Hall of Fame
Originally from Alva, Schnebel earned his chemistry degree in 1977. During his time at Northwestern, Schnebel played defensive end and center for the 1973 and 1974 Ranger football teams.
The highlight of his career was seeing his father’s smile after beating Fort Hays State his sophomore year. His father’s coaching mentor had been the Fort Hays athletic director, and the two watched the game together.
“My father was proud of how I played and blocked,” Schnebel said.
A valedictorian at Northwestern, Schnebel went on to earn his medical doctorate from the University of Oklahoma in 1981. Currently, he is a self-employed physician and orthopedic surgeon at McBride Clinic.
In 1987, Schnebel became the head team physician for Northwestern, a position he still holds today.
“My greatest statistical number is 44,” Schnebel said. “This represents the number of years that I have been associated with NWOSU athletics, as a ball boy for the 1965-1967 football teams coached by my father, as a fan in high school, as a football player while in college and as a healthcare provider since.”
Schnebel’s commitment to Northwestern spans 11 football coaches, four basketball coaches, five university presidents, the addition of new sports and new venues, the first athletic trainer and the newest training room. Other than his family, the honor to continue his association with his alma mater as health care provider to the athletes of Northwestern is his greatest success, he said.
To his credit, Schnebel has a number of professional awards in medicine, and he served as the 1996 Olympic team physician in Atlanta, 2000 head Olympic team physician in Sydney and as an orthopedic consultant and head team physician for the University of Oklahoma since 1996, to name a few of his roles in sports since college.
Schnebel and his wife, Kelli (Harrison), a 1978 graduate, live in Oklahoma City and have four adult children, Jessica, Chase, Bailey and Addison.
