looking directly at the portal for their quarterbacks.

"The MAC coaches want instant gratification. They don't give them three years to build a program and have a recruiting class in place.

"Coaches are forced to find the guy who's the quick fix. I don't get mad at them. It's the world they live in.

"They know if they don't find somebody to be their quarterback right now, they're going to get fired."

Sacred Heart competes in FCS, the NCAA Division I level that was Division I-AA when Tressel won four national championships in the 1990s at Youngstown State.

Tressel advises Snyder not to lose sleep over who didn't recruit him.

"It's always a great challenge no matter where you go," Tressel said. "It was for me. After playing all along from little league through high school, I didn't start in college until I was a senior.

"You surround yourself with the right kind of people and just work like crazy and stay focused on the right things, and you'll find out pretty soon if you can get in the competition.

"There wasn't a portal when I played, not that anyone would have wanted me.

"In those days, working your way up was just part of paying your dues and seeing if you could get better.

"There's a whole new level of difficulty and uncertainty in today's world. It'll be a great experience for Poochie to go into an unknown place. We'll see how he does."

'This kid is a freak': Poochie Snyder helped lead Canton South football to unprecedented success

He did fine at Canton South.

In his four years as the No. 1 QB, the Wildcats went from 5-3 to 7-4 to 9-4 to 14-1, an upgrade from the 10 previous years when the records were 3-7, 1-9, 7-3, 6-4, 1-9, 2-8, 2-8, 6-4, 2-8 and 3-7.

Through 2021, the Wildcats never won more than one playoff game in any postseason. In 2022 and '23, Snyder led them to a playoff record of 6-2.

South had a strong run earlier in the 2000s that included standout quarterbacks Ronnie Bourquin and Matt Trissel.

"The first time I met Poochie, we were at Phil Forshey’s house watching the Ohio State-Michigan State game the year the Buckeyes won the national championship," Trissel said. "This little 8-year-old was calling out coverages and yelling at JT Barrett on the TV screen, and I’m thinking “This kid is a freak ... how does he know what cover 2-man is already?'”

Snyder's dad, Jack, himself was a Canton South quarterback. Trissel helped the elder Snyder coach a youth team when Poochie was in fourth grade.

"We were literally running the same offense that I ran in high school," Trissel said. "Shotgun spread, route concepts, run-game reads, audibles, hurry-up, etc.

"We could make weekly adjustments and add different packages. He knew where every kid was supposed to line up and what their responsibility was on every single play. It was apparent from Day 1 that he was going to be a once-in-a-generation Canton South talent."

Poochie Snyder impressed former Stark County high school football star quarterbacks

Mark Miller, a Canton South quarterback from an earlier generation, thinks Snyder could excel in the Mid-American Conference, but no MAC school gave him an offer.

Miller became a four-year stater at Bowling Green.

"If someone didn't think Poochie is big enough, or didn't think his arm is strong enough, they have to remember, he is a high school kid who plays three sports," Miller said. "I know when I stopped playing three sports at Canton South and concentrated on football at Bowling Green, I got better by leaps and bounds.

"My arm got stronger. My feet got quicker. I think that will happen with Poochie.

"Had he gone to an MAC school, would he play as a freshman? Probably not. As a redshirt in his second year, I bet he's on the field. That's just me."

Jon Aljancic hoped Snyder would land at his Ivy League alma mater. Aljancic, from Louisville, followed Jay Fiedler as Dartmouth's quarterback and led the Big Green to a 10-0 season in 1996.

"Poochie has the drive and the will," Aljancic said. "He elevates the play of the guys around him. The guy who can do that is the guy who can play in college."

Poochie Snyder plans 'to play the same football I always have' at Sacred Heart

As a rising Canton South junior in 2022, Snyder completed more than 70% of his throws, 35 for touchdowns. As a runner, he finished with 1,156 yards at 10.4 per carry.

His most notable improvement as a senior was finishing off South's better opponents. West Branch was on an 11-game win streak before falling to South 40-21 in the regional finals. The Wildcats were 14-0 before losing to Glenville.

Snyder's family is entrenched in the Canton South community. His brother, Silas, was a Wildcat quarterback. Now Poochie must try to find the field 500 miles from home.

"I'm starting from scratch, and I've got to learn a new system, but I'm excited for it," he said. "I know I'm 6 foot, not 6-3 or 6-4. But whoever I've played against, I've produced. That's something I've kind of prided myself on.

"I'm going to play the same football I always have."

Sacred Heart football coaches say Poochie Snyder 'fits our offense perfectly'

Sacred Heart needs a spark after going 2-9 in 2023, when the Pioneers scored 14 or fewer points eight times.

In 2018 and 2020, they shared the Northeast Conference championship with Duquesne. In 2021, they won the crown outright before falling 13-10 to Holy Cross in the FCS playoffs.

Thirteenth-year head coach Mark Nofri sees Snyder as "an athletic kid who can throw the ball.

"He shows the ability to win games. He fits our offense perfectly.

"To me it doesn't matter how big you are. If you can play, you can play."

During a recruiting visit to Sacred Heart last year, Snyder and his family spent time with Matt Kling, a kicker from Canton Central Catholic High School who found his way to the Connecticut campus in 2021.

Offensive coordinator Mark Gardner was in on Snyder early.

"We're really excited he chose us," Gardner said. "With Poochie's film, there's three or four plays within the first minute and a half you say, I want to see that one again. How did he get out of that rush? How did he make that throw?

"His height gives some coaches pause, but he's been playing at that height. His ability to move in the pocket and find throwing lanes is what he'll have to get really good at in college. He's already used to doing that."

Dennison was sold three years ago.

"Poochie is the entire package," he said. "He is so accurate as a passer. He can spot a ball as well as anyone. With that, he runs the 40 in 4.4.

"The biggest reason I think he's going to be great at the next level is the intangibles. He looks better live than he does on film. He's the hardest worker. He watched almost as much film as I did in-season. He definitely has the 'it' factor.

"Poochie's the type of kid who, once you get him on campus and hang around him a couple weeks, he's going to wind up playing."

Sacred Heart's primary 2023 quarterback was a graduate student, Rob McCoy. Cade Pribula, who spent three years at Delaware before coming through the portal in 2022, appeared in several games.

The Pioneers passed poorly in 2024, with 1,464 aerial yards, five touchdown throws and 11 interceptions.

One contender for the 2024 starting job is 6-2, 210-pound John Michalski, who was a true freshman out of New York City in 2023.

"I think I have a chance to compete for the job," Snyder said. "I also know with my size and being a true freshman, it's going to be hard.

"A redshirt year wouldn't be a bad thing. There would be a year to develop and still retain four years of eligibility."

Sacred Heart is adjusting to the evolving portal era.

Everyone in the FCS sphere took notice of Albany quarterback Reese Poffenbarger.

Poffenbarger, who played high school ball in Maryland, didn't see the field as an Albany freshman on a 2021 team that went 2-9. He started in 2022 on a 3-8 team.

In 2023, he led the Great Danes to the FCS playoffs, in which they won three games. He passed for 3,603 yards and made third-team FCS All-America.

He then entered the portal and landed with the Miami Hurricanes.

“Albany will forever have a place in my heart, and we did a lot of special things,” he told ESPN. “I thought it was time to move on and put myself in the best position to compete for a national championship and one day play in the NFL.”

Snyder and Poffenbarger are different people at different stages of the college experience, but for what it's worth, they began college football with an FCS team, and they are the same height, 6 feet on the nose.

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Year of the Quarterback, Part 5: Sacred Heart football excited to have Poochie Snyder