The Four Horsemen

They were believers long before the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl victory. Now Michael Maher ’97, Frank Peña ’99, Alberto Padron ’98, MBA ’09 and Eddie Hondal ’88, MS ’00 want you to join them at FIU Stadium

By Deborah O’Neil MA ’09

When the gut-wrenching moment arrived in Detroit’s Ford Field – 32-31 Toledo, four seconds left on the clock and a 34-yard kick – Alberto Padron needed Papa Panther. Heck, we ALL needed Papa Panther.

Padron, a marketing executive and father of three, leaped over four rows of seats to bury his head in the shoulder of Eddie Hondal – “Papa Panther,” FIU’s original football fan. “I can’t look,” Padron told his friend.

Hondal was just a breath away from exaltation as the clock counted down on the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Having attended nearly every game since the program’s inception, Hondal could feel the moment had arrived. With more than two million people watching on ESPN, FIU fans everywhere – the diehards and fair weathers — were about to be rewarded.

On the sidelines, their friend Frank Peña paced between the 5 and 15. FIU Trustee Al Dotson reassured him, “Don’t worry. We’re going to win this.” Peña had nodded. He still had a knot in his stomach.

Back in Miami, Mike Maher, the fourth of the alumni foursome nicknamed  “The Four Horsemen,” blocked out the excited crowd at The Sports Exchange. He crouched in front of the bar with only his eyes peering over at the TV. “I’m focused on nothing but the snap and the kicker.”

Everyone held their breath during the 4-second arc of Griffin’s game-winning kick. When Padron looked up, he saw Athletic Director Pete Garcia alongside the goalpost with his arms in the air. The crowd exploded. The ESPN announcer boomed: “In their first ever bowl game, FIU has captured the Little Caesars Bowl!”

The Panther Roar echoed from Detroit to the Gables, across barrooms, living rooms and wireless networks. Grown men wept, wives screamed, strangers embraced, fans fell to their knees before their televisions.

The Motor City Miracle was complete. The FIU story of turning the impossible into the inevitable was written in the X’s and O’s of a dazzling comeback and stunning victory. The Four Horsemen’s football campaign to win the hearts and minds of all FIU alumni got a whole lot easier that night.

“You are no longer Eddie”

You might assume the Four Horsemen have been friends forever. Not so. It was FIU football that brought them together. Maher and Padron first met while huddled in a tunnel at the Orange Bowl watching the FIU football team practice in the rain. It was 2007, Head Coach Mario Cristobal’s first season, and the team was getting ready to play Penn State. Both wanted to see the new coach in action.

They didn’t talk again for two years. Then in 2009, Hondal invited Padron to a small meeting called by Maher to talk about football. When Padron walked in, Maher said, “Wait, I know you. Penn State? Orange Bowl?” The brotherhood of the Four Horsemen was coming together.

Maher told the group, “I am not sitting in another football game with the stands empty.”

“I was sipping the Kool-Aid hard,” said Maher, an IT consultant. “I said, ‘Cristobal is doing everything he can to build us a winning program. We have to help him.’ ”

Three others were ready to roll up their sleeves for football – Peña, Hondal and Padron. They agreed: A successful football program isn’t built on the field alone. You have to build success in the stands too.

“It was like The Bourne Identity,” Maher said. “Are you ready to commit yourself? You are no longer Eddie. You are Papa Panther.”

All had been regulars at FIU football games since the program began. Hondal served as FIU’s Alumni Association director from 1993-’98 and then director of football development from 1998-2002. Before FIU even had a team, he hired a plane to fly over the Orange Bowl during a UM-FSU game with a banner that read: “FIU Football Still Undefeated.”

To this day, they’ve rarely missed a game and often travel to away games on their own dime. The Four Horsemen came together with an entrepreneurial determination to make something positive happen, Peña said.

“That’s what FIU is all about,” said Peña, a Miami businessman. “No other institution has opened a medical school, a law school, Division I football and an on-campus stadium in less than 50 years.”

“We have mad love”

It was Alumni Association Executive Director Bill Draughon who started calling them the Four Horsemen, a reference to four football players who are part of American football lore. A sportswriter coined the name for the four star players of the 1924 Notre Dame team. A famous publicity photo shows them on horseback, each with a football tucked under his arm.

The image of four football stalwarts carrying the ball for the university isn’t too far off. After the 2009 meeting, the foursome got to work on an outreach plan focused on winning the hearts and minds of FIU’s disinterested graduates.

They met continually through early 2010, putting in hours for FIU after leaving work. Soon enough, they were invited to join the Alumni Association Board and serve as its Athletics Liaison Committee.

“We do this because we have mad love,” said Maher. “That’s the only way I can put it.”

Each will tell you: This is personal. Hondal has a love of FIU that’s infectious. Maher remembers how FIU gave him a shot and changed his life. As an undergraduate, Peña served on the Student Government that approved a fee increase for football.

“There is a personality to FIU being young but full of promise,” Padron said. “There is proof of performance in our accomplishments, but everyone knows our best days are ahead. A lot of alumni would describe themselves with the same set of adjectives. FIU is us, and we are FIU.”

Every new football program needs a corps of devoted alumni who build the fan base, says Cristobal.

“It means everything when alumni like them find the time to spread the word and create awareness of the program, to be the catalysts of excitement,” Cristobal said. “They can see into the future of what the program is going to be. They know the rewards and the great moments are going to be there. They get it. That’s the best way to put it.”

“The secret sauce”

From the start, their objective has been to build university pride through athletics. The barrier: In a trendy city, FIU is not fashionable. The fix: Get passionate alumni to advocate for FIU. Back then, of course, they dared to dream: A big bowl win would certainly help.

“We can’t expect everyone to be fanatical like us,” Hondal said. “But in this city, as finicky as fans are, now that we are winning, we have to take advantage of this sentiment and say there is plenty of space on the bandwagon.”

The power of football to build university pride is well documented. “In the stadium for that three hours, you are one,” said Draughon. “It is a bonding experience.“

Cristobal often describes football as a window into the university. Says Padron, “I am euphoric about what people are going to see when they look into that window. They are going to see a vibrant university and say, ‘How come I didn’t know about this place?’”

The Four Horsemen launched a “Meet the Coach” series last spring to introduce Cristobal and show off the new Landon Fieldhouse.

“We felt the secret sauce was in granting alumni a degree of intimacy with this program,” Padron said. “Once we granted access, Coach Cristobal didn’t disappoint. We had to have Coach Cristobal’s dynamic leadership to really pull it off.”

Each tapped his network of friends and colleagues to attend the gatherings with Cristobal. For the true football fan, it was a glimpse behind the scenes of a Division I football program. For others, it was exciting to witness the program FIU was building.

Nearly 1,000 people attended a Meet the Coach session leading into the 2010 season. Eventually the FIU Division of External Relations began assisting with the events as they grew in popularity.

“What people took away from these was seeing how real Mario is,” Maher said. “He leaves a lasting impression.”

“Awaken the Panther within”

When pre-season was over, it was time to light up the grill.

The Four Horsemen were among the first to sign up for a corner spot in the new Alumni Association Panther Pit Tailgate Village. The elaborate setup with televisions streaming the day’s games and mounds of sizzling food became a crowd magnet. Peña orchestrated colorful menu choices like:

“No Stopping TY Hilton Wings” – These ultra-hot chicken wings soon enough will be consuming endzones on Sundays.

“The Four Horsemen 24 Masitas de Puerco” – These pork fried chunks are guaranteed to awaken the Panther within you.

The menu names reveal a lot about these friends. For all the seriousness of their mission, the Four Horsemen are having fun. Lots of fun. And their M.O. is simple: FIU is part of everything they do.

FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg says the Four Horsemen are a perfect example of how alumni are “a lifeline for a lifetime.”

“They make it a priority to help FIU reach the next level by giving of their time and hard work,” Rosenberg said. “They are proud of FIU and they carry that pride with them everywhere they go. I would love to see more alumni follow their lead.”

They’re the guys wearing FIU T-shirts in Publix and calling up The Miami Herald when FIU Football gets short shrift. They preach the gospel of FIU Love on Facebook and Twitter. They take issue with fellow FIU alumni cheering for the other team in town and not their alma mater.  With 170,000 alumni, the Four Horsemen figure every home game should be sold out.

“We have to teach people it’s OK to cheer for FIU,” said Padron. “From a math standpoint, if we only convince 10 percent of us, we are at standing room only in the stadium. “

“Come and join us”

When Maher arrived at the Sports Exchange Dec. 26 to watch the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, he bumped into a number of FIU alumni who didn’t know FIU was about to play in a bowl game. Maher prodded them to stay. At halftime, he told everyone, “Listen, this team is coming back.”

When Griffin’s kick squeezed through, the place went crazy. “I’m hugging strangers and slapping high-fives with guys who said, ‘Man, I’m glad you told me the game was on!’”

Peña’s cell phone lit up like a scoreboard. Dozens of text messages streamed in from friends who had watched on ESPN. Peña welcomes the new believers.

“A lot more people became Panther fans that night,” Peña said. “It’s a big tent. Everyone is welcome. Come and join us. If they come out to our first game this year they are going to see what a great university they belong to and they are going to have a wonderful time.”

Lately, the Four Horsemen have been taking the opportunity to talk up the 2011 home opener. The tailgate should be the biggest ever. The menu is sure to feature a Motor City Miracle.