Chris Snyder greeted about 180 players when Seton Hill University opened practice a couple of weeks ago for its inaugural football season. He addressed many by name. Others he recognized by their picture or from film clips.

		SETON HILL AT A GLANCE Location: Greensburg Coach: Chris Snyder Conference: NAIA Mid-States Football Association Home field: Greensburg-Salem High School's Offut Field. School colors: Crimson and gold Nickname: Griffins

Broken down by classes, there were approximately 150 freshmen, 25 sophomores and a handful of juniors assembled.

"We didn't bring in any players from junior college," said Snyder, who started putting together the program from scratch when he was hired in April 2004 after two years as the coach at Bethany. "We aren't looking for a quick fix."

Seton Hill, which went co-ed in 2002 and is sponsoring men's sports teams for the fourth year, is a member of the NAIA Mid-States Football Association but won't begin competing for league championships until 2006-07. The Griffins, whose 10-game football schedule is a mixture of NAIA and NCAA Division II and III teams, play their first game tomorrow at Urbana, Ohio.

Seton Hill's home debut at Greensburg-Salem High School's resurfaced Offut Field, about a mile from campus, will be at 1 p.m. Sept. 10 against McDaniel (Md.) College.

"There's nothing in the rule book that says we're not allowed to win just because we're a first-year team," Snyder said. "We should look like we know what's going on."

The Griffins will have 120 players in uniform for home games and 60 on the road.

In addition to varsity games, Seton Hill is scheduled to play five junior-varsity games.

Seton Hill, a Catholic liberal arts university, can offer scholarships based on athletics.

	LAST WEEK REVISITED Highlights from top performances by individuals and teams in district college action last week. Edinboro's 47-0 victory against West Virginia Tech was its first shutout since 1997. IUP's Chris Morgan rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown and freshman QB Andrew Krewatch (North Allegheny) completed 13 of 35 passes for 155 yards and two interceptions in a 28-9 loss against Millersville. Joe Trainer became the first Millersville coach to win his first game in 82 years. East Stroudsburg' QB Jimmy Terwilliger passed for 325 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 72-17 victory against Bentley. Terwilliger has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 24 of the college games he has started. California TB Antoine Bagwell rushed for 183 yards and a touchdown and LB Lloyd Price (Ringgold) had a team-high 12 tackles in a 42-6 victory against Fairmont State. Gannon CB Kevin Scott had a school-record four interceptions in a 35-26 victory against Mercyhurst. -- By Phil Axelrod

"All of our players were recruited, but not all of them are on scholarship," Snyder said. "We definitely have some size and some kids who can run a little bit, too. We went looking for bigger kids who will fit into our pro-style offense. We're going to try to run the football.

"We've been demanding on the kids physically and mentally, but [the coaches] aren't as hard on them verbally right off the bat because this is all new to them. We're easing into that process. I have to be a lot more patient."

Snyder laughed, then added, "That's definitely out of my nature."

Snyder sought advice from a number of coaches who recently started new programs, leaning heavily on his friend, David Bennett, who is entering his second season at I-AA Coastal Carolina.

"He told me to be nice to everybody and to win over the community," Snyder said. "[The coaches] have been meeting for so long I hope we have all our bases covered. Nobody on our staff has been around this many players before."

Although Snyder and his staff didn't start with a depth chart, they broke the players down by position, with 89 originally on offense and 91 on defense.

"There's a lot of competition at each position," Snyder said. "We recruited these kids and we get to mold them into what we want."

Snyder said he relied on two basic recruiting pitches: You have a chance to play, there's nobody in front of you; Seton Hill is 70 percent women.

Nearly 70 percent of the recruits are from Western Pennsylvania, with others coming from Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Florida and West Virginia. The sophomores have been in school for a year, working out on weights and meeting with the coaches. The Griffins didn't have practice this past spring.

"They've been here longer and have learned the system," Snyder sad. "They should be a jump-start ahead of the freshmen."

"I'll always remember that first group," Snyder said. "They'll always have a little niche in Seton Hill football history."