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, Schnellenberger has also raised more than 10 million dollars and spent considerable time and effort building support for the program in the community.

The program’s surprising success actually comes as no surprise to anyone who knows Schnellenberger and a resume that includes four college national championships and two Super Bowl victories.

“He’s just a believer and a teacher and this is another one of his great accomplishments,” former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula said.

Finalists:
Dick Biddle, Colgate
Jerome Souers, Northern Arizona
Pete Richardson, Southern

DIVISION II
MARK HUDSPETH
NORTH ALABAMA

North Alabama has a history of success, having won three Division II national championships under former coach Bobby Wallace in the 1990s, but the program had slipped a few notches by the time Mark Hudspeth took over in 2002.

As a graduate and former offensive coordinator at Delta State, the 35-year-old Hudspeth knew all about North Alabama’s winning tradition, but he also knew something about wide-open offense. Hudspeth’s high-powered offense averaged 31 points per game in 2002 and his first team broke numerous school records, but finished only 4-7 and had to replace four lost coaches at the end of the season.

With Harlon Hill Trophy-winning quarterback Will Hall running the offense, Hudspeth’s system took hold in 2003 and the Lions pulled off a remarkable turnaround by going 13-1, winning Gulf South Conference championship and earning a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Lions reached the semifinals before losing 29-22 at North Dakota.

“Our quest is not complete here,” Hudspeth said. “Our job is to win the national championship. It was nice to win the GSC, but our goal is always to win the national championship. We want to play in that championship game in front of our home crowd in Florence.”

Finalists:
Dave Wiemers, Emporia State
Richard Cundiff, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Dale Lennon, North Dakota

DIVISION III
JOE KING
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

In 15 seasons at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Joe King has become something of an institution himself as the Engineers’ head coach.

Over the past 12 seasons, Coach King has guided Rensselaer to a combined 91-27 (.771) mark, as well as six ECAC Championships (1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002), four straight UCAA Championships (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001), and two undefeated regular seasons concluding with a NCAA playoff appearance (9-0 in 1999, 8-0 in 2001).

King is the program’s winningest coach in terms of wins and winning percentage, with a 105-38-2 record. But it was his 15th season that brought RPI to new levels of success. RPI not only won an NCAA Division III playoff game for the first time in the program’s 116-year history, but the Engineers also advanced to the national semifinals before losing to St. John’s, the eventual national champions.

Now King wants to reach and surpass the success of St. John’s and Mount Union, two of Division III’s most dominants programs.

“To get to this level, the program’s got to get better than it has been,” King said. “Will something like this help the program be better? Will we be able to get a couple more kids we haven’t gotten in the past to come to our school?”

Finalists:
Ralph Harris, East Texas Baptist
John Gagliardi, St. John's (Minn.)
Larry Kehres, Mt. Union

DIVISION NAIA
MIKE VAN DIEST
CARROLL COLLEGE (MT)

Mike Van Diest had to fill some big shoes when he became the head coach at Carroll College four years ago. After all, Carroll is the school where John Gagliardi, the winningest coach in college football history, got his start, and where NAIA Hall of Fame coach Bob Petrino coached for 29 years.

“I think that, obviously, the national exposure of coach Gagliardi has shed some light on the program and what coach Petrino did here for 28 years was awesome,” Van Diest said.

But whoever replaces Van Diest will have his own big shoes to fill someday, because Van Diest has led the Fighting Saints to two consecutive national championships and a five-year record of 52-14 (.788).

After winning the NAIA national title as heavy underdogs in 2002, the Fighting Saints learned how to carry the heavy weight of the favorite throughout the 2003 season. They entered the season with a lot of holes to fill and a tough schedule, as well as the immediate pressure of opening the season No. 1 in the national polls.

Carroll remained on top throughout the season, finishing 12-2, winning the Frontier Conference championship and defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State in the national championship game. Along the way, Carroll won 12 consecutive games by at least 13 points and won its first three playoff games by an average margin of 33 points.

Finalists:
Andy Lambert, Trinity International
Vic Wallace, Lambuth
Hank Biesoit, Dickinson State

DIVISION JUCO
TROY MORRELL
BUTLER COUNTY (KS)

If Troy Morrell ever gets a job offer from another football program, it won’t be easy to leave Butler County Community College. After all, Morrell has played and coached at Butler for 11 years and has taken the Grizzlies to national prominence as a head coach.

After earning All Conference and All American honors as an offensive lineman in 1990-1991, Morrell returned to Butler in 1996 as the offensive line coach, moved up to offensive coordinator in 1998 and became the head coach in 2000.

Since his return to BCCC in 1996, the Grizzlies have gone 76-14 (.844) and won three national championships. Morrell (42-6 as a head coach) won his first national championship as a head coach this season, leading the Grizzlies to a 12-0 record, a KJCCC championship and both the NJCAA and JC Grid-Wire National Championships.

In the process, Butler also proved it could win with both offense and defense. After averaging nearly 59 points per game in five games leading up to the national championship game against Dixie State in the Rotary Bowl, the Grizzlies scored only 14 points against Dixie State and still won 14-10.

“Our defense definitely won the game for us – there’s no doubt about it,” said Morrell. “They really stepped up. Obviously, I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”

Finalists:
Greg Croshaw, Dixie State
John Eliasik, William Rainey Harper
Craig Rigsbee, Butte