His first head coaching appointment was at Lehigh University where he was named on June 16, 1983, to succeed Brian Hill who had left to join the Penn State coaching staff two months earlier on April 13.[5][6] In his second and last year at Lehigh in 1985, the Engineers qualified for its first-ever NCAA tournament by winning the East Coast Conference tourney despite a 12–18 overall record. Its season ended with a 68–43 East Regional first-round defeat to top-ranked defending national champion Georgetown.[7] Assistant coach Fran McCaffery was promoted on September 14, six days after Schneider's departure from Lehigh.[8]
Schneider returned to Penn on September 8, 1985, succeeding Littlepage who had left for Rutgers University two days earlier.[9][10] In his second year at Penn in 1987, the Quakers captured the Ivy League championship before a 113–82 East Regional first-round loss to North Carolina at the NCAA tournament.[11][12] Prior to assistant coach Fran Dunphy being promoted to replace him, Schneider compiled a 51–54 overall record in his four years with the Red and Blue.[13]
He announced on March 15, 1989, his departure from the Quakers to succeed Mark Amatucci in a similar capacity at Loyola College in Maryland.[13] A 1–10 start to the 1992–93 season resulted in Schneider's resignation prior to the opening of conference play. Athletic director Joe Boylan replaced him on an interim basis to complete a 2–25 campaign. The most notable player during Schneider's 3+1⁄2 years with the Greyhounds was starting point guardMichael Malone.[14]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion