The Schnellenberger Trophy: The Newest and Coolest Rivalry Trophy

The architect of Miami Hurricanes football, Howard Schnellenberger, is maybe the most important person in program history. He will now be remembered at least once a year when the Hurricanes take on the Louisville Cardinals.

As a permanent opponent for Miami beginning in 2023 due to the new pod system, the Hurricanes and Cardinals will compete for the Schnellenberger trophy each season. The two football programs play each other for the first time since the legendary coach passed away on March 27, 2021, at age 87.

The Louisville Sports Commission came up with the idea for a rivalry trophy to honor the coach who rebuilt both programs during his college football coaching career.

Schnellenberger built Miami up from a program that hadn’t won more than six games in 11 seasons to one regularly competing for National Championships, including an upset over Nebraska in 1983 for the first National Championship in program history.

In 1985, Schnellenberger took over a Louisville program that had six straight losing seasons. He led the Cardinals to an 8-3 record during his fourth season in 1988 and a 10-1-1 record and Fiesta Bowl win two years after that.

He finished his college football coaching career with 141 wins over 24 seasons. Most of his career was spent building programs from the ground up, including Florida Atlantic’s first eight seasons as an FBS program.

Battle for the Boots

The trophy will feature a bronzed pair of boots Schnellenberger wore during his coaching career, donated by his wife Beverlee.

It will be presented for the first time when the teams play on November 18 at Hard Rock Stadium this season.

For the games in Miami, the trophy will be presented by the Miami Touchdown Club. When games are played in Louisville, it will be the Louisville Sports Commission presenting the trophy.

The Hurricanes have faired well against the Cardinals, winning 11 of 15 games in the series. They have won their last two games, both by double-digits. This came after losing three straight to Louisville, their only three wins against the Canes.

In the new pod system, Miami will play the Cardinals in each of the next four seasons along with Florida State and Boston College. They will also play the other 10 programs in the ACC twice each over the next four seasons.