ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Anderson High School football coach Evan Dreyer avoids field goals and punts (the team punted 15 times all last season) when he can.
Having a long snapper is a luxury he rarely indulges, but when he does, he knows he’s in the good hands -- some of the best in the country, in fact -- of Zach Zoglio.
“I just don’t remember us thinking about long snapping in four years,” Dreyer said. “Now he’s going to graduate and we’re thinking, how do we develop a long snapper?”
It’s a problem Dreyer never anticipated.
Zoglio is nearly a self-made success story. With the help of his dad, Bob, a former specials teams coach at Walnut Hills and Turpin, Zach has made himself into one of the best long snappers in the country.
In the latest Kohl’s Long Snapping Rankings – considered the gold-standard of the industy – Zoglio is the eighth best snapper in the 2021 class.
“Snapping is a skill,” he said. “Not a lot of people can grip the ball, snap it the same way in the same spot.”
It’s a skill where perfection is the expectation. In addition to Anderson’s practices, Zoglio estimates he does 10 hours of extra individual work. Snap, after snap, after snap.
“Our motto is ‘No days off,’” Bob Zoglio said. “On Thanksgiving Day – it was a nice day – we were on the Anderson field snapping, before turkey.”
Zoglio knows the work he puts in away from all the eyeballs will prevent eyeballs focused on him during games.
“A snapper, their job is to be perfect,” said Kohl’s Kicking Camps long snapping coach Casey Casper. “When Zach steps up there and grabs the football, he doesn’t have mistakes. He doesn’t put it on the ground or left or right. Always a clean rotating ball that’s easy to catch.”
College recruiters are increasingly trying to snag skilled long snappers.
“It’s not a position everyone hoots and hollers about,” Zoglio said. “Usually long snapper is the last position, if not the last position, that (coaches) will look at.”
He’s getting his share of looks – Eastern Michigan just offered him a spot on their roster.
Zoglio has become a name to know at an anonymous position, even at the Blue-Gray All-Star Game in Dallas, where he was questioned by his teammates.
“I told people I’m a long snapper and they’re like, ‘Oh … ‘” Zoglio said.
His next step – becoming some college coach's non-worry.
