Feb. 24, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Clifford Snow, a veteran football administrator and coach, is the new director of football operations at Kentucky, Coach Joker Phillips has announced.
Snow will assist Phillips in all football administration duties, as well as serving as the liaison to compliance, academics and other university areas. He also is responsible for team travel, coordinating clinics, preseason training camp, football budget and supervising the football support staff.
Snow comes to UK from East Carolina, where he served in the same position for the last five seasons. Prior to ECU, he spent six years as the director of football operations and special assistant to the head coach at South Carolina.
“I worked with Clifford when we were together at South Carolina (in the 2002 season) and he was director of football operations for Coach (Lou) Holtz,” Phillips said. “I really like his organizational skills. No job was too big for him and no job was too small. I’m glad he’s a part of ‘Operation Win.’”
A native of Bristol, Conn., Snow played defensive back at Central Connecticut State, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. After graduation, he spent three and one-half years as a biological research technician, studying Lyme disease. At the same time, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach for four seasons at The Gilbert School in Winsted, Conn. He then moved to Windsor (Conn.) HS, spending four seasons as an assistant and before being elevated to head coach for three years.
Snow entered the collegiate ranks on Skip Holtz’ staff at the University of Connecticut, where he coached the defensive line from 1995-98 and added the duties of recruiting coordinator in his last season. UConn’s best season came in 1998, when the Huskies went 10-3 and made their first appearance in the Division I-AA playoffs, advancing to the second round.
Snow transitioned to administration in 1999 when he went to South Carolina, leading to his subsequent roles at East Carolina and Kentucky. At UK, he replaces Steve Hellyer, who is retiring from his post.
Snow is married to the former Janet Wallace, who is a gifted artist.
“It is an honor to join Coach Phillips’ staff and the UK family,” Snow said. “Joker is an exceptional person and football coach. This is an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Martin, Summers Among Nation’s Top-20 Hires: The hiring of wide receivers coach Tee Martin and offensive line coach Mike Summers are among the top-20 assistant coaching hires this year, according to Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com.
Dienhart highlighted the best assistant coach hirings at eight different positions and added 12 more honorable-mention picks. Martin and Summers were among those in the honorable-mention category.
Although he is only 10 years removed from his college playing days, Martin has been a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League, coached in college and high school and has extensive experience in coaching at developmental camps.
Summers, a 30-year coaching veteran, has worked with several highly productive offenses during his career. His offensive lines often have been the power plants for record-setting attacks.
Five Wildcats Participate in the NFL Combine: Fullback John Conner, linebacker Micah Johnson, cornerback Trevard Lindley, linebacker Sam Maxwell and defensive tackle Corey Peters have been invited to the National Football League Scouting Combine, which is being held Feb. 24 through March 2 in Indianapolis.
Johnson, Lindley, Maxwell and Peters earned All-Southeastern Conference honors during their careers. Fullbacks are seldom (if ever) chosen for all-conference teams, but Conner is currently listed as the NFL’s top fullback prospect and was named the SEC’s “Best Blocking Back” in the Birmingham News 2009 league preview.
The SEC has 64 players in this year’s combine, well ahead of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten and Big 12, which each have 41 representatives.
Seven UK Coaches Have Been Recruiting Coordinators: When Mike Summers and David Turner were hired in January, we reported that six members of the UK coaching staff have been recruiting coordinators during their careers.
Actually, that number is seven, as Steve Ortmayer also has experience as recruiting coordinator while he was coaching at the University of Colorado.
The complete list of UK coaches who also have been recruiting coordinators, and the schools at which they served, include:
- Steve Ortmayer (Colorado)
- Joker Phillips (Kentucky)
- Randy Sanders (Tennessee, Kentucky)
- Chuck Smith (Kentucky)
- Mike Summers (Oklahoma State, Oregon State)
- Chris Thurmond (Houston)
- David Turner (Vanderbilt)
