Phil Snow joins the Panthers as the team's defensive coordinator after spending the last three years as Matt Rhule's defensive coordinator at Baylor. Snow and Rhule have coached together for over seven years, with stops at Temple, Baylor and now Carolina.
A veteran with 37 years of collegiate coaching experience, Snow has served as defensive coordinator at seven previous schools, among them UCLA, Washington, Arizona State, Boise State and Temple and Baylor. He also coached four seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions.
Under Snow's leadership in 2019, Baylor ranked 41st in the nation in total defense, and finished second in turnovers gained (30), third in interceptions (17), eighth in sacks per game (3.31), and fifth in turnover margin (1.08). During Snow's final year in Waco, he saw Baylor defensive tackle James Lynch finished fifth in the nation in sacks (13.5) and cornerback Grayland Arnold ranked fifth in interceptions (6). Lynch was also named the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Year, and the unit placed two players on the All-Big 12 First Team Defense.
Prior to Baylor, Snow spent four seasons at Temple under Rhule, where his squad led the AAC in defense in both 2015 and 2016. The 2016 defense ranked third nationally in total defense (282.5 ypg) and 11th in scoring (18.4 ppg) to help lead the Owls to an AAC championship and 10-4 record. Snow coached All-AAC linebacker and eventual first-round draft pick Haason Reddick, picked 13th overall by the Arizona Cardinals in 2017.
Snow's 2015 defense at Temple led the conference in most defensive categories, including rushing and scoring, led by first-team All-American linebacker Tyler Matakevich. The 2014 Owls' defense ranked fourth nationally in scoring (17.5 ppg, an improvement from 29.8 the previous season). Temple made 30 takeaways to rank among the top five programs nationally (including a nation's-best 19 fumble recoveries).
Prior to Temple, Snow spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Eastern Michigan University. Where he helped EMU rank 38th nationally in passing defense in 2012 and 35th in 2011. The team gave up 350.3 yards per game in 2011, an improvement of over 100 yards per game from the season before.
From 2005 to 2008, Snow coached in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, where he mentored the linebackers. In 2007, linebacker Ernie Sims ranked fourth in the NFL with 134 tackles.
Prior to his stint in the NFL, he coached at the University of Washington, in 2004 as the defensive coordinator and 2003 as co-coordinator.
Snow spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at UCLA, where he mentored current Baylor head coach Matt Rhule during the 2001 season. The Bruins led the Pac-10 in total defense in Snow's first season. The unit also finished the season ranked second in the league in rushing defense and scoring defense. Linebacker Robert Thomas, a 2002 first-round draft pick of the Rams, won 2001 Pac-10 Defense Player of the Year honors.
Prior to UCLA, Snow spent nine seasons as the defensive coordinator at Arizona State and helped lead the Sun Devils to the 1996 Rose Bowl, 1997 Sun Bowl and 1999 and 2000 Aloha Bowls. The 1996 ASU squad finished fourth in the national polls, and Snow's defense ranked first in the conference in rushing defense (98.0), passing defense (104.2) and total defense (306.2).
Snow was defensive backs coach at California from 1987-91, served as an assistant at Boise State from 1982-86 and took his first collegiate job at Laney College in 1979 where he worked through 1981.
A 1978 graduate of Cal-State Hayward, Snow began his coaching career at the high school level, coaching at Berkeley (Calif.) High School in 1976 and at his high school alma mater, Winters (Calif.) High School, from 1977 to 1978.
The Woodland, Calif., native, earned his associate's degree at Sacramento City College in 1975 before completing his bachelor's at Cal-State Hayward. Snow and his wife, Debra, have two sons, Philip and Jacob.
- 1979 | Laney College | Defensive Backs
- 1980-81 | Laney College | Defensive Coordinator
- 1982 | Boise State | Defensive Backs
- 1983-86 | Boise State | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
- 1987-91 | California | Defensive Backs
- 1992-94 | Arizona State | Defensive Backs
- 1995-2000 | Arizona State | Defensive Coordinator
- 2001-02 | UCLA | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
- 2003 | Washington | Co-Defensive Coordinator/Cornerbacks
- 2005 | Detroit Lions | Defensive Assistant
- 2006-08 | Detroit Lions | Linebackers
- 2010-12 | Eastern Michigan | Defensive Coordinator
- 2013-16 | Temple | Defensive Coordinator
- 2017-19 | Baylor | Defensive Coordinator
- 2020-pres | Carolina Panthers | Defensive Coordinator
