The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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COMMITMENT PROFILE Scott Sypniewski Fills Michigan's Need At Long Snapper per Taybor Pepper of Saline (Mich.) High chose to accept a scholarship offer from Michigan State instead of becoming a preferred walk-on for Michigan, it seemed like a blow to the Wolverines, but not a serious one. After all, Fenton (Mich.) High pros- pect Tyler Tokarsky will walk on in the 2012 class. For Ottawa (Ill.) Marquette pros- When class of 2012 long snap- pect Scott Sypniewski, Pepper's de- cision created an opportunity in the 2013 class. Sypniewski attended most of Michigan's home games in 2011 as a recruiting visitor, but didn't believe he'd have the chance to join the Wol- verines as a scholarship recruit. The Michigan coaching staff, though, saw a need at the position and offered him a scholarship — which he im- mediately accepted. "I wasn't expecting this at all," Sypniewski said. "I was never sure if I was going to get an offer, and Coach [Dan] Ferrigno just laid it on me. It was great. All my hard work can be summed up in one word: scholarship. I was just overjoyed. It's so exciting. "I'm extremely happy. The staff is incredible — I really fell in love with Michigan. I kept in close con- Sypniewski "The staff is incredible — I really fell in love with Michigan." tact with Coach Ferrigno in the last few months. We've been e-mailing back and forth, and we talked on the phone a couple times. He's great, and I'm excited to play for him." While it may seem unnecessary to Sypniewski is considered to be the third- best long snapper in the class of 2012 by Chris Rubio, who runs camps around the runs camps around the country coaching the art of long snapping. "His snap is just so smooth, but it's still a such a rapid movement. "You almost think there's no way "He's fantastic," said Rubio, who it could be coming this quick, be- cause it's so smooth. It just 'boom' hits you." Rubio recalls that Sypniewski in January, and after that I had him ranked third or fourth," said Rubio. "He was legitimately ticked off at me, in an encouraging way, because he had the mindset: 'You don't think I can do it? I'll show you I can.' He wanted to prove it. He asked me to tell him exactly what he needed to work on. "Sometimes teenagers have that attitude where they think they know everything, but this kid never had that attitude. He listens. You tell him to work on his footwork, he gets bet- ter. You tell him to work on accuracy, he gets better in that area. I saw him in April again, and he was just domi- nant. He's on fire right now." Although Rivals.com ranks "There was a camp in Las Vegas country coaching the art of long snapping. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS RUBIO/RUBIO LONG SNAPPING Sypniewski as just a two-star pros- pect (the by-product of playing at a position with little glamour), Rubio's long snapper grades rank him as a five-star, and he is capable of con- tributing immediately at the college level. Sypniewski's pace on 15-yard snaps — he's routinely timed at a very good 0.69 seconds, behind only Mazza in the class — should allow him to make an impact in the punt- ing and placekicking games. Although his whirlwind recruit- made a big leap after getting some motivation earlier this winter. offer a scholarship for a position that is traditionally filled by a walk-on, the 6-1, 230-pound Sypniewski is no average snapper. According to long snapping expert Chris Rubio, he's the third-best player in the country at the position, behind only Alabama- bound Cole Mazza and future Ne- braska Cornhusker Gabriel Miller — both scholarship offer recipients themselves. Rubio said that not only are Sypniewski's work ethic and attitude top notch, but he has the physical skills required to snap the ball with pace and accuracy every time. 72 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2012 ment consisted of just one scholar- ship offer and acceptance the same day, Sypniewski is not overwhelmed by the chance to see the field early in his career. If his track record says anything about him, it's that he's ready to seize the opportunity ahead of him. — Tim Sullivan and Andy Reid scrimmage position quickly back to the specialist. In game situations, nothing is more important than fast snaps to avoid blocked kicks. Sypniewski's snaps are also accurate, hitting his punter or holder in the hands Strengths: Sypniewski has an outstanding ability to get the ball from the FILM EVALUATION with remarkable consistency. This prevents bobbled balls, which can lead to major gaffes in the special teams. Areas of Improvement: While Sypniewski has decent size for a high school long snapper, he's going to have to continue adding weight to contribute at the college level. Toning his current body shape will also be a huge benefit. He has athletic enough to get downfield and make tackles — an underrated part of the snapper's duties — but will need to continue developing an aggres- sive mindset of going after the return man. Michigan Player Comparison: Tom Pomarico was a three-year starter at long snapper for Michigan and rarely made a snap that was anything less than per- fect. Like Pomarico, Sypniewski comes in with good snapping skills, but a need to develop physically.