Howard Schnellenberger Howard Schnellenberger ( born March 16 , 1934 ) is a retired American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels . He was most recently the head coach at Florida Atlantic University , having announced his retirement on August 11 , 2011 , effective at the end of the 2011 season . He previously held head coaching positions with the University of Oklahoma , University of Louisville , University of Miami , where he won a national championship , and the Baltimore Colts . He also worked extensively as an assistant coach at the college and pro levels , including as part of the staff of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins . Schnellenberger is also famous for recruiting Joe Namath to the University of Alabama for Bear Bryant in 1961 . Early football career . Schnellenberger graduated from Flaget High School in Louisville , Kentucky , where he played football , basketball and baseball before earning a scholarship to the University of Kentucky . Schnellenberger was an All - American ( AP , 1955 ) end at Kentucky and worked as an assistant coach at Kentucky under head coach Blanton Collier in 1959 and 1960 . There he joined the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity . Schnellenberger also served as offensive coordinator under his college coach Bear Bryant at Alabama , helped Alabama to win three national championships in 1961 , 1964 and 1965 before leaving in 1966 to take a job in the NFL as receivers coach of the Los Angeles Rams under George Allen , then was hired by Don Shula in 1970 to become the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins and parlaying the success of Miami ' s 1972 perfect season into becoming the new head coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1973 . Baltimore Colts . Schnellenberger ' s Colts went 4 - 10 in his one full season but managed to pull an upset on the defending Super Bowl Champion Dolphins towards the end of the 1973 season , though the Dolphins ' s second - team played most of the game . After the Colts started the 1974 season 0 - 3 , Schnellenberger was fired and replaced by Joe Thomas . He returned to the Dolphins coaching staff the following year and remained there until he was offered the head coaching job at the University of Miami . Miami . Schnellenberger arrived to a Miami program that was on its last legs , with the program having almost been dropped by the university just a few years prior . Drawing from the boot camp methodology learned from mentors Bryant and Shula and a pro - style pass - oriented playbook not yet the norm in Division I college football , Miami developed a passing game that allowed them to have advantage over teams not equipped to defend such an attack . By his third season at Miami , the team had finished the season in the AP Poll top 25 twice — something that had not happened there since 1966 . Schnellenberger revolutionized recruiting South Florida high school talent by building a metaphorical " fence around Miami " and recruiting only the " State of South Florida . " His eye for talent in this area led to many programs around the nation paying greater attention to south Florida high school prospects . Under his " State of Miami " plan , Schnellenberger ' s teams took the best from the three - county area around the city , went after the state ' s best , then aimed at targets among the nation ' s elite recruits ; it became a model of how to recruit in college football . He coached Miami to a National Championship in 1983 , defeating Nebraska in the 50th Orange Bowl . Following the season , Schnellenberger departed for the USFL where he was to become the head coach of a Miami - based team — a relocated Washington Federals franchise . Not long after that announcement , however , the USFL announced that it would shift to a fall schedule . The owner - to - be for the Federals backed out of the deal , knowing he could not hope to compete head - to - head with the Miami Dolphins . A new backer moved the team to Orlando as the Renegades and decided not to retain Schnellenberger . Schnellenberger was interviewed about his time at the University of Miami for the documentary " The U " , which premiered December 12 , 2009 on ESPN . Louisville . In 1985 , Schnellenberger returned to his hometown to coach another struggling program , the University of Louisville Cardinals . Schnellenberger inherited a situation that was as bad , if not worse , than what he ' d inherited at Miami . The Cardinals had not had a winning season since 1978 , and only two winning records in the previous 12 years . They played at Cardinal Stadium , a minor - league baseball stadium , and often hosted crowds so small that the school was forced to give tickets away . They also played in the long shadow of the school ' s powerful men ' s basketball team . The situation was so grave at Louisville that officials were considering dropping the football program down to I - AA . Nonetheless , at his opening press conference , he stunned reporters and fans by proclaiming the program " is on a collision course with the national championship . The only variable is time . " After going 8 – 24 – 1 in his first three years , Schnellenberger was able to turn the program around and go 24 – 9 – 1 the next three seasons . In 10 years , he led the Cardinals to their fourth and fifth bowl games in school history . They won them both , including an unprecedented 34 – 7 thrashing of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl , capping a 10 – 1 – 1 season and the school ' s first - ever appearance in a final poll ( 11th ) . The Fiesta Bowl appearance was the school ' s first - ever New Year ' s Day bowl game . Although Schnellenberger ' s record at Louisville was two games under . 500 ( largely due to his first three years ) , he has remained in the good graces of Cardinal fans due to the awful state the program was in when he arrived , giving him a justly - deserved reputation as a " program builder . " He is also credited with laying the foundation for the program ' s subsequent rise to national prominence . The Cardinals went to nine straight bowl games from 1998 to 2006 and were in the national title hunt for much of 2005 and 2006 . The Howard L . Schnellenberger Football Complex at Papa John ' s Cardinal Stadium is named after him ; Schnellenberger initially proposed building the on - campus stadium during his tenure at Louisville and is credited with keeping the project alive . Oklahoma . Late in the 1994 season , Oklahoma head coach Gary Gibbs was forced to resign , but was allowed to finish out the season . Schnellenberger was hired to replace him on December 16 , 1994 . Repeating his bluster upon taking the Louisville job , Schnellenberger declared , " They ' ll write books and make movies about my time here . " He also traveled across the state , with the stated goal of renewing the enthusiasm in what he called " Sooner Nation . " After watching his new team for the first time in the 1994 Copper Bowl ( in which Oklahoma was routed by BYU 31 – 6 ) , he alienated his soon - to - be players by declaring them " out of shape , unorganized and unmotivated " and that they disgraced Oklahoma ' s rich football tradition . After a 3 – 0 start that had the Sooners ranked in the top 10 , it quickly came unraveled after a 38 – 17 loss to Colorado on ESPN . That was the start of a stretch where the Sooners only went 2 – 5 – 1 the rest of the way , including a 2 – 5 record in conference play — Oklahoma ' s first losing record in conference play in 31 years , and only the second since World War II . They were also defeated 12 – 0 by Oklahoma State — the Sooners ' first loss to their in - state rival in 20 years . En route , the Sooners were penalized nine times per game , which is very unusual since Schnellenberger has traditionally coached very disciplined teams . The Sooners closed out the season with their second - straight shutout , a 37 - 0 loss at No . 1 1995 Nebraska , which prevented Oklahoma from attaining a winning season or a bowl venue . On December 19 , 1995 , Schnellenberger resigned unexpectedly after one season , stating that " in recent months a climate has developed toward the program , understandably in some cases and perhaps unfairly in others , that has changed my outlook on the situation . A change could help improve that climate . " To this day , Schnellenberger is not held in high regard by Sooner fans , in part because he made no secret of his lack of interest in Oklahoma ' s football history ( his comments after the 1994 Copper Bowl notwithstanding ) . He ordered the destruction of several old football files ( which were actually preserved without his knowledge ) . He also said on his statewide tour that the team he planned to put together would make " Sooner Nation " forget about legendary coaches Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer . After leaving Oklahoma , Schnellenberger decided to try the financial world , and became a bond salesman , passing the certification exam on his third try . Florida Atlantic . After a few years out of the limelight , Schnellenberger resurfaced in 1998 . At age 64 he was named director of football operations for Florida Atlantic University , with the task of building a football program from scratch : coming up with a strategic plan , raising funds and selecting a coach . He was able to raise $ 13 million in pledges , lobbied the state legislature , and by the time then - FAU President , Anthony Catanese , asked him to find a coach in 1999 , Schnellenberger selected himself . Schnellenberger described his interest in FAU by noting " This one is so different . The others , we were working with adopted kids . These were our kids . " For the next two years , Schnellenberger led the fledgling team through fund - raising , recruiting and practice . For their first practice in 2000 , the Owls had 160 walk - ons and 22 scholarship players . FAU football played their first game on September 1 , 2001 , losing to Slippery Rock 40 – 7 after the FAU administration failed to certify 13 Owls starters in time to play . The very next game the Owls upset the No . 22 team in I - AA , Bethune – Cookman , finishing their first season 4 – 6 . They regressed to 2 – 9 the following season , but went 11 – 3 and made the I - AA semifinals in their third . During their fourth season , the Owls posted a 9 – 3 record while transitioning to Division I - A , but were ineligible for both a bowl game and the I - AA playoffs because of their transitioning status . After playing four years at the Division I - AA level , FAU moved to the Sun Belt Conference and Division I - A level in 2005 . This goal had been one of Schnellenberger ' s primary objectives upon creation of the program . After two seasons in the Sun Belt , FAU football won the 2007 Conference title and secured its first ever bowl invitation , defeating Memphis 44 – 27 in the New Orleans Bowl . In just the seventh year of the football program ' s history , and the third year playing in Division I - A , Florida Atlantic set an NCAA record by becoming the youngest program ever to receive an invitation to a bowl game . For his success in 2007 , Coach Schnellenberger was awarded the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year . In 2008 , Coach Schnellenberger led his 6 - 6 FAU Owls to a post - season bid at the Motor City Bowl against the Central Michigan Chippewas . This marked the first time a 6 - 6 Sun Belt Conference team that had not won the Conference Championship was invited to a post - season bowl . Although the Owls were underdogs , Coach Schnellenberger extended his post - season bowl record to 6 - 0 , the most of any coach without a loss , with a 24 - 21 win . Schnellenberger , whose contract as head coach expired at the end of the 2011 season , announced his retirement on August 11 , 2011 , effective at season ' s end . He plans to remain at FAU as a university ambassador ; when asked if he would consider coaching again , he replied , " You ' re not going to see me anywhere but here or at the beach . " During his FAU career , he regularly pushed for a new on - campus football stadium ; that goal was realized with the 2010 groundbreaking for the new FAU Stadium . Shortly before he announced his retirement , he was featured in a pre - opening ceremony in which he switched on the stadium lights for the first time . He led the Owls out for their first home game in the new facility on October 15 . Personal . Schnellenberger has been married to Beverlee ( née Donnelly ) for over 40 years ; they met when Howard played for the Toronto Argonauts . His son , Stephen , was diagnosed as an infant with a rare form of endocrine cancer but lived a normal childhood and became an insurance broker in Florida ; however , during a 2003 surgery , his heart stopped and he suffered brain damage that left him in a semi - comatose state . Subsequently , Stephen ' s parents cared for him at their home in Boca Raton , Florida until his death on March 9 , 2008 . Schnellenberger is known for his gravelly baritone voice and was known for smoking a trademark pipe , but gave it up after he found out his son was diagnosed with cancer . During his time at Miami and Louisville he was well known for wearing a distinctive suede jacket and a conservative striped tie , echoing the dress of his mentors such as Bear Bryant , though he now wears more golf shirts as coach of FAU . He is known for his colorful press conference quotes , such that a Louisville weekly newspaper , the " Louisville Eccentric Observer " , includes a feature called " SchnellSpeak of the Week " . Head coaching record . College . Bowl games . Schnellenberger is 6 – 0 in bowl games :