Howard Schnellenberger (2019) - Athletics Hall of Fame - Florida Atlantic University Athletics

Howard Schnellenberger

Induction:
2019

Howard Schnellenberger came to FAU in 1998 with the assigned mission of exploring the possibility of FAU adding football. He secured funding and gained the state’s approval, and signed his first recruiting class in February of 2000. Under Schnellenberger’s direction, FAU took to the field for the first time in 2001. In 2003, the fledgling program advanced to, and hosted, the I-AA semifinal game. FAU captured the Sun Belt Conference Championship in 2007, earning an invitation and win in the New Orleans Bowl, and became the fastest start-up program to receive a bowl bid and record a victory. One year later, the Owls became the only 2008 team in the state of Florida to record back-to-back bowl victories. Schnellenberger marshaled the sideline 132 times wearing a suit of FAU colors, proving victorious 58 times. His continued efforts to transform the Boca Raton campus into a more traditional university, through the efforts of football, culminated with an on-campus stadium in 2011. He would roam the sidelines that final season on a field that bears his name.