Texas A&M notebook: Sumlin will lean on Snyder

By BRENT ZWERNEMAN, College Station Bureau 

Updated 12:06 a.m., Thursday, January 12, 2012   Courtesy of The Houston Chronicle

          COLLEGE STATION - When Texas A&M officially announces Mark Snyder as its defensive coordinator, he should utter the same phrase he did about seven years ago when introduced as Marshall's head coach.

"We need that 12th man out there every Saturday in that stadium," Snyder said then.
On second thought, urging the 12th Man to show up at A&M - where the term "12th Man" is trademarked - is like telling Alabama coach Nick Saban he needs to get serious. It simply isn't required.
Saban and a host of other coaches of a handful of the nation's top programs await Snyder in his Southeastern Conference debut in September, and that's one thing Snyder, with no previous ties to A&M, has in common with the Aggies: Neither has any SEC experience.
Still, Snyder, 47, has shown a penchant for success in some rugged settings, primarily the Big Ten from 2001-04 as an assistant to then-coach Jim Tressel at Ohio State, the last season as Buckeyes defensive coordinator.
New A&M coach Kevin Sumlin will lean heavily on Snyder in the Aggies' first sojourn through the SEC, which has won the last six national titles.
To date, Sumlin's first staff looks like this: offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, running backs coach Clarence McKinney and offensive line coach B.J. Anderson all followed him from Houston. Sumlin has added David Beaty, formerly the offensive coordinator at Rice and Kansas, as his receivers coach, and Brian Polian from Stanford as his special teams coach. Sumlin retained defensive line coach Terrell Williams from Mike Sherman's staff.
Sumlin, a one-time offensive coordinator at A&M and co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, knows offense, and plenty of fans are curious to witness his plan of attack against the swift defenses of the SEC. That's also where his leaning on Snyder comes in.
Snyder, an Ohio native and a collegiate safety, spent five seasons as head coach at his alma mater Marshall - where he holds the record for interceptions in a season with 10 - and went 22-37 in that span. He quickly returned to his defensive roots as South Florida's coordinator the past two seasons.
The Bulls of the Big East ranked 17th nationally in total defense in 2010 and 39th this past season. Snyder employs a 4-3 scheme - four defensive linemen and three linebackers - in contrast to DeRuyter's 3-4 of the past two seasons.
In his lone season as a coordinator at a major program, Snyder's 2004 Buckeyes defense improved as the season wore on, and Ohio State wrapped up that year with a 33-7 victory over Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl.
"I saw a lot of growth every day," Tressel told the Columbus Dispatch of Snyder's improvement as a coordinator that season.
Since then, Snyder owns another five years of head-coaching experience, along with two more seasons as a defensive coordinator. Sumlin and the home of the 12th Man - the trademarked one - are banking on all of that experience in other leagues paying off in the SEC.

brent.zwerneman@chron.com