The 2024 Louisiana Legends Interview series is brought to you by presenting sponsor, the Gail and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, our premiere sponsor, Fishman Haygood LLP.

Our platinum sponsor, Joan Swanson Haydel.

With additional support provided in part by Louisiana Lottery and Royal Martin with the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you, thank you.

Louisiana was everything to him.

He's faithful.

He's honest to God.

Integrity.

Sam Nader is one of the best man I've ever known.

He's a warrior, but he's a warrior with poetry in his bones.

Sam Nader is one of the most unique first class people that has tremendous moral character.

He's got great leadership qualities.

He's compassionate and has been very helpful to so many people through the years.

He is LSU football.

Sam, thank you very much for inviting us in your home.

It's a pleasure to visit with not only a friend, but a Louisiana legend.

So congratulations.

How have you been?

Great.

Thank you.

Victor.

You're enjoying the retirement life.

You know, I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would.

I really felt blessed to get to work at LSU a long time, and I was afraid I might be miserable.

Retired, but.

But I've been enjoying it.

And I know when I first got down here and had a chance to meet you, it almost seemed like you had to meet Sam.

Or before you met the coaches, because you were so established.

And I know people throughout the years kind of considered you the backbone of LSU football.

You've been through coaching changes, new hires, firings, more hirings, but you knew everything about the program.

What did that mean to you when when people would know that there's one person you needed to go to about LSU football?

It was you.

Well, I'm not sure how accurate that is, Victor, really, but I was always of the mind that it was a real blessing to get to be doing what I was doing.

And so I did my best.

I wanted to continue and, I just I worked at it.

I was blessed to work with a lot of wonderful people.

Sam has been been here for 45 years.

Somebody all the players look at as a family member.

He's the only constant person that's here that all the years of all the former players, administrators, coaches, that's been here at LSU.

Sam been here through nine football coaches.

That's that's that's hard to do in this day and age.

That doesn't happen.

I remember when I went there, it was me and him to start with.

None of the coaches from Michigan State came with me.

He took me recruiting.

He helped me hire a staff.

He knew all the players.

He was constantly and consistently making sure the players were doing the things that they needed to do.

Coach Snyder's efforts contributed to three national championships, seven SEC titles, and countless players achieving all SEC and All-American honors.

But his legacy isn't just in the victories or the titles, it's in the lives he touched.

I know when you first came over, as you mentioned, graduate Assistant, you then were an assistant coach, then you were administration, then you moved up higher in the administration.

You wore a lot of purple and gold hats and your time at LSU.

Was there one particular one, that that stood out to you in terms of the meaning for that role that you were doing?

I think so.

I think being recruiting coordinator, which I did for about 15 years, starting with Jerry Stovall tenure, Jerry, wanted to set up a recruiting office.

We didn't have one at that time.

And recruiting was beginning to be a real emphasis in college football.

So he asked me to come off the field and be the recruiting coordinator.

He gave me a choice, but I knew he wanted me to do that.

And, I think that was the role maybe that I enjoyed the most.

And, I just felt, real gratified by the success that we had and the close relationship with boys and their families.

Is that what stands out to you when you say you enjoyed it the most?

Was it?

Was it the personal side of getting to meet hundreds, if not thousands of men?

I know over your tenure, but every year you're recruiting literally hundreds of people.

Is that why it meant so much?

Because you were meeting so many people from so many different areas of the country?

Yeah, they had and I think I establish in that relationship with the boys that were going to be on our team, and their families, because their relationship with their families was something like she wanted to continue through their time.

And, I thought that was important.

And for that reason, you know, it felt good to be doing that kind of work.

Sam was really, like a father figure, I think, to the players.

And not only did he want good, the boys to be good football players.

He wanted them to be good people in the community and be successful in their life.

He's helped thousands of people, through difficulties as well as giving them direction and advice, and example for what it would take to help them be more successful.

So, I think that in and of itself speaks volumes for the kind of person he is.

He remembered your mom and dad, you know, he he remembered your little brother.

He was he was he was great that way.

I'm one of hundreds and hundreds of athletes that came through LSU, that have forever been impacted by him.

I'm not the man that I am today.

I'm not.

Certainly not the the husband I am to my wife.

I'm not the father that I am to my children.

I'm certainly not the community servant that, that I am without Sam ater.

You know, you work with some of the greatest players we've seen.

Roll through Baton Rouge wearing those colors and the greatest coaches I know.

You saw short tenures, you saw long tenures, but I know 2003, 2007, 2019 all stand out with national championships.

What was it like on those journeys and what it meant to be a part of a program that you not only helped bring those young men in, you then saw them get to the highest pinnacle and hold the trophy at the end of the year as the last team standing.

Wow.

It's just thrilling, you know, to, to go through, even while you're approaching, that there's a feeling with all of those teams that that you had, that there was a chance, you know, these guys can get it done.

And, to see that through to fruition, it's quite a thrill.

I think.

And, you know, to see the coaches doing what they were doing, the work the players were put in, the attitude that they had all of that to a coach was just a thrill.

Let's go back to how you established recruiting.

What was the secret to keeping the relationships that you established?

Not only when they were first coming to LSU, because you were kind of the gatekeeper, you helped them get there.

But the relationships you've maintained for years, if not decades afterwards, what's the what's been the secret?

Well, I think it's just the the work that you put in side by side.

This relates to coaches too.

I love the coaches I worked with.

You know, was just blessed to get to work with some guys that gave it everything they had every minute.

And, I respected that so much.

The head coaches, the assistant coaches, all of the staff people, just so many great people at LSU.

The boys, you know, they made me feel good about the relationship because they were good hearted.

There were tough kids, but they were good hearted, respectful, just good people already.

A lot of them very mature.

And, so I just, you know, I thank the Lord every night that, I got to work with those people.

People have often described with your with your work and your interaction with so many people about your humility and your your leadership and your willingness to serve.

Where does that come from and where does faith play a role, in your life and how you have worked and connected with so many people over the years?

Well, you know, my parents are the, to get the credit for my faith, and it's lasted because I've been around faithful people.

I think just the, the, human part of working with people, working towards something that demanding, the cooperation and love for one another.

And, and if you're part of a team or everybody that was part of a team knows one of the ingredients is love and that kind of emotion.

I think that's where my continued faith, comes from is just the fact that it's it's been reinforced by other people.

Your beautiful wife, your family, what have they meant to you?

And how did they support you when you were doing your job to support the Tigers?

Yeah.

Everything.

There's nothing more important than family.

And I'm blessed there, too.

You know, I got and and great kids, grandkids now.

So I feel real special about how blessed I've been with with my family.

You know, they they all, to be honest, they all think I'm overrated, and they're right.

But do you mind if I ask you what it's like to, to receive the honor of the Louisiana legend?

What that means to you?

Well, I'm with my family.

I think that's overriding me.

But, grateful.

And, I'm just not sure I have the credentials for something like that, but I. I'm grateful.

Sam, thank you for letting us into your home.

It's always a pleasure to see you.

I feel like I need to get you in a restaurant and just walk in and tell everybody, this is Sam Nader and just let you get your accolades.

You want to downplay it, but you just.

You certainly deserve it.

It's an honor.

It's always great to see you.

You.

The 2024 Louisiana Legends Interview series is brought to you by presenting sponsor the Gale and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation.

Our premiere sponsor, Fishman Haygood LLP.

Our platinum sponsor, Joan Swanson Haydel, with additional support provided in part by Louisiana Lottery and Roy Martin with the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.