Bob Snell has been coaching football for longer than his players have been alive.
“I’ve been a varsity coach 35 years. This is my 30th year here at Thurston, 20th as head coach. I’ve been here a long time. It’s been a huge part of my life. My kids have grown up with it and it was something I was not willing to let go,” explained Snell.
At the end of last season, Snell was nearly forced to let go of the game he loves.
“I really felt myself getting weaker and losing energy,” said Snell.
Snell has polycystic kidney disease. One treatment option was dialysis, but the better option was a kidney transplant. That’s where Snell’s assistant coach and brother-in-law Pete Kotsogiannis comes in.
“Coaching football together, I spend more time here and in the locker room and the coaching office than with my family. My wife will tell you that,” explained Kotsogiannis.
Kotsogiannis volunteered to be Snell’s donor.
“When you see him struggling, you see him losing weight. It becomes easy to make the decision,” said Kotsogiannis.
Unfortunately after being tested, Kotsogiannis wasn’t a match.
“It was getting down to the nitty gritty at the end. I was probably within a couple weeks of having to start dialysis,” said Snell.
It was then that the University of Michigan Hospital suggested the paired donor program as an option.
“They have somebody else who doesn’t match, but happened to match you. So Pete was a match for somebody else, and they had a donor that didn’t match them but happened to match me,” explained Snell.
On June 20th, Snell and Kotsogiannis — as well as two other participants in California — underwent surgery.
“My assistants did a great job running things, they kept the program going. The kids understood where I was. I got a lot of well wishes from the community and the families and I really appreciate that. It’s been very important for me,” said Snell.
“We didn’t have a lot of ‘Oprah moments’. You know there wasn’t a lot of standing up and hugging, but talking through things. They’re excellent coaches and I think one of the qualities of excellent coaches is they’re very good listeners,” said Kotsogiannis.
Snell says it was football that kept him going.
“It’s therapeutic being out here, and it has been the last couple years. I wasn’t panicked about what my health. The biggest thing on my mind was how much time was it going to take away from my coaching. Was I going to be able to do a good enough job with these guys to warrant me staying as a football coach?”
Now Snell is back at the helm of Thurston’s football team, and he’s feeling better than ever. He says he owes it all to his coworker, friend and brother, Pete.
“It’s everything. It’s everything. He’s my hero. Someone who does something like that and steps up and with no qualms. Just does it and saves your life… I mean what more can you say? Everything I’m doing right now is because of him.”
