Schutt Sports College Coaches of the Year

DIVISION I-AA HOWARD SCHNELLENBERGER Florida Atlantic University It’s a long way from the Super Bowl and the Division I-A national championship to Division I-AA coach of the year, but it didn’t take long for Howard Schnellenberger to close the gap. At age 69, Schnellenberger is not only in his third season as the head coach and director of football operations at Florida Atlantic, he’s also the founder of a fledgling program that has risen rapidly in a short time. After a 4-6 debut in 2001 and a 2-9 record 2002, the Owls went 11-3 in 2003, finished fourth in the final national polls and became the youngest start-up program to advance to the NCAA playoffs. FAU played its first two playoff games on the road, beating Bethune-Cookman in the first round and then defeating Northern Arizona before losing to Colgate in the national semifinals. In addition to FAU’s on-field success,