Pennsbury brings back Snyder to turn around program
FAIRLESS HILLS, PA. » As the losses started piling up for one of the most storied high school football programs in the Delaware Valley, what most everyone thought was coming came to fruition Thursday night.
Galen Snyder has been hired to return for a second stint as the Pennsbury High School head football coach.
If Snyder’s second go round with the Falcons was anything like his highly-successful first, it shouldn’t be long before Pennsbury returns as a major force following a season in which it hit rock bottom with an 0-10 record and its winless streak extended to 16 games.
Prior to stepping down in 2016 and heading over to Truman where he helped guide the Tigers to their greatest season in program history, Snyder was the head coach at Pennsbury for 14 years.
A standout linebacker who was a key member of Pennsbury’s undefeated team in 1985 before playing at Duke
University and Columbia, Snyder compiled a coaching record of 11648 in his 14 years with a winning percentage
of over .700.
During that span, Pennsbury won four Suburban One National League titles. Even more impressively, he led Pennsbury to two district titles and two state semifinals in Pennsylvania’s largest school bracket.
“The program is not in a good place,” replied Snyder when asked why he decided to return. “I was not happy about that. I want to see what I can do to turn things around.”
Snyder will certainly have his work cut out for him. This past season the Falcons had their fewest number of players and their smallest team in terms of physical size in memory.
Long known as a program that specialized in a power running game along with a swarming and physical defense, Pennsbury became deficient in both of those areas.
Snyder’s coaching style is perfectly suited to restore the Falcons’ superiority on both of those fronts.
“This isn’t magic,” said Snyder. “It’s all about a lot of hard work and putting things back together.”
Prior to its current 16-game losing streak, Pennsbury rarely had more than one or two losing seasons in each decade. The fact the program fell so far upset a lot of people in a community that has long supported the program with huge home crowds.
The fact the program is back in the hands of one of its own sons who specializes in the Falcons’ tradition of hard-nosed football makes the selection of Snyder an even more popular choice in Pennsbury football circles.
Adding to the excitement is the fact Pennsbury has decided to build an entirely new football stadium with a new field.