Former Marshall coach to South Florida

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Former Marshall head coach Mark Snyder, once Ohio State's defensive coordinator, will be the defensive coordinator at South Florida under new Bulls coach Skip Holtz, a source said Monday.

The 45-year-old Snyder, an Ohio native who was one of the Buckeyes' primary Florida recruiters and recruited Santonio Holmes to Ohio State, compiled a 22-37 record in five seasons at Marshall, his alma mater. In late November, after coaching the Thundering Herd to a 6-6 mark in the regular season, he resigned following a 52-21 loss to UTEP. Marshall went on to beat Ohio 21-17 in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

South Florida announced Snyder's hiring in a statement but did not specify his official title, saying he was among five assistants Holtz had added to his staff.

Also joining Holtz will be Todd Fitch, Vernon Hargreaves, Peter Vaas and Rick Smith.

Snyder came to Marshall in 2005 after four seasons as an assistant at Ohio State. He was a part of the Buckeyes' staff during Ohio State's national championship season in 2002. He also has coached at Minnesota, Central Florida and Youngstown State.

Holtz was hired at USF after the university fired Jim Leavitt, following accusations he grabbed a player by the throat during halftime of a game in November, slapped him in the face twice and then lied about the incident during the subsequent investigation.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine.

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Bruce Feldman is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He joined ESPN in July 1994 as a writer for ESPNET (now ESPN.com) and in May 1998 came to ESPN The Magazine.