If you follow Queen's Football on Twitter you're likely aware of some interesting and eye-catching labels the team uses throughout the recruitment process.

There's the Dawg Stamp, the scholar stamp, and the character stamp, which gives the recipient the acronym OKG. For Head Coach Steve Snyder and his staff, these labels outline the type of student-athlete they want as part of the program at Queen's.

"When we came here as a staff in 2019, we really wanted to define how we were going to build this program up and create a plan," said Snyder. "One of the key elements and one of the starting points for our system was we had to define what we're looking for in the type of people we're going to bring in, the type of people we want here, and what are their values were going to be. For us, that was what we call an OKG. It means Our Kinda Guy or Our Kinda Gael." 

For a prospective recruit to be labelled an OKG by Snyder and his staff, they must excel at more than just playing football. Snyder said they are looking for well-rounded and motivated student-athletes both on and off the field.

"It really revolves around three things. The first is you have to be driven to graduate. We want guys who are academically driven and who are passionate about their degree and working towards graduation. The second is we want guys who are passionate about the process of football. All those meetings, all those practices, all those lifts, all that improvement and preparation that takes place, that really is the core of the game, we want guys who love that. And the third is we want guys who are respectable and responsible. Because our No. 1 goal is to be so respected on campus and in the community. That's what an OKG is."

The scholar stamp, meanwhile, is awarded to prospective student-athletes who Snyder and his staff feel pass their academic evaluation, based on qualifications for university and drive to graduate. And the Dawg Stamp recognizes a potential student-athlete's play on the football field.

"The Dawg Stamp is our physical evaluation. We want to let you know how you're working through the process. If we're really impressed physically and you're one of the top players physically, we're going to stamp you with that Dawg Stamp and allow you to celebrate how impressed we are with you as a football player."

Snyder said the labels and acronyms are a fun part of the recruitment process that he and his staff take very seriously every year, and lets the potential student-athletes show off their hard work and recognition from Queen's.

"We just try to have some fun with it and show guys how they're working through the process because for us it is a long process and it's a thorough process."

It's part of the culture Snyder is promoting with the Queen's Football program, a team full of Our Kinda Guys.