Inside the Chart: Snyder Back In Form

INSIDE THE CHART is a column by 'Voice of the Cardinals' Joel Godett. Catch Ball State football with Joel, Rich Spisak and Mick Tidrow on the radio all season long on the Community Hospitals Anderson Cards Radio Network, 104.1 WLBC.

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It's one of the hardest jobs to land in the modern history of Ball State football.

In fact, there were only eight primary holders of the gig over the 24 seasons between 1993 (when current coach Mike Neu was a senior) and 2016. Five of those players held the fort all four years, two played in the NFL and another two were named All-American and a national award finalist. One guy was even voted the best defensive player in the Mid-American Conference … and he never played a down on that side of the ball.

The job is punter, and it was one hell of a legacy for true freshman Nathan Snyder to walk into in 2017.

"They see when they walk in the team meeting room that there's [photos of] two specialists hanging on our wall. There's not very many places that can say that," said special teams coordinator Pat Dougherty. "I don't think that goes over our guy's head and they're aware of that and the expectation when you're a specialist here at Ball State."

Snyder easily seemed like the next in line. What isn't there to like? At 6-4, 220 lbs, he has the build of an All-MAC wide receiver over that of a man who draws a flag merely for being knocked down, let alone tackled. His size would rank him among the top seven active punters in the NFL.

And then there's the big leg to go with it. Snyder boomed 50-yard punts in two of his first three college games in 2017, ending with a 56-yard long on the season. Expectations were certainly high as a sophomore last fall, with Snyder seemingly following Schmidt, Kovanda, Miller et al as the next great Ball State boot.

"There's a little bit of pride," Snyder said. "You've got Brad Maynard and Reggie Hodges that came through here. They've done a really good job and really paved the way for Ball State punters in the NFL."

But that's where things went a little awry, highlighted by an Indiana 86-yard punt return for a touchdown during 2018's week three. Just like that, after IU's win, Snyder didn't kick another ball all season. Patrick LeCorre performed admirably instead.

"It started with just his drop," Dougherty said. "The way he dropped the ball led to inconsistencies in punts … He'd have some great balls and then the next ball would be a 'oh what was that?'"

Which leads us to the nuance of punting, because it's more than simply kicking the ball as far as possible. It's more than even kicking it to the right place with the right height and the right setup for your coverage team. Punting comes down to things as small as, yes, how you drop a ball on your foot.

"Last year I felt like I had a very inconsistent drop," Snyder said. "I would be kind of all over the place … You have to put it at 11 o'clock. What happened with me is that I would always turn it in just a little too much right before I would hit it and that would cause inconsistencies with my hit."

Snyder practiced like a malfunctioning Walkman. Stuck on repeat he literally dropped a ball, picked it up, and dropped it again. Thousands of times.

"He has to focus on it like a golf swing or any other type of repetitive movement," said Dougherty. "It's not like you get it and all of a sudden it's there. You have to keep working on it."

Which Snyder chose to do over the other available option: sulking. Losing you job isn't easy, not after walking in the door and punting from day one, and not when it's a job at a place so revered. It's like being placed in charge at Fauchon, only to be told a year into your tenure your macaroons need work.

"I sat back and thought 'I'm going to take the time and work on myself,'" Snyder said. "The coach is going to put the better guy on the field and I wasn't the better guy … If that's the guy that they want to play, fine. I'm going to make myself the best guy I can make myself. It's not a me versus -- it's like, we're just trying to make each other better."

Well Snyder got better. After two weeks this fall, he ranks 16^th nationally in punt average with only two of his nine kicks returned, five landing inside the 20. He turned heads at Lucas Oil Stadium week one with two soaring 50-yarders in the first quarter alone. That's certainly a way to welcome yourself back.

"We've always had confidence he had all the ability in the world," Dougherty said. "He just had to show he could do it on a consistent basis."

That's to no fault of his own. Consistent is something Snyder could never be with punting before he got to Ball State. He took it seriously, sure, but there was so much else going on. The Ohio product was also the quarterback at Marysville High School and the Monarchs' ace pitcher in the spring.

A Snyder high school football practice consisted of running the entire offense and punting really only when the time called for it. In college it's a different deal. As the name implies, Snyder's become a specialist, with nothing but time to perfect his lone duty.

"I probably dropped the ball [on my foot] one hundred thousand more times than I did in high school because you're focused on so many other things in high school," Snyder said.

"Being a full-time punter," Dougherty said, "was not something that he was accustomed to."

Now that's exactly what Snyder is, but he's not just a full-time punter; he's the full-time punter. In these parts that's not a job that comes open often.

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