A bit of breaking news this morning, as senior safety Brandon Snyder announced his departure from the Iowa football program as a graduate transfer. His statement was exclusively provided to Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register, as Snyder doesn’t have Twitter. The full statement:
Brandon Snyder, who doesn't have Twitter, asked me to release this emotional statement about his departure from the Hawkeye program. Wish him nothing but the best. pic.twitter.com/CE1v0HObRq
— Chad Leistikow (@ChadLeistikow) July 31, 2018
Snyder completed his final undergraduate class at Iowa over the summer (as in, he completed it this week) and will be immediately eligible as a graduate transfer. Per Leistikow (Chad is putting in work today) he will be transferring to South Dakota State:
More news: Ex-Iowa player Brandon Snyder tells me he is heading to FCS power South Dakota State to complete his college eligibility. Season opener? At Iowa State. Here's his statement. pic.twitter.com/aeHjMSSMZ9
— Chad Leistikow (@ChadLeistikow) July 31, 2018
Only a few weeks ago we were discussing Snyder as part of our Positional Awareness series. An exceptional athlete from West Lyon High School, Snyder walked on at Iowa, redshirted and was quickly thrown into the fold as a redshirt freshman. As a redshirt sophomore, he was Iowa’s starting free safety and yes, there were struggles, but he progressed as the season went on and was going to be a dependable defensive back heading into the 2017. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in the spring and missed majority of the season, returning for the Illinois game where he did this:
That very same game he re-tore his ACL and was sidelined once again. When he aggressively pursued rehab a few weeks later (perhaps, over aggressively) he tore his ACL completely and missed the remainder of the 2017 season. He then incurred an OWI in December, placing him even deeper in the “great comeback story” hole. He was missing from the spring depth chart, presumably due to the injury, but was listed as a co-starter with Jake Gervase on the preseason spring two-deeps.
Even though Geno Stone and Gervase had emerged as potential starters at free safety, we figured that Snyder would seek redemption and find his way back into the starting lineup at some point over the course of the season. We figured that he’d partially done that, being listed as a co-starter with Gervase, so his announcement to transfer comes as a bit of a surprise. Also, there’s this, with the caveat of, y’know, the source:
I've been working on a Brandon Snyder column since hearing yesterday that he had left the team. There is a lot to this story beyond the search for more playing time. I wish Brandon well as he looks for a new opportunity. Column coming later today.
— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) July 31, 2018
So, maybe there is more to it.
Regardless of the circumstances, Snyder was a Hawkeye through and through and we wish him the best of luck at South Dakota State.
