'Two mistakes' still has FAU coach edgy

[Brad]

'Two mistakes' still has FAU coach edgy

Howard Schnellenberger stopped me in mid-sentence, his big paw waving me off, never even allowing my question to gain full throttle in my throat.

"I made two terrible mistakes, OK?" he said, a hint of irritability underpinning his words. "But God leads in strange ways."

Why drag God into this, I wanted to ask? What does He have to do with greed and ambition? But I didn't want to press my luck. Schnellenberger, even into his 70s, is still an imposing figure. Besides, no sooner had ol' Howard interrupted me when was off and rambling, mumbling along in a marbled voice straight from his mentor, Bear Bryant, explaining exactly what those two terrible mistakes were.

As if I, or anyone else interviewing him that day, didn't already know. Still, Schnellenberger spelled it out, which all but rendered me mute and my does-he-ever-regret question moot.

Mistake No. 1: Leaving the Miami Hurricanes for the USFL in 1984, after leading the school to its first national championship.

Mistake No. 2: Leaving Louisville for a disastrous one-year stint in Oklahoma in 1995, after growing the Cardinal program to respectability.

Schnellenberger reasons that leaving Miami eventually allowed him to return to his Louisville hometown, where he built a program and a stadium and reconnected with his roots. And leaving Louisville eventually led to his return to South Florida, coaching at Florida Atlantic University, where he is close to a son who needs almost constant medical attention.

But, you know, the irritation which Schnellenberger approaches the topic suggests that even he isn't buying into his own theory.

Besides, it goes without saying that had Howard never left Miami to begin with, he'd still be in South Florida, and likely he'd be the man everyone was talking and writing about this week, as the Hurricanes prepare to play Florida State in next Monday's nationally televised opener.

Instead, Schnellenberger is up to his old salesman schtick, still trying to foist FAU football on the masses, talking about efforts to build an on-campus stadium, even while most Floridians couldn't even tell you where the FAU campus is. And, oh by the way, FAU was 2-9 last season.

Poor, Howard.

Even the nickname for the school whose football team he now coaches -- the Owls, in case you were wondering -- isn't a household name in its own state. But Howard Schnellenberger could've been. He could've been a household name from here to eternity.

Two terrible mistakes.

One more terrible than the other.

"Howard said that?" queried Bobby Bowden, when I told him of Schnellenberger's sentiments about leaving Miami all those years ago. "I'm glad Howard said that, because I always thought it."

Bowden's respect and regard for Schnellenberger as a football coach is no secret. Neither is he alone in his opinions. Schnellenberger had it going on. He had the pedigree and the coaching chops.

Schnellenberger played for Bear Bryant at Kentucky and later coached with him at Alabama, part of the Crimson Tide staffs that won national titles in 1961, 1964 and 1965. He later coached in the NFL under legends George Allen and Don Shula, and was part of two Super Bowl-winning staffs. He was even an NFL head coach for the old Baltimore Colts.

When Schnellenberger settled in at the University of Miami in 1979, the program was on the brink of being dropped. Back then, when broadcasters mentioned Miami, they'd have to either say "Miami of Ohio" or "Miami of Florida." That's how nondescript the football program was.

Schnellenberger changed all that. He installed a pro-style attack with a quarterback named Jim Kelly. Bernie Kosar was recruited. So was Vinny Testaverde, Michael Irvin, Brian and Bennie Glades. The talent started to stockpile.

Four years later, Miami stunned college football by winning the national championship.

Then Schnellenberger stunned Miami by leaving for a fledgling football league known as the USFL.

The USFL money was lucrative. Not just for Schnellenberger, who was hired to coach what was supposed to be a Washington Federals team that was going to move to Miami, but for other coaches as well.

Former Florida Gator coach Ray Graves led a contingent that came after Bobby Bowden to coach the USFL's Jacksonville Bulls. Bowden says the Bulls were prepared to more than triple his salary at Florida State, which was $300,000 at the time. He turned them down.

"Money ain't the biggest thing to me," he said.

Money, though, became a sticking point for Schnellenberger. When the Federals moved to Orlando instead of the Miami, becoming the Renegades under a new owner, the two sides could never agree on a contract. Instead of big USFL money, Schnellenberger found himself looking for a job, eventually landing in Louisville, where he spent the next decade trying to build a football program.

Meanwhile, the program he built in Miami went on to win four more national titles.

What if?

It's a question a lot of people wonder about.

"He could have been past me. He would've been better than me," Bowden said, meaning that the conversation we currently have between Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden and their career wins would've been for whom was No. 2 all-time.

Schnellenberger could've been No. 1.

"Howard can coach football," Bowden said. "He's an excellent coach. One of the best. He's so sound. And that situation down in Miami was a gold mine. He had a gold mine down there."

And so the anticipation builds for next Monday's nationally televised opener between FSU and Miami, between Bobby Bowden and Larry Coker.

Anybody know who FAU opens against?

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[smazza]

in our 70's we will all have  a regret or two

nice article bulliever

[DawgPound]

Shelly needs to get over it and move on.

[Joe]

Ya, It's really easy to forget about giving up a job that probably would have made you one of the greatest coaches ever to step on the field.

Imagine Bowden went to the USFL/NFL? He'd ne NOWHERE near where he is now. I feel bad for Schnelly because deep down inside he knows he ****** up.

[The Sheriff]

What a great coach... who made a bad decision.

[bulls96go]

$$$$ will fail you everytime

this is as true as time