RIP Schnellenberger, farewell Alvarez and death to NCAA: A Blitz Podcast

This week’s Saturday Blitz Podcast began on a somber note as the duo takes the time to reflect on Howard Schnellenberger’s legendary coaching career in the wake of his death this past weekend. Best remembered for leading Miami to the 1983 national championship after a stunning upset of unbeaten Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, Schnellenberger’s football career was full of highlights.

Armed with a thick mustache and his trusty pipe, Schnellenberger’s career started out as a player at Kentucky under legendary head coach Bear Bryant. He later coached under Bryant at the University of Alabama, leading the recruitment effort of Hall-of-Fame quarterback Joe Namath and being the offensive coordinator for two national title teams in 1964 and 1965.

Schnellenberer was then the offensive coordinator for the 1972 undefeated, Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins. He took over the Hurricanes when the program was far from desirable and laid the groundwork for one of the most dominant runs for a program in college football history. He later revitalized Louisville and built the Florida Atlantic program from scratch before his retirement.

In our second segment this week, we discuss the impending retirement of former Wisconsin head coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez. Alvarez has been part of the Badgers program since 1990, building the culture we’ve all come to expect in Madison. Can Wisconsin sustain that culture with Alvarez moving on?

In our final two segments, we take some time to, as usual, attack the power structure of the NCAA. We start by discussing the Supreme Court’s Alston vs. the NCAA case and what kind of impact that decision could have on the future of the NCAA and athlete’s compensation.

We finish by discussing Lincoln Riley’s absurd stance on blocking the intraconference transfer of his former player Chandler Morris, who has begun practicing with TCU, but will have to sit out the 2021 season unless Riley agrees to release him to transfer freely. An unfortunate, archaic rule that a young figurehead of the sport has no business standing behind. I imagine you can imagine where our two hosts stand on this…

The Saturday Blitz Podcast goes live every Wednesday morning. You can reach John Mitchell at @jlmitchell93 and Zach Bigalke at @zbigalke on Twitter.