Bixby’s Emory Snyder
By Bryce McKinnis
Emory Snyder has had a year every high school football player dreams of.
The 6-foot-4 Bixby High School safety had 45 tackles, 14 breakups and six interceptions as he guided the Spartans to the 6A-I State Championship, their 10th title in 11 years, last fall.
“Coming into my junior year, I had playing college football in my mind, but I was mainly focused on getting another gold ball,” Snyder said. “Our season had a lot of ups and downs. But we were very resilient the whole season and found a way to fight failure whenever it came. We always found a way.”
He received his first Division I offer a month later. The phone kept ringing, and the days that followed could best be described as a whirlwind as Snyder became an overnight commodity.
“When it picked up, it picked up quickly,” Snyder said. “I went from no offers to 15-plus in about two-and-a-half weeks.”
Among the suitors was Big 12 powerhouse West Virginia, who offered Snyder in February. On April 10, he made his commitment to the Mountaineers.
“From the first call with coach [Henry] Weinreich, to the first time I stepped on campus, it just felt right,” Snyder said. “They showed me that I was a huge priority to them and they told me the plans they had for me and my future at West Virginia. They showed me the different ways that I’ll fit in their defense and all the different things I will do. They really just showed me the most love.”
In Bixby, America, they don’t play football; They play Bixby Football. Snyder’s assimilation into the culture of Oklahoma football’s most decorated program began in the second grade.
“I fell in love with it the second I started playing. I’ve played Bixby Football my whole life,” Snyder said. “The things that I’ve worked on the most is honestly being consistent in the weight room. I used to be the skinniest kid on the field, and now I have put on a lot of size and weight.”
As the years passed and Snyder grew into a Division I player’s body, a clear path towards stardom appeared, but with it came a sense of complacency.
“My sophomore year, I had the chance to start three games, and I don’t think that I wasn’t ready, but I think I could’ve been more prepared and successful when I did start if I had the next-man-up mentality,” Snyder said. “I was complacent being the second-string behind two seniors, and I didn’t realize that my time could come at any time.”
Though the 2023 season ended with yet another Gold Ball, Snyder didn’t feel that he had soaked in all he could. In preparation for his junior season, he reminded himself of the core values of Bixby Football established by the orchestrator of a generation of football dominance, head coach Loren Montgomery: “Discipline, Integrity, Selflessness and Consistency.”
“This year, our fifth core value is resilience,” Snyder said. “Coach Montgomery does a great job at instilling these core values into us. They drill it into your head until you realize it becomes a part of you and the way you are not only on the field, but off the field in your everyday life.
Now a senior eying his fourth state title, Snyder has dedicated more of his attention to mentoring the underclassmen wearing the same shoes he once wore.
