James O. Snell was born on March 30, 1939 in St. Louis, Missouri. When he was nine years old, he moved with his family to Doniphan, Missouri where he resided until he graduated from Doniphan high school in 1957.

Throughout his high school years, James excelled in basketball and baseball, but surprisingly, he did not play football, as it was not offered at Doniphan High School. Upon completion of high school, James followed his high school sweetheart, Carolyn Braschler (Snell) to Arkansas State University where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in Education and Master’s Degree in Administration. While in college, James had his first opportunity to play football, and participated on the rifle team. In 1961, James and his wife, Carolyn, moved from Arkansas to House Springs, Missouri to accept teaching jobs in the area. James and Carolyn currently reside in House Springs.

As an educator of 30 years, James taught physical education, health, and science classes in the Northwest and Hillsboro School Districts. He even tried his hand at administration, but coaching drew him back to the classroom.

James is mostly known for his passion and competitiveness for coaching football. After coaching for Northwest as an Assistant football coach for six years, James had the opportunity to initiate the football program at Hillsboro High School back in 1967. He was the Head football coach for this program from 1967-1969. After this, he was hired back at Northwest as Head Coach in 1970. His head coaching stats for the Lions over 14 years, 1970-1983, specifically include 83 wins, 49 losses, and 8 ties. Over the 23 years coaching football, some of his career highlights include: 138 wins, 70 losses, and 13 ties, 10 team conference championships, three second place finishes, and five third. James had the opportunity to coach 65 All-Conference players, five All-Metro Players, six All-State Players, two All-Americans, and one NFL player. James was named Coach of the Year five times by the Coach’s Association and was the first coach to take a 4A Jefferson County Team to the State Playoffs. His competitiveness and drive for winning didn’t stop with football. Along with his stellar football resume, James also coached six years of basketball, two years of track, and 20 years of golf, where he also had the opportunity to coach three golf state qualifiers, including his son, Brad Snell.

James can say, without hesitation, that none of these accomplishments would have happened without his wife Carolyn Snell, who attended every Friday night game and hosted every Sunday night film session at their house. Her delicious meals to feed the more than 60 players, coaches and their families didn’t hurt either. James would also like to thank his sons, Brian and Brad Snell, his daughters, Kerri Shelton and Kristi Lee, who was a 2014 Hall of Fame inductee, their spouses, and seven grandchildren for being by his side throughout the years. James would especially like to thank every player and coach that walked, ran, threw, tackled, dribbled and gave their all to make his career what it was at NHS, despite having a temper like Bobby Knight.

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