Although he saw limited action at his primary position of B-Back last season, if you’re a Tech football fan Broderick Snoddy is a player to be excited about. Snoddy is the fastest player on the Tech team, and one of the fastest in the conference. When given the opportunity, Snoddy showcased his speed last season. He had a 19 yard run last season in a blowout victory against Virginia where his speed was evident.
Snoddy broke the school record in the 60-meter not once, not twice, but three times.
Snoddy also performed well on the kickoff team as he chased down returners and recorded eight special team tackles. After football was over last season, Snoddy decided to take his talents from the field to the track.
“I had wanted to run so I got in touch with the track coach and we came to an agreement for me to run. Coach Johnson said it was fine with him as long as I kept my grades up,” Snoddy said.
For men’s track coach Grover Hinsdale, it turned out to be a good deal.
With football ending in December and track starting in January, Snoddy did not have much time to train specifically for track, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference to him.
“I’m not really sure if the training for track is different than training for football. The biggest difference in the two is for track you run your race, then you have your recovery time. For football you don’t have as long of a break in between.”
Snoddy, who was a track star in high school winning the state championship in both the 100 and 200 meters, did not disappoint at the collegiate level. Snoddy broke the school record in the 60-meter not once, not twice, but three times this season.
He broke the original school record at the Auburn Invitational with a time of 6.75 seconds. He would break his own school record after running the 60-meters in 6.72 seconds, and then he would do it a third time at the Samford Invitational when he ran a season best time of 6.67 seconds. Snoddy did well enough throughout the season to qualify for the NCAA Championships where he finished thirteenth in the nation in the 60-meter. Snoddy also competed in the 200-meters at various meets. At a meet in Kentucky, Snoddy took home first place in the 200. Snoddy was able to accomplish all of this even though he sat out from the sport for nearly two whole years.
Snoddy will be competing for the starting B-Back spot this spring with redshirt senior David Sims and junior Zach Laskey. Snoddy only had thirteen carries all of last season, but with his speed it could be dangerous for opponents if Snoddy can get the ball in the open field. Snoddy has worked a lot with potential starting quarterback Vad Lee, as they were both on the second string last season.
Snoddy believes that his track experience could show huge dividends next season on the football field.
“Running track will definitely help me with my conditioning for football. On the field, I’ll be able to keep pushing it even when I’m getting tired and just won’t get as winded as easily as I used to because track has gotten me in such good shape,” Snoddy said.
With spring football practice starting this week, Snoddy is done with track for the season, but he is not hanging up the spikes for good. When asked if he plans to continue running in the future, Snoddy replied, “Oh yeah. I’ll definitely keep on running.”