College football recruiting | 'He's electric': Poochie Snyder signs with Sacred Heart
Quarterback
Poochie Snyder gave up waiting for bunches of college football offers, put a smile on his face, and signed with Sacred Heart.
The 2023
Ohio Mr. Football finalist, who led Canton South High School to the 2023 state semifinals, made it official after considering bids from Army and Eastern Kentucky. He cast his lot with Sacred Heart, an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program located in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Don't know much, or anything, about Sacred Heart?
It is 500 miles due east of Canton, 150 miles southwest of Boston, 50 miles northeast of Yankee Stadium, five miles from Long Island Sound, and near Jennings Beach, described by globalbeachreport.com as "a coastal gem, offering a beautiful and serene escape by the sea."
The 60-year-old Roman Catholic university is in Fairfield County, whose population in the 2020 census was 957,419.
The university website indicates the cost for tuition, room and board for the 2023-24 school year totals about $70,000. According to Canton South head coach
Matt Dennison, Snyder is a priority recruit with a "zero scholarship," meaning all of those expenses, for him, will be paid.
Sacred Heart's football team went 2-9 in 2023 and 5-6 in 2022, but in 2021 the Pioneers were Northeast Conference champions with a 6-1 record. Duquesne won the conference title in 2023, ahead of Stonehill, Merrimack, Saint Francis, Long Island, Wagner, Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut.
Snyder was recruited to Sacred Heart by Mark Nofri, who has been the Pioneers' head coach since 2011 and won Northeast Conference titles in 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Matt Gardner has been on Nofri's staff the entire time.
Snyder said he is at peace with his signing.
"I was hoping for more offers, maybe from some FBS schools, but nothing ended up coming," Snyder told The Repository. "I visited both Eastern Illinois and Army.
"I took an official visit to Sacred Heart the first week December. I really enjoyed getting to know some of the staff and some of the players. It's a great fit overall."
Snyder set all-time Stark County passing records for yards and touchdowns as a four-year starter whose senior year brought four playoff wins and a
14-0 record, prior to a loss to Cleveland Glenville in the OHSAA Division IV state semifinals.
He said he and his father, a former Canton South quarterback also named Jack, have had many talks about adjusting to perhaps not playing in 2023, in the wake of nonstop football, basketball and baseball with the Wildcats.
"(Playing right away) is always the goal going in," Snyder said. "I think I have a chance to compete for the job, but I also know with my size and being a true freshman is going to make it hard.
"It is going to be odd if it becomes a scenario where I have to sit. But in all honesty I'm kind of excited for it, where you're a scout team quarterback and you have a year to develop and also retain that eligibility, learn the system and get adjusted to living eight hours away from home."
Snyder looked forward to the Cleveland-at-Houston NFL playoff game, featuring a young QB he has studied extensively,
C.J. Stroud, and old pro
Joe Flacco. One of Sacred Heart's early road trips in 2024 will be to Delaware, Flacco's alma mater.
Dennison sounds convinced Snyder will find his way to the field in college sooner rather than later.
"Poochie's the type of kid who, once you get him on campus and hang around him a couple weeks, you'll soon believe he's going to wind up playing," Dennison said.
"He's a good fit for college for a couple of reasons. One, he is the most accurate passer I've been around. He can spot a ball as well as anyone.
"With that, he's the fastest guy on the field. After the Glenville game their players and their coaches came up and said, 'Man, he's fast.'
"Poochie is better live than he is on film. I used to watch Ted Ginn. He didn't even look like he was going fast, but he'd be running away from everyone. He was just smooth. That's how Poochie is with his speed."
Snyder, 6 feet even, enters a college football land of 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterbacks. He said he weighs about 180 pounds as he courses through South's basketball season. He aims to beef up to 195 pounds early on at Sacred Heart.
"He's a little slight, but he'll get stronger, and he has all the intangibles," Dennison said. "He's the hardest worker. He watches almost as much film as I do in-season. He knows the game but doesn't overthink the game. He has the 'it' factor. He's just a winner."
Mark Miller, who played quarterback for Bowling Green and was a third-round pick of the Browns, was a three-sport athlete at Canton South, as is Snyder.
"I know when I stopped playing three sports and concentrated on football, I got better by leaps and bounds," Miller said. "My arm got stronger. My feet got quicker.
"I think Poochie is going to get physically stronger. He's going to improve your locker room. He's a great teammate."
Miller said some Mid-American Conference team would have done well to pursue Snyder.
"If he had gone to the MAC, would he have played as a freshman? Probably not," Miller said. "Would he play in his second year, as a redshirt freshman? I bet he'd be on the field."
Larry Kehres is an educated face in the large crowd of Stark County people who got a feel for Snyder during his Canton South run.
Kehres won 11 NCAA Division III championships at Mount Union. One of his former Mount Union players, Matt Campbell, coached surprise NFL star Brock Purdy, as head coach at Iowa State. Another of Kehres' Purple Raiders,
Nick Sirianni, was in last year's Super Bowl as head coach of the Eagles.
Kehres is curious to see what Snyder does in college.
"He's electric," Kehres said. "There's everything to love about that kid.
"The No. 1 quality I look for in a quarterback is passing accuracy. Poochie certainly is skilled in that regard."
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
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