Early career Snow began his coaching career at the
high school level at
Berkeley High in 1976 and his alma mater
Winters High Snow spent three years at
Laney College in
Oakland, as the secondary coach (1979), and co-defensive coordinator
Boise State Starting in
1982, Snow served on the staff at
Boise State for five years under head coaches
Jim Criner and
Lyle Setencich; he was the defensive coordinator for the Broncos in his last four seasons, all under Setencich. His
1986 squad was ranked sixth in the nation in total defense, allowing just 269.4 yards per game and recorded two shutouts. It also yielded just 80.3 yards on the ground to rank fourth in the nation in that category. In his final three seasons at Boise State, Snow was assistant head coach in addition to his duties as
California At
California under head coach
Bruce Snyder, Snow tutored the secondary for five seasons in
Berkeley, improving the unit each year. His philosophy of man-to-man coverage was a key ingredient in the Golden Bear defensive success. The
1990 and 1991 teams won consecutive
bowl games for the first time in school history. The 1991 team moved up as high as sixth in the
national rankings and played in the school's first
New Year's Day bowl game
in 33 years; they ended at and eighth , and Snyder (and Snow) went to
Arizona State Sun Devil defensive standouts Craig Newsome,
Lenny McGill, Kevin Miniefield, and Jason Simmons played under Snow and all went on to the NFL. The
1996 team went undefeated in the regular season and finished first in the conference in rush defense (98.0), pass defense (104.2), and total defense (306.2). It held
Nebraska scoreless and limited the opposition to under 10 points in five games total that season. Led by quarterback
Jake Plummer, the Sun Devils narrowly lost the
Rose Bowl to
Ohio State and finished fourth In
1999, Snow's defense finished third in the Pac-10 in scoring defense and featured NFL draft picks
Erik Flowers and
Junior Ioane on a team which played in the Aloha Bowl. His
1997 group ranked third in the Pac-10, but was first in scoring defense (18.5 ppg). The unit was led by Morris Trophy winner
Jeremy Staat and Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year
Pat Tillman. ASU won the
Sun Bowl and finished at 14th Snow spent fourteen seasons on Snyder's staff at California and Arizona State. While at ASU, Snow's defenses posted five shutouts and held opponents to 10 points or less in 22 games. His defensive units ranked among the top three in scoring defense in the Pac-10 in three of his last five seasons at ASU. In
2000, the Sun Devils ranked first in the nation in fumbles recovered and third in the country in number of turnovers created. The group was headlined by Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year
Adam Archuleta and Freshman of the Year
UCLA Snyder was replaced by
Dirk Koetter after the 2000 season, and Snow became the defensive coordinator at
UCLA in January
2001 under sixth-year head coach
Bob Toledo. The Bruin defense ranked first in the Pac-10 in total defense in 2001, and also finished the season ranked second in the league in rushing defense and scoring defense. Linebacker
Robert Thomas, a first round selection by the
Rams in the
2002 NFL draft, earned Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors, and
Kenyon Coleman was the defensive winner of the Morris Trophy as the Pac-10's
Washington Snow spent two seasons (
2003,
2004) with the
University of Washington in
Seattle under head coach
Detroit Lions In the
National Football League, Snow coached the
Detroit Lions' linebacker corps for three seasons (
2006–
2008), after working as a defensive assistant on the staff in
2005.
Eastern Michigan Snow was the defensive coordinator at
Eastern Michigan University in
Ypsilanti for three seasons under his former University of California player Ron English.
Temple Snow became the defensive coordinator at
Temple in 2013 under head coach
Matt Rhule, who had served as an assistant underneath Snow at UCLA. The Owls went 2–10 in 2013, their worst performance since going 1–11 in 2006. Under his coaching, linebacker
Tyler Matakevich led the
AAC in tackles. Matakevich was named 1st-team All-AAC.
2014 In 2014 the Owls improved, going 6-6. After allowing 29.8 points per game in Snow's inaugural season, Temple's defense limited opponents to just 17.5 points per game in 2014, which was the fourth-best mark in Division I. For his efforts, Snow was nominated for the
Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's best coordinator. During the regular season, the Owls defeated No. 21 ranked
East Carolina 20–10. Under his coaching, linebacker
Tyler Matakevich led the AAC in solo tackles, defensive lineman
Praise Martin-Oguike ranked 4th in sacks and second in forced fumbles, and defensive back
Tavon Young ranked 5th in interceptions, 1st in interception return yards, and 4th in passes defended. Matakevich was named 1st-team All-AAC and Martin-Oguike &
Matt Ioannidis were named 2nd-team All-AAC.
2015 In 2015, Snow's defense was once again one of the best in the nation. Temple limited opponents to just 20.1 points per game, the 17th-best mark in Division I, en route to a season that saw the Owls defeat
Penn State for the first time in 74 years and become nationally ranked for the first time since 1979. The Owls also ranked 20th in Total Defense. They qualified for the
2015 Boca Raton Bowl and lost to
Toledo 17–32. Following the regular season, Snow was once again nominated for the Broyles Award. Under his coaching, linebacker
Tyler Matakevich ranked 2nd in the AAC in tackles, 3rd in tackles for loss and 2nd in interceptions, defensive lineman
Nate Smith ranked 5th in sacks, safety
Sean Chandler ranked 5th in interceptions, 3rd in passes defended, and led the AAC in interception return yards & touchdowns, and linebacker
Jarred Alwan led the AAC in forced fumbles. Matakevich was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year. Matakevich,
Matt Ioannidis, Smith, and
Alex Wells were all named 1st-team All-AAC & Chandler was named 2nd-team All-AAC.
2016 In 2016, The Owls went 10-3 and qualified for the
2016 Military Bowl. They would go on to lose to
Wake Forest 26–34. During the season, Temple would defeat No. 19 ranked
Navy in the AAC championship game. Under his coaching, linebacker
Haason Reddick led the AAC in tackles for loss and 2nd in sacks and forced fumbles, defensive lineman
Praise Martin-Oguike was 5th in sacks, and defensive back
Delvon Randall was 5th in interceptions. Reddick was named 1st-team All-AAC and Martin-Oguike,
Sean Chandler &
Avery Williams were named 2nd-team All-AAC.
Players coached into the NFL Source: •
Tyler Matakevich (2013-2015), linebacker for the
Pittsburgh Steelers •
Tavon Young (2013-2015), cornerback for the
Baltimore Ravens •
Haason Reddick (2013-2016), linebacker for the
Carolina Panthers •
Sean Chandler (2015-2016), safety for the
New York Giants •
Nate Hairston (2013-2016), cornerback for the
New York Jets •
Jullian Taylor (2014-2016), defensive tackle for the
San Francisco 49ers •
Matt Ioannidis (2013-2016), defensive tackle for the
Washington Redskins Baylor On February 16, 2017, Snow was named defensive coordinator of the
Baylor Bears. The Bears ended the season with a record of 1–11. Ira Savage-Lewis ended the season 10th in tackles for loss and 7th in sacks in the
Big 12. In 2018, the Bears went 7-6 and defeated
Vanderbilt in the
Texas Bowl 45–38. Defensive lineman
James Lynch & linebacker Clay Johnston were named
All-Big 12. Johnston ranked fifth in total tackles (3rd assisted) in the Big 12. In 2019, the Bears went 11-3 and lost to both
Jalen Hurts'
Oklahoma and
Jake Fromm's
Georgia in the
Big 12 Championship and the
Sugar Bowl respectively. Snow helped Baylor become the top defense of the Big 12. Defensive lineman
James Lynch &
Bravvion Roy, linebackers Terrel Bernard & Clay Johnston, and defensive backs Grayland Arnold & Chris Miller were all named to the
All-Big 12. James Lynch ranked 7th in the NCAA in tackles for loss and 5th in sacks. Grayland Arnold ranked 5th in interceptions and led the NCAA in interception yards.
Players coached into the NFL Source: • Greg Roberts (2017-2018), linebacker for the
Green Bay Packers • Ira Savage-Lewis (2017-2018), defensive end for the
Houston Texans Carolina Panthers On January 20, 2020, Snow was hired by the
Carolina Panthers as their defensive coordinator, reuniting with head coach
Matt Rhule. On October 10, 2022, Snow was let go after the firing of Rhule. ==Personal life==