FAU Owls football
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| Florida Atlantic Owls football | |||||
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| City | Boca Raton, FL | ||||
| Team Colors | FAU Blue and FAU Red | ||||
| Head Coach | Howard Schnellenberger | ||||
| Home Stadium | Lockhart Stadium Capacity 20,450 - Grass |
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| Mascot | Owsley the Owl | ||||
| League/Conference affiliations | |||||
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| Team history | |||||
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| Division I-AA Playoffs (1) | |||||
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| Rivals | |||||
| Motto | |||||
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The Florida Atlantic Owls is the football team that represents Florida Atlantic University, a mid-major NCAA Division I-A college football team.
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[edit] Overview and history
Florida Atlantic University football began play in 2001 and has had only one head coach, Howard Schnellenberger. After competing their first four years as an NCAA Division I-AA independent, the Owls moved to Division I-A and the Sun Belt Conference.
[edit] Schnellenberger Era: The Beginning (1998 - present)
The program has made extraordinary progress in its short existence. In 1998, the university announced it was pursuing the creation of an NCAA football program and that Howard Schnellenberger was going to lead the charge, as director of football operations and head Coach. After his success in rebuilding programs at the University of Miami and the University of Louisville, Coach Schnellenberger now undertook the role of building a program from scratch. The team finished its inaugural season at 4-6 and followed the next season at 2-9. Major accomplishments in its first two seasons include the program's first win, which came in its second game, against Bethune Cookman 31-28 and won in the first meeting with newly-created South Florida rival, Florida International University 31-21.
[edit] 2007 season
The Owls will play five non-conference games and seven Sun Belt Conference games in 2007. Non-conference games include: Florida, South Florida, Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Kentucky.[1]
[edit] FAU vs. the Sun Belt conference
The Sun Belt Conference football members are:
- FAU Owls
- Arkansas State Indians (1-1)
- FIU Golden Panthers (4-1)
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (2-2)
- Troy Trojans (0-3)
- Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin' Cajuns (1-1)
- Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (1-2)
- North Texas Mean Green (3-0)
(FAU record vs. school all-time in parentheses)
[edit] Push for a new stadium
- See also: FAU football stadium
Since football's inception at FAU in 1998, Coach Schnellenberger has publically led a campaign to build a football stadium on FAU's main campus in Boca Raton. In seven seasons of competition, the FAU Owls have called two stadiums "home" (Dolphin Stadium and currently Lockhart Stadium). Coach Schnellenberger argued that an on-campus stadium increases popularity of the program and attracts high-caliber recruits.
In 2006, the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees (FAU BoT) approved the idea of moving forward with plans to build a football stadium on Boca's campus. HOK Sport, Inc. and FAU Athletics Department are currently designing an open-air, 30,000-seat football stadium (that can eventually be expanded to 100,000 seats) and are due to report back to the FAU BoT in four months to report projected costs and a timetable to break ground on the project.
The stadium is just a part of the university's broader concept of an "Innovation Village", covering the north end of Boca's campus. The Village will include the football stadium, a multi-use Convocation Center for volleyball, basketball and recreation, two parking garages, student housing complexes, an Alumni Center, a wellness and fitness center and strip shopping centers. The Innovation Village will be funded and constructed in stages, with the football stadium being the main concern of the first phase. All relative information on the Innovation Village can be found at FAU's Campus Master Plan (2006-2013).[2]
The University is in talks to have the season opener against Middle Tennessee State September 1, 2007, at a temporary stadium on campus. The setup would have the capability to hold 15,000 at an early projected cost of $400,000. [1]
[edit] Past seasons
| Year | Record | Conference | Team MVP | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 4-6 | -- | Jared Allen (Fr., QB) | |
| 2002 | 2-9 | -- | Chris Laskowski (So., LB) | |
| 2003 | 11-3 | -- | Jared Allen (Jr., QB) Chris Laskowski (Jr., LB) |
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| 2004 | 9-3 | -- | Jared Allen (Sr., QB) | |
| 2005 | 2-9 | 2-5 | Shomari Earls (Sr., LB) | |
| 2006 | 5-7 | 4-3 | Aaron Sanchez (Sr., RB) | |
| 2007 |
[edit] Current coaching staff
| Name | Current Title | Years at FAU |
Alma mater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Schnellenberger | Head Coach | 1998 - | Kentucky |
| Gary Nord | Offensive Coordinator Quarterbacks |
2004 - | Louisville |
| Kirk Hoza | Defensive Coordinator Secondary |
1999 - | Louisville |
| Kurt VanValkenburgh | Assistant Head Coach Linebackers |
1998 - | SUNY Albany |
| Joe Corozza | Assistant Head Coach Tight Ends |
2001 - | Florida Atlantic |
| David Serna | Running Backs | 2004 - | UTEP |
| John Vandevere | Wide Receivers | 2002 - | Millersville University |
| Dale Williams | Centers & Guards | 2005 - | West Virginia |
[edit] External links
- FAU Sports Official athletics website.
- ESPN.com: Florida Atlantic Owls Football Clubhouse ESPN coverage of Florida Atlantic Owls football.
[edit] References
- ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game (ISBN 1-4013-3703-1)
[edit] References
- ^ "Florida Atlantic Owls 2007 Football Schedule." 2007 FAU Schedule.
- ^ "FAU Master Plan 2006-2013". Florida Atlantic University. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.
| FAU Owls Football Seasons |
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| 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 |
| Florida Atlantic Owls Head Coaches |
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| Schnellenberger |
