CHAMPAIGN — Sean Snyder understood the situation when he agreed to become Illinois’ special teams coordinator and specialists coach this summer.
That, in the best-case scenario, he might not be with the Illini long.
Because in that scenario, Ben Miller will be back on the sidelines in 2023. Illinois’ sidelined special teams coordinator and tight ends coach will miss the 2022 season as he continues to go through treatments for colon cancer.
Snyder is as hopeful as anyone for Miller’s speedy recovery — even if it means his time in Champaign lasts just a single season.
It’s the main point Snyder had to hammer out with Illinois coach Bret Bielema, his college teammate at Iowa and coaching colleague at Kansas State, before he accepted the job.
“That was my big hang-up initially,” Snyder said. “It’s a temporary position. The conversations that coach and I had, and the conversations I’ve had with Ben has made that, for me, a very comfortable situation. I understand what it is. For me, it’s coming in here and doing the best that I can with the guys and doing it in a way with Ben and with coach where we’re all married up together.
“To me, it was an opportunity to come learn. I know and hope Ben’s back and back in the saddle. If I come out of this thing learning something and gaining something for myself, I’m in great shape. That’s the thing. You never stop learning.”
Bielema, who considered Snyder for the special teams coordinator job when he was first hired at Illinois, made a point of noting the fact Snyder was a specialist himself. Snyder ultimately transferred from Iowa to Kansas State and wound up a First Team All-American punter playing for his dad, longtime Wildcats coach Bill Snyder.
“When I began to look at guys in this position, there are a lot of guys who are special teams coordinators who really are good at special teams but aren’t great or don’t have a lot of experience at kicking the ball, snapping the ball, punting the ball,” Bielema said about his process in finding a suitable replacement for Miller this offseason. “That’s his forte.”
That Snyder has kicking experience himself means the Illinois kickers and punters won’t have to seek outside help to work on their craft. The new Illini specialists coach, in fact, has already established a solid rapport with the projected starters at kicker (Danville native Caleb Griffin) and punter (Australian native Hugh Robertson).
“They’re really good learners,” Snyder said of his specialists. “They’re really good adjusters. As we go through this with them, they’ll gain ground every day and get better. We’ll go through a little hump where we’ll try something here, try something there, but the good thing is it’s day to day. It’s not they get some work one day and then two weeks later they get some more work. It’s every day now, and they’re diligent about what we’re doing and on top of it.”
Snyder finds himself in a similar position at Illinois as he was at Kansas State and the last two seasons at Southern California coordinating special teams.
Namely that he won’t have to do it all himself. It’s an all-hands effort for the Illini coaching staff. Wide receivers coach George McDonald works with the punt returners, running backs coach Cory Patterson works with the kick returners and the entire defensive staff helps with the coverage and return teams.
“Sean runs all four units,” Bielema said. “He’s the voice. He and I have already met a lot. I’m sure he’s kind of tired of me already, but we’ve had a lot of experiences over the years together.”
Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
