allCanesBlog guest columnist Scott Alan Salomon went one-on-one with former Miami Hurricanes head coach—and Florida Atlantic royalty—Howard Schnellenberger on Friday morning; hours before the Canes and Owls will tee it up at FAU Stadium
Howard Schnellenberger compares tonight’s game with the University of Miami to the game that he won in 1979 at Penn State with a kid quarterback by the name of Jim Kelly.
He looks at the game as a David vs. Goliath type scenario and if David can use his slingshot and defeat Miami, a big favorite, it would set the program that Schnellenberger built five years ahead.
“Oh my, this is such a big game for us,” Schnellenberger said. “For Miami, they are a prohibitive favorite and a win would really accelerate the promotion of the program. This is a pivotal game. This game would put us ahead five years.
“It is immeasurable what it would mean to win tonight,” Schnellenberger said. “It would be like when Jim Kelly led us to that win over Penn State when I was at Miami. We are talking a very big win. This could be program setting. That was one of the biggest wins ever at the University of Miami and this game has that kind of magnitude for us tonight.
The game is being nationally televised on Fox Sports 1 and it would bring instant credibility to the Owls who have been struggling in the local markets for visibility.
“FAU is struggling to get it’s first pivotal win and a lot of people will not know how to react tonight,” Schnellenberger said. “The electricity in the air will be 400 million kilowatts. It will be excessive it’s going to open a new window for FAU.”
As big a win as tonight would be for FAU, Schnellenberger knows the value of the loss for Miami, if the game did not turn out in the Canes favor.
“Miami is a prohibitive favorite and if they lose, it will be a setback for them that would be hard for them to overcome,” Schnellenberger said. “For us, it is a game that we have waited a lifetime to host. A win tonight is very ‘doable.’”
The coach said that Miami is a mature and potent team and that at one point was among the best teams in the nation, while FAU is still struggling to find its identity in the market place and that a win over the Canes would be huge.
“We will be covered tonight like we have never been covered before,” Schnellenberger said. “We will be on national television, in our home stadium. This is so big for the program, I cannot really express it in words.”
The Pipe likens this game as his children versus his great grandchildren. He knows that whoever wins is like his kin, but his loyalties now must lie with the Owls, where he is still employed as an Ambassador and works at the pleasure of the University president.
“This game is like a family feud. When I was at Louisville, Miami was like my grandchildren, when I left there and came to FAU, they became my great grandchildren, so to speak,” Schnellenberger said. “I still love Miami and go to most of their games when I can. Every week I am at one of the three games that I was involved in, either Miami, Louisville or FAU, but my loyalty and allegiance is with FAU right now, but I still love Miami.”
Schnellenberger said that tonight’s game is a continuation of his lifetime in coaching and that the matchup was inevitable.
“This is a continuation of a long time in coaching the programs,” Schnellenberger said. “The Canes were my first family and my first football team and they really are like my great grandchildren.”