When Mike Snyder makes a bold statement concerning his Seminole football team, one should pay the strictest of attention. The Chieftain head coach since 1980, Snyder has molded his program into one of the state’s finest.
So when Snyder says the first four games of the 2008 schedule will comprise the toughest stretch in his distinguished coaching career, that is a mouthful.
That four-game starting schedule was born of necessity after the Chieftains moved from Class 3A to 4A. When redistricting occurred, Seminole became the smallest school in the 32-team 4A field.
By switching classes, Seminole had to completely revamp its non-district schedule. Gone are Tecumseh and McLoud, longtime fixtures on Seminole’s non-district slate. Tecumseh, McLoud and Seminole are now part of the same 4A district and will play each other as such.
The Chieftains also bid adios to non-district foe Wewoka, normally their season-opening foe. The parting of the ways came by mutual consent. The long-running series had become very one-sided in Seminole’s corner.
“Neither Wewoka or Seminole wanted to give up the series because it was a huge financial gate,” Snyder said. “But Wewoka is kind of in a rebuilding process right now.”
With Tecumseh, McLoud and Wewoka no longer district competition, Snyder went shopping.
He came up with Duncan, a quality 5A program, for his Sept. 5 season opener. “We were looking at some Arkansas teams to play and Duncan came across as an opponent,” Snyder said. “There’s not too many people who will expect us to win that game, but we don’t mind playing bigger people. It should be a good opener for us.”
After hosting Duncan, Seminole will trek to 4A Sallisaw, then close out non-district confrontation against Newcastle, perennially a strong 3A programs.
And if that isn’t enough to make one’s legs buckle, Seminole will launch its 4A district season against defending state runner-up Glenpool.
“That is probably the toughest four-game stretch — at any time during a season — that we’ve ever had,” Snyder said.
That covers four different decades. Snyder’s first year as a Seminole assistant coach was 1972.
Along with Tecumseh, McLoud and Glenpool, Seminole will also battle district opponents Star-Spencer, Cleveland, Cushing and Mannford.
The switch to 4A doesn’t set off a security alarm in Snyder’s scheme of thought.
“At times, we’ve been as good as anyone in 4A,” he said. “We always feel like we can compete because our kids always think they can win.
“The move isn’t such an issue if you had eight starters back on offense and eight on defense. But we have just two or three starters back on both sides, and we don’t have our starting quarterback back.”
Despite that inexperience, Snyder isn’t shaking about his non-district selections.
“I’m excited and the kids are excited about playing people like Duncan,” Snyder said. “We felt like we needed to go find someone who would test us.”
