Florida Atlantic Picks Coach
Howard Schnellenberger, who built the Miami Hurricanes' football program into a national powerhouse in the early 1980s, was appointed coach of Florida Atlantic's new program Monday.
The Owl's are scheduled to play their first game on Sept. 8, 2001, against Cornell.
Schnellenberger led the Hurricanes to the first of their four national championships in 1983. He later coached at Louisville and Oklahoma.
He became director of football operations at Florida Atlantic in May 1998, and his hiring as coach had been widely expected. He agreed to a seven-year, $150,000 per year contract.
"The old war horse has risen again, and he is ready for battle," Schnellenberger, 65, said at a news conference attended by about 200 boosters and members of the school's faculty and staff.
"To me this is the most important thing I have ever undertaken in my life, because the people it's going to affect is going to be so long-lasting," he said.
The school north of Fort Lauderdale also announced today that 1966 graduate Tom Oxley, president of the Royal Palm Polo Club, has pledged $4 million for a new athletic complex and practice field.
The donation pushed Florida Atlantic's football fund-raising campaign to $8 million, all of it brought in by Schnellenberger.
School president Anthony Catanese said no one else was interviewed for the coaching job.
"I am confident that Howard Schnellenberger is the right man to lead our team on to the field and into the 21st century," Catanese said.
©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed