Bryan Snyder

Coaching Accomplishments

• Terry McCann Award Winner – USA Wrestling Freestyle Coach of the Year (2017)
• 27 All-Americans Coached to 55 Honors
• Coached Jordan Burroughs to an Olympic Gold Medal (2012) and Four World Championships Titles (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
• Coached James Green to Two World Medals (Silver in 2017; Bronze in 2015)
• Guided five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in his one season as head assistant coach at Arizona State
• 15 seasons as an assistant head coach or associate head coach

Bryan Snyder enters his 16th season as a coach for the Nebraska wrestling program and his 14th season as associate head coach in 2024-25. Since returning to the NU staff in 2011, Snyder has helped turn Nebraska’s middle weight classes into national powers, as Huskers at the weight classes of 157, 165, 174 and 184 have earned a total of 32 All-America honors since 2011.

Snyder was the 2017 Terry McCann Award winner as USA Wrestling’s Freestyle Co-Coach of the Year, and serves alongside Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning as personal coaches for Jordan Burroughs and James Green, in addition to his duties with the NU wrestling team.

From 2011-12 to 2023-24, Snyder has assisted in helping the Huskers rack up 47All-America honors. Mikey Labriola became the first five-time All-American in Husker wrestling history, Green earned All-America accolades four times, while Robert Kokesh and TJ Dudley each ended their careers as three-time All-Americans. Green and Kokesh also collected the first two Big Ten titles in school history in 2014, Kokesh added a second one in 2015, Silas Allred in 2023, and Ridge Lovett tallied another in 2024. 

In 2019-20, Snyder helped Nebraska to a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, the team’s best finish at the event. A program-high eight Huskers garnered All-America honors, including Chad Red Jr. earning his third honor and Taylor Venz, Isaiah White and Mikey Labriola picking up their second awards. 
In his first season at NU as a coach, Snyder played a key role in helping Burroughs win his second national championship with a perfect 36-0 record. Snyder also helped Burroughs win the 2011 74-kilogram freestyle World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, becoming the first U.S. wrestler to win a freestyle title since 2006. Additionally, Snyder helped Burroughs win the freestyle gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics as well as the 2013 and 2015 FILA World Championships. Burroughs also represented the United States in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Most recently, Snyder helped Burroughs to gold at the 2021 World Championships. He also helped Green to bronze at the 2015 World Championships and silver at the 2017 World Championships.
Snyder, an Easton, Pa., native spent the 2009-10 season as the head assistant coach at Arizona State and helped guide five Sun Devils to the NCAA Championships in Omaha. Snyder began his coaching experience as an assistant at Harvard in 2002-03, while returning to the Husker wrestling program as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons (2003-04 and 2004-05), as NU went 38-5-1 in duals and finished fifth at the 2004 NCAA Championships. He helped coach eight All-Americans at NU during that time.

Snyder graduated from Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and communication studies in 2002. He earned a Master of Arts in 2005 before earning a Ph.D. in 2012.

One of the most decorated wrestlers in program history, Snyder owns the best winning percentage all-time at Nebraska with a mark of .925, compiling a 136-11 record from 1999 to 2002. A member of Nebraska’s 100-win club, he claimed All-America accolades and a Big 12 championship all four years, while finishing as the NCAA runner-up at 157 pounds in 2001 and 2002.

He amassed more than 30 wins in a season three times, including his 43-3 record as a sophomore that stands as the second-best single-season mark in school history. A four-time NWCA All-Academic selection, Snyder was named the 2002 Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year and was also a four-time first-team academic All-Big 12 selection.

Prior to Nebraska, Snyder was a three-time state place-winner and a 1997 state champion at Easton (Pa.) High School. He finished with a 112-12 record and was one of the nation’s most highly regarded recruits.