Bruce Snyder, pictured with his wife Linda, lost his 10-month battle with cancer on Monday. The former Utah State, California and Arizona State coach was 69.
He leaves an impressive legacy, including a 1996 Arizona State team that nearly won the national title. The Sun Devils, featuring Jake Plummer and Pat Tillman, finished the regular season 11-0, including a 19-0 victory over Nebraska, and earned a berth to the Rose Bowl, where they played Ohio State.
In Pasadena, Arizona State grabbed a 17-14 lead late in the fourth quarter on a Plummer scramble, but the Buckeyes regrouped and eventually scored on a Joe Germaine touchdown pass to David Boston with 19 seconds remaining for a 20-17 victory.
Snyder chronicled his fight with cancer on his blog. Last fall, he gave a lengthy interview to George Schroeder of the Eugene Register-Guard.
"You go through your life," Snyder told Schroeder, "and a lot of us don't really know what kind of path we've left. … When I do beat this, I'm gonna be a better person on the other end for having gone through it."
Comments