Fueling Dreams: Sarah Snyder’s Path to NFL Nutrition Leadership

Sarah Snyder always knew what she wanted to do in life. In high school, she wrote a letter to her future self, expressing her ambition to become a sports nutritionist. Now, Snyder is a seasoned sports dietitian with almost a decade’s experience working in the NFL.

“I wrote down that that’s what I wanted to do—and when you write it down, then it can happen,” she says.

Later, she remembers reaching out to “anyone and everyone” who worked in the sports nutrition space to find out how she could gain relevant experience, to learn which path to take and how she could get there.

It’s this tenacity that has ultimately helped guide her to leadership positions at many prestigious sports organizations, both in college sports and professional sports.

Food for Thought

For Snyder, the interest in nutrition was always there. As a youngster growing up in Boulder, Colorado, she was a competitive swimmer, cross country runner, and played lacrosse. And, like so many competitive athletes, she was always looking for ways to feel her best and perform at her best—and it was always food and nutrition that piqued her interest the most.

“I was just experimenting with what worked the best to make me feel the best,” she says. “And I really put a lot of stock into food over other things. I still felt sleep was important as well, but food was important [to me], food and hydration.”

With the goal of wanting to one day work in the NFL, Snyder knew she’d need experience—and plenty of it, especially as there were very few women working in the league. After gaining an undergraduate degree in combined science at Santa Clara University, she took a year away from an academic setting to gain more hands-on experience working in a gym.

“I was thinking that could help me get my foot in the door of sports. So I became versed in the Olympic lifts. I got certified in USA Weightlifting. I was trying to figure out how to combine that with dietetics to get into sport.”

College Sports Experience

It worked well, as when she started her Master’s in human food and nutrition at Florida State University they also offered her a position as the graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach for the women’s volleyball team. Keen to get all the experience she could, she took it. It led to her getting even more exposure with other sports, including working with injured guys on the football team, which, she says, “was incredible, because that was a time where there were no women working in the space.”

From there, Snyder began amassing more and more experience, first as Director of Nutrition at the University of Florida, where she worked across eight sports, and then at the University of Michigan, covering hockey, basketball, and football.

“It was all great experience,” she says. “You're working with high-level athletes and you get to observe and learn how they work, what makes them tick and the nuances of nutrition that they already follow.”

Yet she knew wanted to work with a pro-level team—so many years later when the Detroit Lions called, she knew it was her shot at a coveted role in the NFL. “This was 2016 and I think there were only three or four women working in the league at that time,” she says.

Making It to the Big League

She got the job and is now Director of Nutrition at another top NFL team in her ninth season in the league. It’s a job that continues to excite her and challenge her, even after all of this time.

She says the greatest part of her role is working with players who want to change. “It's really a joy to see a player take the tools you give them and see the success come,” she says. “I love being part of the team that helps make that happen. Over time, sometimes you don't know how impactful you are.”

And if you think that pro athletes only ever eat super cleanly, then think again—Snyder is quick to point out that “they're just like us, they love treats and flavor is a big deal. My job is partly about making healthy food taste great—or they won't eat it.”

And her least favorite part of the job? Navigating the many fads and diets that can derail athletes if she’s not swift to educate and inform. She says she’s been around long enough to see plenty of diets and fads come and go, with the “low-carb frenzy” and avoidance of carbs being her least favorite.

“I am often making sure there's clear and concise education around carbohydrates and when we need them,” she says, after seeing too many athletes fade in training when they start cutting carbs. Indeed, a big part of her role is educating and guiding athletes on what works, especially with so much nutrition advice and information on social media, she says. “For good and bad, social media has a ton of information that I have to review and help the players understand the difference between hype and real benefits,” she says.

The Impact of Protein and Creatine

When it comes to supplements, she says she’ll always be food first and encourages her athletes to “eat the rainbow,” incorporating as many colorful fruits and veggies into their daily diet as possible. That said, she acknowledges that there’s a place for supplements, provided diet and nutrition are dialed.

She’s a huge fan of creatine, saying: “I love the fact that people are doing more and more creatine. I'm so excited that people have embraced and accepted it.”

She says it’s awareness around creatine and protein that she’s seen make the greatest impact in recent years, especially as it relates to body composition. “When a person is training and starts to use those two things you can see the difference in body composition and lean mass gains,” she says. 

Snyder encourages her athletes to optimize their protein intake with protein supplements and emphasizes the importance of kickstarting the repair and recovery process post-workout. “It’s so interesting to continue to educate on that, trying to help people understand that the micro tears in the muscle after lifts or after practice—you will have these micro tears—and we want to start that repair process. Whey is great for that because of the amount of leucine that it has.

“However, we do have a lot of people that just can't digest whey or they can't digest milk. So then we're looking at our plant-based options, but also I do try to explain how whey is really the most stimulating muscle protein out there. That I feel like I repeat. And making sure it tastes good when it comes to making smoothies for a team, that is a feat—kudos to our culinary staff who are figuring it out!”

Other supplements she considers “mainstays” are turmeric, collagen, and fish oil. Ensuring players are taking only NSF Certified for Sport products is of the utmost importance, especially as supplement and product fads pop up and players want to try them: “If it’s not safe, effective, or compliant we won’t be taking it,” she says.

Consistency Is Key

So as someone who advises NFL players what to eat for optimal performance and recovery, does she have any words of wisdom for the general population looking to improve their nutrition? “Consistency. Consistency is key. You can be really dialed in all week and lose all that progress over the weekend if you aren't careful.”