Seminole, Oklahoma -
An Oklahoma high school is looking
to make a little history Friday night. The Seminole Chieftains are celebrating
100 years of football here at the high school and one man has led the players
out on this field for 41 of those years. Now on Friday night Coach Mike Snyder
is looking for win number 300.
"Only job I've ever had: Seminole
High School," Coach Snyder said.
You'd never know it, but at
one time Snyder hated Chieftain football. That was when he was playing for
Holdenville High.
"My senior year we ended up in
a big fight right here on this field until I stepped back coaching in
1972."
When he steps on the field
now, there's no doubt where his heart is.
"I think it's been a blessing
to me and I think God has put me in a place to do that, and hopefully I've
returned that," Snyder said.
Former players, now parents,
move back just to have Snyder's lessons taught to their sons.
"Football is I think a
metaphor for life. I think everything you do on the football field is going to
carry over into your life," Snyder said. "It is something special, the
opportunity to have an impact on kids."
One big football family, literally,
10 players wearing white and green are second generation for Snyder.
"You can't put money on that.
You can't judge that. That's heartfelt and something you can't duplicate."
A family that would love this
coach win or lose, but they hope to duplicate last year's victory over Tecumseh.
"We expect to get the 300th
win tonight," said former player and now father of a current player, Lance King.
"It's going to happen when it
happens," Coach said.
Snyder says he's got his eye
on the bigger picture and loves this job.
"It just needs to be a win for
Seminole High School. We need to be 2 and 0 and if it happens to be 300 that's
great," he said.
Bring on 400, Snyder says he
is just doing what he loves.
"The adrenaline, I always said
when I get tired of walking down that hill to this football field is when I
quit and I'm not tired yet," Snyder said with a laugh.
The coaches under Snyder are
under strict rules not to tell the player's about what's at stake tonight
because he doesn't want them to feel bad or lose focus. Snyder's son is an
assistant coach at Seminole.
"We expect to get the 300th win tonight," said former player and now father of a current player, Lance King.
