10 questions
Howard Schnellenberger has proved to be one of football’s enduring coaching figures. An all-America tight end at the University of Kentucky, Schnellenberger went on to complete his playing career with stints at Hamilton and Vancouver in the Canadian Football League and in the U.S. Army.
After his military service ended, both his college coaches called him to work as an assistant. First was Blanton Collier, who was “renowned for the great detail that goes into coaching,” Schnellenberger says. Then came Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama, where Schnellenberger played a prominent role in bringing marquee offensive players such as Joe Namath, Steve Sloan, Richard Todd and Ken Stabler to the Crimson Tide.
In 1966, he left the college ranks for the pros, becoming an assistant for Rams coach George Allen, then switching to the Miami Dolphins with Don Shula, where he spent three years.
In 1973-74, Schnellenberger was head coach of the Baltimore Colts, but was fired after three games. He returned to the Dolphins, until the University of Miami came calling.
The UM program he inherited in 1979 was on the skids, and in four years’ time, Schnellenberger lifted the team, rebuilt its foundation with a pro-style attack and propelled it to its first national championship.
In 1983, Schnellenberger left Miami to become part owner, general manager and head coach of the Washington Federals of the ill-fated United States Football League.
After the USFL’s demise, he returned to the college game in 1985 for his hometown team, the University of Louisville Cardinals, where he remained for a decade.
Following a brief stint at University of Oklahoma, he returned to South Florida, where he met Anthony Catanese, then president of Florida Atlantic University. Catanese hired Schnellenberger as the university’s first director of football operations in 1998, and when it came time to hire a head coach, Schnellenberger nominated himself. As the Owls’ coach, Schnellenberger has built the program from scratch, playing its first game in 2000. By 2006, the team was playing in its first bowl game.
Schnellenberger and his wife, Beverlee, have been residents of Ocean Ridge since 1999. Coach Schnellenberger was recently selected for induction into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2009.
— Cynthia ThumaQ. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that background has influenced you?
A. I’m from Louisville, Ky. I went to Flaget High School, a brand-new Catholic high school at the time there, and was coached by Paul Miller, who had just come from the military. He had developed an offensive scheme at Iowa Preflight that was too hard for most high school teams to handle. He may be the first guy who gave me the great feeling of being in a building position. He took the approach that we’d travel anywhere to play the best teams in the country.
Q. When, where and how did you start coaching?
A. I went to the University of Kentucky, where I had been recruited by Paul “Bear” Bryant, who left after my sophomore year. Blanton Collier, a brilliant coach who is known for being a coach’s coach, came back home and took over the team when Coach Bryant left. In 1959, after I had played in the Canadian Football League and after two years in the Army, where I played football, I was called by Coach Collier and I stayed with him for two years. Then I was called by Coach Bryant, who asked me to go to Alabama. I was there for the 1961, ’64 and ’65 national championships. We were one of the few programs that had a pro-style attack, and Coach Bryant saw where that would be important.
Q: Have you had mentors in your life?
A. If you can be as lucky as I have been, being taught by some of the great football minds in the country as I was, you’d have to be an idiot to not succeed.
Q. What is your favorite part of the job?
A. When you start a football program, as we did, there’s no tradition, so you tend to get a different kind of kid who wants to play for you — kids who want to give rather than receive. When you get a team of 85 givers against 85 takers, you’ll usually win more than you lose.
Spring practice is a good time for me. It’s a pure time for teaching and making young men into football warriors. There really aren’t any bad things about my job.
Q. What advice would you give a young person selecting a career today?
A. I advise what my dad told me: Tie yourself to the best in the profession. If you’re going to be an eye doctor, you want to tie yourself to the best medical schools, the best programs. As I lecture to young coaches and others about keeping our great sport alive, it’s our responsibility to teach those who follow us. It’s like a mile relay team and I liken it to passing the torch.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A. We had kept a home in Miami Lakes when we moved to Oklahoma, and my three children lived down there. When I left Oklahoma and decided to become a bond salesman, I thought it would be easier to build a career in South Florida, so returned. When President Cantanese called, commuting from Miami Lakes wasn’t appealing and we’d always talked about being on the water. Most importantly, our children and grandchildren were nearby.
Q. What’s your favorite part of living in Ocean Ridge?
A. Our home in Ocean Ridge is 13 miles from FAU and 11 of them are on A1A. I go to work before sunup and return home after twilight. Making that trip at twilight is magical. It’s living in paradise.
Q. What book are you reading now?
A. I don’t have much time to read. I’ve had a little shoulder problem, so I try to do a little swimming when I can. We’ve been talking about riding bicycles and on the weekend we get the chance to spend some time with our children and grandchildren.
Q. If there were a movie to be made about your life, who would you like to play your role?
A. John Wayne, I guess, but that would be presumptuous on my part.
Q. What makes you smile?
A. What would make me smile would be the announcement that we were going to go to the bond house to start the financing on our own (FAU) stadium.
Coach Howard Schnellenberger married Beverlee Donnelley on May 2, 1959. They are the parents of three sons: Stuart, Tim and Stephen. Stephen died after a long illness in March 2008. They have three grandchildren: Teather (a Miami Dolphins cheerleader), Joey and Marcus.
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