SDSU

SDSU’s Schneider: Pro talent, but different career path

Terry Vandrovec
tvandrovec@argusleader.com

BROOKINGS – It happened again Wednesday, South Dakota State receivers coach and pro liaison Josh Davis forced to inform a couple visiting NFL scouts that Jason Schneider is uninterested in pursuing a career in the game.

That’s when the questions begin. What? Why? Does he lack commitment? Accomplished college players are supposed to fawn over NFL attention, be willing to give a limb – or at least risk a portion of their mental faculties – for an opportunity to make it in the league.

One especially perplexed scout was compelled to give Schneider more information, to make sure he knew about the salary structure. Practice squad players earn $6,300 a week this season, he pointed out.

No matter. The fifth-year senior Schneider decided before the season that his future is in pharmacy, not football. He’s just the second Jackrabbits player in the 18-year tenure of coach John Stiegelmeier to pass on legitimate NFL interest.

“With the opportunities I have going on for me school-wise, it’s just a smarter choice for me to stick with school,” Schneider said. “Making it in the NFL is really hard. But it’s cool to know they’re kind of looking at you, and I’m still trying to focus on football, finish this year out.”

He would be an unlikely draft pick no matter the rest of this season. However, Davis said that a couple scouts – so much as they’re allowed to – have indicated they’d bring the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder to training camp as a rookie free agent. That jibes with the opportunities extended to other SDSU receiving standouts in its NCAA Division I era, and Schneider is in line to best them all in terms of career numbers. Heading into Hobo Day against No. 17-ranked Youngstown State, he’s fourth in school history for catches (151) and yards (2,022).

This season, the Andover (Minn.) High grad has 36 grabs for 491 yards. The last 40 yards were stunning. Running down the left sideline, Schneider reached up and back in order to get his right hand on a deep pass, tipped the ball into the air and secured it by pinning it against his helmet and shoulder pads – his left hand never touched it – while being hit by two defensive backs. It was a highlight-reel catch, earning the No. 5 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays from Saturday and set up No. 13 SDSU for the game-winning field goal in a pivotal contest at Northern Iowa. Davis called it a season-changing play.

Schneider admits to enjoying the moment, but it hasn’t changed his point of view. He insists he’s not fast enough to play in the NFL, that size is his greatest asset. (He dabbled at tight end on the scout team as a true freshman, and has meaty hands to match his frame.) But he’s proved over 45 career games to be more than a big target.

“He’s not a real natural-quickness, instinctive kid, but he’s a get-it-done football player,” said Davis, the SDSU leader in career catches (225). “Whether it’s a block or a route – we trust him to do everything.”

Schneider broke out as a junior, catching a school-record 78 passes – most in the Missouri Valley Football Conference – for 1,088 yards for a team that reached the second round of the playoffs. This season, he’s a team captain with – among others – running back Zach Zenner, a two-time All-American and the primary reason that every NFL team has sent a rep to Brookings this fall.

Minnesotans by birth, cerebral by nature and roommates by choice, Zenner and Schneider share a work ethic, too. They go full speed in practice – when allowed. Both have been designated noncontact players this season because of their value to the team. Schneider has been known to show up for position meetings before Davis to study game plans or film. And it’s not as if he’s a slow learner – he was a Division I academic first-team All-American last season with a 3.98 grade-point average.

“I always try to work hard no matter what day it is,” Schneider said. “It’s tough trying to give maximum effort in practice every day because of the wear and tear. But I think it’s to my advantage to do my best every day.”

It’s mostly just bumps and bruises, nothing atypical – unlike his decision to pass on the pros. Stiegelmeier said Division II All-American center Matt Berry did the same in 1999, then changed his mind. But it was too late.

Schneider freely admits he’ll miss the game – all the more reason to keep playing like a pro prospect.

“He has his life planned out already – you have to honor that,” Stiegelmeier said. “There are guys where the student-athlete term is equal to them, where it’s not like the NFL is the ultimate goal. He may think that the pharmacy degree and being a doctor of pharmacy and his passion for that would be the same as making the NFL.”

Youngstown St.vs. SDSU

WHEN: 2 p.m. Saturday,

Hobo Day, KDLT-TV.

RECORDS: Both teams 5-2, 2-1 in the Missouri Valley.

SERIES: SDSU won 42-13 last year in Youngstown and has won all six Missouri Valley games against Youngstown.