Back in June, we shared the state of Ohio - who was already bursting at the seams with college football programs - was set to add a new one to their Division II portfolio.
Shawnee State, whose athletics had been part of the NAIA level culminating with a boys basketball national title back in 2021, accepted an invite to make the jump to the Division II level as a member of the Mountain East Conference, and in that announcement of jumping to a new league and new level, also shared that they were adding a football program to begin competition no later than 2028.
Tonight, word of who is being tabbed to lead that new beginning broke.
Mark Snyder, a longtime FBS assistant with defensive coordinator stops at some of the top programs in college football, is set to take the head coaching job at Shawnee State as they look to build the program from the ground up, according to Adam Rittenberg.
A former safety at Marshall, Snyder's coaching journey began in 1988 as a student assistant at his alma mater, later landing the defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator jobs at Youngstown State (FCS).
He made a jump to the major college level in 1996 coaching the defensive ends at Minnesota for a handful of seasons before coaching linebackers and then calling the defense at Ohio State in the early 2000s.
The success in Columbus, which included a national title as well as developing standouts like AJ Hawk and Matt Wilhelm led to a head coaching opportunity for Snyder, who took over at Marshall prior to the 2005 season. He would spent five season leading the Thundering Herd, leading the program to just one bowl game in his final season following a 6-6 finish before he ultimately resigned prior to their Little Ceasars Bowl matchup.
He left Marshall with an overall record of 22-37 before landing a few more coordinator gigs.
Snyder would go on to serve as defensive coordinator at South Florida and Texas A&M before joining the Michigan State staff coaching the linebackers and coordinating special teams from 2015-17. He would wind up coaching at Florida State during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, moving from defensive ends in his first year to linebackers and special teams his final season.
After a few seasons away from the sidelines, Snyder popped up working with the Houston Gamblers in 2022, and then the Orlando Guardians in 2023.
Shawnee State is located in Portsmouth, OH, directly on the Ohio River and about an hour from the West Virginia border via US-52 East.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for all the latest.