Stacy Sneed’s Speed Pushes UH Coach Dana Holgorsen to Get More Creative — Making the Most of a Giant Little Weapon Is Big 12 Essential

Stacy Sneed has always been maddeningly hard to catch. His dad remembers him running around with a football as young as age 4, dodging a horde of relatives. When Sneed graduated to flag football, he made his early pursuers look so silly that some opposing parents wondered if he was hiding his flags.

He wasn’t. It’s just hard to even grab a flag when it’s squirting by that suddenly.

“He was so much faster than the other kids,” Sneed’s mom Ericka Hudson tells PaperCity.

All these years later, Stacy Sneed is still usually one of the very fastest — if not the fastest — player on the field. Even playing at the Power 5 college football level. Now heading into Saturday’s Big 12 game at Texas Tech, University of Houston coach Dana Holgorsen is finding new ways to use Sneed, ways that let the 5-foot-11 (maybe), 185 pound (maybe) player flash his speed in more open field situations.

With true freshman running back Parker Jenkins breaking out for 105 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start and veteran West Virginia tailback transfer Tony Mathis Jr. getting healthier, the ever-shifting Sneed can become more of third down back and slot receiver. Sneed flashed in that role late in last week’s blowout win vs. overmatched Sam Houston, turning a short slant from backup quarterback Ui Ale into a 58 yard touchdown.

Getting Sneed the football in open space could be a big play recipe for a 2-2 UH team that is going to need all the explosive plays it can get to hang in its first Big 12 season.

“He’s a good player now,” Holgorsen says when I ask him about Sneed’s role. “So we need to continue to be creative with him. We have been creative with him. He’s like a third down back. He’s a slot receiver. He’s a screen guy. We can motion him around. He’s very talented, multi talented.”

For Stacy Sneed, it is about proving Holgorsen right in some ways. Sneed is honest about how much he messed up his first two years at the University of Houston, not taking his football or classroom responsibilities even close to seriously enough. There were times when Sneed expected Holgorsen to send him packing.

But Holgorsen gave Sneed multiple chances to find his footing.

“Love him to death,” Sneed says when I asked him about Holgorsen earlier this season. “Without him, I probably wouldn’t be here.

“My first two years, I was getting in some trouble. And he decided to keep me. Which he could have let me go. Over the time, I just got better with myself.”

The running back who gets everywhere fast on the football field found growing up off the field to be much of a grueling marathon.

“It’s just coming into college,” Sneed tells PaperCity. “It’s not the same as high school. You’ve got to be on time. You’ve got to be on time even before you’re on time if that makes sense. You’ve got to be there even before they say to be there. Supposed to be there at 6:30, you need to be there at 6 to be on time.”

Sneed is used to overcoming and sprinting by the doubts. Having that catchy “Sneed For Speed” nickname is great. But it does not stop everyone from bringing up Sneed’s small stature.

“Stacy Sneed, they say he’s too little,” UH breakout receiver Sam Brown tells PaperCity. “But give me heart over height any time.”

Sneed may not be built to just rack up a ton of carries game after game after game. In a third down back and slot receiver role, the idea is he will get more chances to make the type of big plays that can tilt games. It is up to Holgorsen and his offensive staff, including primary play caller Mike Burchett, to find creative ways to get Sneed the ball.

And spring Sneed for Speed.

“We can hand him the ball,” Holgorsen says. “He’s not going to be a guy where we hand him the ball 20 times a game, OK. But we can do things with him in space. And yes, he’s a weapon. So we will continue to do things like that. I was so happy to see him do that (long touchdown catch after the run).

“Because he hasn’t shown that at a game. He’s shown that in practice. Which is why we’ve had him playing some receiver, playing some third down stuff. He’s a talented player and his role will continue to increase.”

The Sneed Speed Crew

Stacy Sneed will have a lot of family watching him all the way. At the recent TCU and Sam Houston games at TDECU Stadium that crew measured more than a dozen strong, including uncles and cousins. Sneed’s father — who is also named Stacy Sneed and played both football and basketball in Dallas — just wants his son to keep moving forward.

“I just tell him to take care of his business,” Stacy Sneed, the dad, says. “Because not a lot of people get this kind of opportunity.”

“Stacy Sneed, they say he’s too little. But give me heart over height any time.”  — UH receiver Sam Brown

UH needs Stacy Sneed big plays to have any chance to pull real upsets in a Big 12 season in which Holgorsen’s squad got tabbed as the 12th best team in a 14 team league in the preseason. With few minds changing since.

“We have more dogs ready to go compete,” Sneed says in arguing otherwise. Including one super fast one who needs the ball.