Schnellenberger seeks a title, this time in I-AA

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Players say he's an inspiration. Contemporaries call him a master motivator. Above everything else, Howard Schnellenberger is a winner.

Other than one ill-fated season at Oklahoma, Schnellenberger has won -- and won fast -- everywhere he's gone.

Twenty years after guiding Miami to its first national title, Schnellenberger is three wins away from another championship, with Division I-AA Florida Atlantic.

Schnellenberger, 69, learned his trade at Alabama, where he was an assistant to Bear Bryant on three national title teams in the 1960s. In the late 1970s, he needed five years to turn the Hurricanes from chumps to champs in 1983. And then, he made Louisville known for something other than basketball.

Even though his one and only Oklahoma team went 5-5-1 in 1995, Schnellenberger was not dismayed. He started Florida Atlantic's football program from scratch three years ago, and now he has the team on the road to a title.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who lost his share of games to Schnellenberger's Miami teams. "I was amazed at how he's just brought them up. I'm amazed, but not surprised."

The Owls (10-2) play at Northern Arizona (9-3) today, with the winner heading to the I-AA semifinals. Florida Atlantic, a team that won only six games in its first two seasons, has a nine-game winning streak.

"I've never been prouder of any other team I've coached than I am with this group of boys," Schnellenberger said.

Bowden recalled the impact Schnellenberger had at Miami, where he built a program that would win four more national titles under three different coaches. Bowden first met Schnellenberger when FAU's coach was still an assistant at Alabama.

"Of all the coaches I've known, Howard is the closest I've seen to being like" Bryant, Bowden said. "There's a reverence about him. Kids can't help but give their best for him. He builds a great aura of confidence."

Not only did Schnellenberger learn under Bryant, he also was an assistant on two Miami Dolphins' Super Bowl teams coached by Don Shula.

"That's like someone being with Einstein and somebody who wins the Pulitzer Prize every year," said Schnellenberger assistant Chris Vagotis, FAU's offensive line coach.

It was as an assistant under Bryant that Schnellenberger learned the value of tough practices, which even today's players credit for Florida Atlantic's quick improvement. Peers say it's Schellenberger's attention to preparation that sets him apart.

Longtime friend Ron Steiner, a sports information director for Schnellenberger's teams for more than a decade, notes the toughness the coach instills in his players.

"He makes you feel like you're on a crusade," Steiner said. "If you're on a crusade, you act a whole lot different than if you're going to punch a clock. ... That gets a lot more out of people."

Routine has also stuck with Schnellenberger, who still runs the prostyle offense he learned under Shula when he was with the Dolphins. His practice schedule is nearly identical to the one he used at Miami and Louisville.

"He presses the physical and mental limits every way possible," said Don Bailey, who played under Schnellenberger at Miami and is now the Hurricanes' radio color analyst. "But as hard as he pushes you, he has the ability to know when to pull off of you at the last second, which is an art."

Schnellenberger left Miami after guiding the Hurricanes to the 1983 national title. He spent 10 seasons at Louisville, highlighted by a Fiesta Bowl win over Alabama in 1990. He spent that one tough year at Oklahoma, then left coaching for several years before agreeing to build Florida Atlantic's program.

The Owls' turnaround has been nothing short of amazing. FAU was the second-worst rushing team in I-AA last season, scoring just 16 points a game while giving up nearly 31. The team started the year with an eight-game losing streak before finishing 2-9.

This year's team showed promise early, beating I-A Middle Tennessee to open the season. Two losses followed, and the Owls have won all the rest.

"Everybody thinks there some sort of magical formula and there's not," Vagotis said. "You just have a bunch of guys and a bunch of coaches working very hard under a guy who knows what he's doing and has done it before."