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…
The Repository
