Jazz Coach Quin Snyder, Ted Lasso Share Mutual Admiration

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It seems there’s a mutual admiration between Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder and fictional television coach Ted Lasso.

Ted Lasso is comedy series from Apple TV that portrays Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis), an American college football coach who is unexpectedly hired to coach AFC Richmond, a fictional Premier League club competing at the highest levels of European soccer.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lasso’s endlessly optimistic personality struck a nerve with the viewing public, including the Jazz head coach. Earlier this week Snyder praised Lasso’s coaching style when discussing the team’s game one loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

“Sometimes, your favorite animal is a goldfish, because it has a memory of 10 seconds,” Snyder said quoting Lasso. “That’s where we need to be, we need to be moving forward and thinking about game two.”

Shoutout to Quin Snyder going with the @TedLasso reference in his zoom call! Have to be like a gold fish!
He also said it should be required for coaches to watch that show. (If you haven't seen it yet…. watch it!)#TakeNote

— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_KSL) May 24, 2021

Snyder followed the quote with the ultimate praise the Coach of the Year finalist could offer.

“It should be required watching for coaches,” Snyder said of Lasso.

On Tuesday, Lasso repaid the compliment. Though Lasso may be fictional, the character’s Twitter account is very real, attracting more than 200k followers in a little over two years. Rather than taking part in the typical nastiness that social media can offer, Lasso offers uplifting thoughts and compliments through his tweets.

On Tuesday, Lasso solicited a “Toast Me” day where he would offer compliments to followers to replied to his tweet.

“Apparently today is #SaySomethingNiceDay, so I’m turning Twitter roasts into Twitter toasts,” Lasso tweeted. “Reply with #ToastMe below so I can say something nice about you!”

After the official Utah Jazz Twitter account replied “#ToastMe 🤞,” Lasso responded in kind of Snyder’s previous compliment.

Coach Snyder’s defensive strategy should be required viewing for all coaches (no 🤞needed)

— Ted Lasso (@TedLasso) June 1, 2021

“Coach Snyder’s defensive strategy should be required viewing for all coaches,” Lasso tweeted, “(no 🤞 needed).”

Snyder led the Jazz to the NBA’s third-ranked defense this season, and the top record in the NBA.

Though Snyder’s favorite animal might be a goldfish due to its 10-second memory, this is a Twitter exchange he won’t want to forget.