April 25, 2002
LAS VEGAS - Longtime college head coach Bruce Snyder will add his expert analysis to UNLV football games as part of the school's radio broadcast team, ESPN Regional announced Thursday. Snyder will join second-year play-by-play voice Tim Neverett in the booth beginning with this fall's season opener vs. Wisconsin on August 31.
"We think Tim and Bruce will make a perfect announcing team for the Rebels in what promises to be an exciting season," ESPN Regional at UNLV General Manager Tina Kunzer-Murphy said. "Fans got familiar with Tim last year and now we are adding someone with valuable sideline experience from the highest level. We think that will make for great radio."
Snyder spent 14 of the last 15 years in the Pacific-10 Conference. He headed the University of California program from 1987-1991 before being lured to the desert to lead Arizona State from 1992-2000. The native of Santa Monica, Calif., was the consensus national coach of the year after leading the Sun Devils to an 11-1 record and Rose Bowl appearance in a 1996 season that ended just a few plays short of a national championship. During his tenure, ASU also made trips to the Sun Bowl after the 1997 season and the 1999 Aloha Bowl.
Snyder had also turned Cal's program around, earning Pac-10 coach of the year in 1990 with a Copper Bowl appearance as well as a 10-2 record one season later that included a trip to the Citrus Bowl. He previously was head coach at Utah State from 1976-82 and won PCAA Coach of the Year in 1978.
Snyder spent the 2001 season adding analysis to nine national broadcasts of college football games throughout the country with former Rebel announcer Larry Kahn. The duo's work on Khan's Pacific West Sports Network included trips to football hotbeds such as Miami, Texas and Michigan State. He also joined Kahn in calling the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl live from Sam Boyd Stadium.
"I found broadcasting to be very enjoyable, it keeps me near the game of football, which has dominated my life," Snyder said. "I am certainly excited about joining the UNLV team. I think I can add an energy to the booth."
Snyder and UNLV head coach and athletics director John Robinson have a long relationship, which includes working on the same coaching staff at their alma mater, Oregon, as well as at USC and the NFL's Los Angeles Rams.
"I have known John Robinson for 40 years and I think it will be fun to give fans listening a different perspective on what he is doing from the sidelines and why," Snyder said. "I have to be even in my calling but after seeing different schools every Saturday last year, it will be nice to have a team to follow week-in and week-out. It's going to be a heck of a lot of fun." Robinson, who enters his fourth season leading UNLV, said he is looking forward to having Snyder on the air.
"We are delighted to welcome Bruce Snyder to Rebel football," Robinson said. "He is one of my best friends but also one of the best football minds in America. He has excellent insight into the game and he is going to be an important part of this program."
