MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The University High School football team now has a new head coach.
Longtime coordinator Eric Snyder was hired after the Monongalia County Board of Education approved the contract during their regular meeting Tuesday.
Snyder takes over for longtime head coach John Kelley, who announced his retirement earlier this year after 37 years with the Hawks. Snyder, who has served as a coach for both the varsity team and the JV team on offense and defense, is excited to take over the reins as the new head of the program.
“It’s a long career come true,” said Snyder after the announcement. “It’s definitely where I want to be, to spend the rest of my career as a high school football coach,” he said.
Snyder has worked with the Hawks football program since 2002 when he started as interim coach under John Kelley’s staff. After graduating from college, Snyder served as an assistant positions coach in the junior varsity ranks, coaching both offensive and defensive positions coach for almost a decade.
Snyder was promoted to defensive coordinator for the varsity football team in 2009, and he continued to coach the Hawks until he stepped away from football in 2018 due to family reasons. He returned in 2021 as offensive coordinator.
Now taking over as head coach, Snyder hopes to apply what he’s learned over his two decades of coaching experience while serving under one of the longest-tenured head coaches in West Virginia high school football history.
“Been able to be here for a long time, fortunate to be able to coach under Coach Kelley and learn a whole bunch of things,” said Snyder. “I’m just excited to be able to take the program over from this point on, to be able to see what I can do to put my stamp on this wonderful program that he’s built up,” he said.
The new Hawks head football coach will not only take over a program that has had the same head coach for nearly four decades, he will do it as the landscape of high school sports changes. One change that Snyder is excited about is the allowance of 32 athletic flex days, which can be used by coaches and athletes in any sport with principal approval. With the new rule being instituted in 2024, Snyder hopes to use that time to teach his football crucial fundamentals and physical training so they can be ready for in-season practices during the summer.
“We’re able to say, ‘Okay, we don’t have to necessarily get ready for 7-on-7, we can do more training,’ basic fundamentals for these kids,” said Snyder. “In year’s past, some of these kids would probably go on to pay some money to get their own trainer to get that done,” he said.
Snyder’s first game will be on the road against Parkersburg South. He will also work to improve on the Hawks’s 5-5 record from 2023, which included a 1-4 record at home, a 72-34 loss to Parkersburg South, and a 26-18 defeat to Morgantown High during the highly contested Mohawk Bowl. With a new page set to be written for the University High football program, Snyder is ready to hit the ground running and put his stamp on the Hawks football team.
“Game One, that’s the one that I’m most worried about,” said Snyder. “And if we can come out ready to roll against those guys (Parkersburg South) and hopefully prove to the state that we’re going to be a force to be dealt with for the 2024 season,” he said.
Snyder will be paid $6,000 per year as part of the contract, this will be separate from added experience increments.