Florida Tech eliminated its football program after only seven season at the Division II level. The … [+]
Steve Englehart arrived at Florida Tech less than a decade ago to launch a football program and fulfill the many dreams that go along with it.
Those dreams morphed into realities and created memories that will not fade anytime soon, though those memories span a timeline all too short.
“I showed up here in 2011 with nothing more than a bunch of ideas and hopes that this place could be what I thought it could be,” he said. “That would be a Division II goldmine knowing that we were the only Division II program in the state of Florida at the time. We would have a great location for recruiting and all those things. That’s why we were able to be successful so quickly.”
The Panthers took the field in 2013 and went 5-7. In their first game they defeated visiting Stetson 20-13, with the outcome mirroring their inaugural year.
In 2014, they traveled to Texas and toppled No. 12 Tarleton State at AT&T Stadium. The next season the Panthers continued to realize their dreams when they shattered those of No. 1 West Georgia on Senior Day.
“To beat the No. 1 team in the country was huge,” said Englehart. “It was like, ‘Wow, we may have arrived.’ That was our sixth victory in the row and it was only our third year.”
Memorable wins yielded memorable seasons as Tech advanced to the playoffs in 2016 and 2018.
Alas, a 42-3 win over fellow Gulf South Conference member Shorter University to close out the 2019 season proved to be the final chapter in the Panthers’ seven seasons.
“Indeed, all of higher education is struggling to deal with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the uncertainty that accompanies a global disruption to daily life,” president T. Dwayne McKay said in a message posted on the school’s website May 11. “Some universities will no doubt close. Florida Tech, however, has plans to persevere.”
In order to achieve that last point, the administration felt it had to make several cuts across in academics and athletics, including eliminating the football program.
“It’s tough because it came as such a surprise,” said Englehart, whose assistants over the past seven years included former Cincinnati head coach and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Rick Minter, who served as the Panthers’ DC in 2017 and 2018. “You watch the Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance, and I kind of wish (the administration) would have given us a last dance where they said, ‘We can’t do it anymore, but we’re going to give you this year and understand at the end of the season you’re done.’”
There will be no such gridiron finale at the private school founded in 1958. Located in Melbourne, about 20 miles south of Cape Canaveral, the school had close to 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students on the main campus in fall 2019.
“You never want to have a program go down, especially when it has been successful and with a great bunch of people running it,” said interim athletic director Pete Mazzone, who became Florida Tech’s associate athletic director in 1985 and coaches men’s and women’s track and cross country. “Coach Englehart did a fantastic job, he and his staff. To build a program from scratch and have that kind of success at a private university, an academically-driven university, then you’ve done a very good job.”
According to the U.S. Department of Education, Florida Tech’s football program accounted for $3.1 million, or about 30% of the athletic department’s $10.7 million in expenses during the 2018-19 fiscal year. It was a fiscal year in which many cracks surfaced as the school dropped its men’s and women’s tennis and women’s golf programs.
As with those student-athletes, the 120 affected by the loss of football will have their scholarships honored up to four years. Englehart noted that several of them have opportunities to play elsewhere, including six or seven that could sign with Division I programs. One of them, linebacker Evan Thompson, committed to FAU ten days after Florida Tech shuttered its program.
Thompson said he immediately heard from nearly 100 football coaches with 10 making an offer to resume his career. Football Bowl Subdivision programs other than FAU to contact him were Temple and Liberty.
Linebacker Evan Thompson led Florida Tech in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks in 2019. He will … [+]
The 5-foot-11 and 212-pound Thompson, who has one year of eligibility remaining, led the team last season in tackles (89), tackles for loss (13) and sacks (5.5). At FAU, which is about 135 miles down the coast from Melbourne, he will play for coach Willie Taggart and defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, both in their first years at the school.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said of the opportunity to play for the Owls, who won a pair of Conference USA championships the past three years under Lane Kiffin. “I didn’t have the accolades or achievements to go there out of high school and I would never have expected this to happen. The thing I am most excited about is joining coach Leavitt’s defense. I can’t wait to get down there and play for the new coaching staff.”
Football was far from the only thing for Thompson, who grew up outside Orlando, to consider in committing to FAU. He is also a golfer and because this past season was cut short due to the pandemic, he will have two years of eligibility on the links. At FAU he will be able to complete his undergraduate studies (entrepreneurship with a minor in sustainability) prior to going for his master’s.
“When I first decided I was transferring, the school I wanted to attend was one where I can complete my undergrad and play my final season of football and also do my graduate studies and play my final two years of golf,” said Thompson, who noted the family-type relationship among Panthers players and coaches is what he will miss most about his time at Florida Tech. “FAU was the one that stood out the most. It worked out perfectly.”
While Thompson has the next chapter in his college career lined up, other players are sorting out the many details, including kicker Trey Schaneville. Like Thompson, the Melbourne native is a two-sport athlete as he is also a guard on the Panthers’ basketball team.
Schaneville, who as a freshman in 2018 set the school mark by making 15 field goals (20 attempts), is undecided as to where the remainder of his college career will play out. He has heard from several schools and if he moves on, Valdosta State, which is interested in him for both sports, is a potential landing spot.
For football only, Schaneville heard from Football Championship Subdivision member Gardner-Webb.
“I have a couple of options to transfer, but I am not sure if I am leaving yet,” said Schaneville, who noted one of his career highlights was an overtime field goal that defeated North Greenville last season. “Valdosta State offered me for both football and basketball, so that is an option I am strongly considering.”
While Thompson is set with what’s next and Schaneville is among those weighing their options, many football careers have come to an end. Trent Chmelik, who totaled 3,041 yards as the Panthers’ starting quarterback in 2018 and one season of eligibility remaining, will not be moving on.
“He had one year left and is in grad school,” said Englehart, of the fifth-year senior from Clearwater. “He is not going to play his final season because he wants to stay and complete his master’s.”
As for Englehart, who was a quarterback at Indiana State in the late ’90s and served as offensive coordinator at his alma mater before arriving at Florida Tech, he is taking this time to look at career options outside of football while leaving the door open to remaining in the game.
“I am in wait-and-see mode,” he said. “I have always had interests in other areas, but with coaching and putting in 90-hour weeks you rarely have time to do other things. I am going to take some time to explore opportunities in business and investment-type areas and see where it goes. Who knows? I may get back into football.”
