Saturday, March 27, 2021

Howard Schnellenberger Passes Away

     Former University of Miami Hurricanes and Florida Atlantic University Owls head football coach Howard Schnellenberger passed away on Saturday at the age of 87. He had a definitive impact on all levels of football in South Florida. Schnellenberger was undefeated in college football bowl games with a 6-0 record. 
     Schnellenberger was on the Miami Dolphins coaching staff under head coach Don Shula from 1970 to 1972. He helped the Dolphins go undefeated with a perfect 17-0 record and captured Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins. After a two-year stint as the head coach of the Baltimore Colts, he returned to the Dolphins as an offensive coordinator from 1975 to 1978. 
     He became the head coach of the University of Miami in 1979. Schnellenberger guided the Hurricanes to their first national championship in 1983 with an Orange Bowl victory over Nebraska. 
     Schnellenberger left South Florida for other head coaching stints. They included the proposed Miami franchise of the USFL in 1984, the Louisville Cardinals from 1985 to 1994 and the Oklahoma Sooners in 1995. 
     He returned to the local area and organized a new college football program at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Schnellenberger was the head coach of the Owls from 2001 until 2011. A football stadium was built on the FAU campus and the field was named after him. 

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