The following is an excerpt from The Wolverine's annual football preview magazine, which can be ordered here.
Michigan football players on their way to prepare for battle can’t avoid him. They pass by his statue every single day entering Schembechler Hall, and if they pause for a moment to look up, they still sense the challenge.
Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.
Bo Schembechler brought many other messages to Michigan football upon his arrival, 50 years ago. Do something every day — every day! — to beat Ohio State. If you cheat, you’ve already lost.
No man is more important than the team. No coach is more important than the team.
The Team! The Team! The Team!
The fiery, larger-than-life architect of 13 Big Ten championships and 17 national top-10 finishes changed the course of modern Michigan football. Prior to his arrival, the Wolverines — despite some strong squads — captured one conference title over the previous 18 seasons.
He stormed into Ann Arbor, bolstered by a cadre of eager assistant coaches, his volcanic intensity met by a headline wondering who he was.
Everyone soon found out.
Schembechler played and coached under the legendary Woody Hayes, forging a lifelong friendship while piling up canister shells for the fireworks to come. The new Michigan coach went 40-17-3 at his alma mater, Miami of Ohio, preaching the same toughness, fearsome rushing attack and precise execution as his mentor.
Schembechler knew, though, his new job wouldn’t be easy. Hayes wasn’t going anywhere. He’d brutalized Bump Elliott’s Wolverines in 1968, 50-14, down in Columbus, going for two after the final touchdown to reach half a hundred.
Newspaper reports at the time insisted reporters asked Hayes why he went for two at the end.
“'Cause I couldn’t go for three,” Hayes retorted.
All of that made 1969 a critical year for Michigan football. Athletics director Don Canham knew he was bringing an excellent football coach to Ann Arbor. He also knew someone who carried no weighty national reputation could quickly become a target by a skeptical press.
Schembechler didn’t care. He packed a plan, and a host of very talent football players got on board. What played out over the next 12 months set the stage for the next four decades, and still affects the man running the show today.
Finding Out Who
Dan Dierdorf, who became a consensus All-American offensive lineman and later a College and Pro Football Hall of Famer, required no introduction to Schembechler. He knew exactly what he and his teammates were getting.
Dierdorf had already said no thanks once.
The Canton, Ohio, prep hadn’t been heavily recruited, not receiving an offer from Ohio State or Michigan State. He did take a trip over to Oxford, checking out the mercurial head coach there while Schembechler remained boss.
“I remember sitting across from Bo at his desk at Miami of Ohio, thinking, this might be the most intense human being I’ve ever encountered in my life,” Dierdorf recalled.
“I’m sitting there thinking that it would be insane to play for a guy like that.”
Dierdorf subsequently took a trip to Michigan, resolving to become a Wolverine. That rendered inconsequential a later visit by a Miami assistant coach to his high school.
Nevertheless, Dierdorf’s high school coach approached him during the school day, noting the Miami assistant was there to see him.
“It was unannounced, and he said the guy would like to visit with you, and he’s in my office,” Dierdorf noted. “So being the responsible 17-year-old that I was, I went home. I left.
“As it turns out, the coach that was sitting there was Jerry Hanlon. So he immediately goes and tells Bo that I stiffed him.”
When Canham announced Schembechler as the new boss, one Wolverine cringed a bit.
“When the headline in the Detroit paper said, ‘Bo Who?’ with a giant question mark, that was not directed at me,” Dierdorf said, laughing.
“I knew who that Bo was, and I couldn’t believe it.”
That Bo was his new college coach. That Jerry now directed his position group. Dierdorf knew he needed to go take his penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“That was my first lesson that the world is a much smaller place than I envisioned,” he offered. “Who could imagine that I would ever see Bo Schembechler again the rest of my life?
“I decided I’d better face this head on, rather than him tracking me down. I went down to the coach’s office, as soon as I found he was in residence. We encounter each other in the hallway.
“I stick out my hand to shake his hand, and his hand goes right past mine. He grabs me around the midsection and goes: ‘You’re fat. You’re mine. And I never forget.’
“I knew I was in a world of hurt — and I was.”
With over 170 full-color, glossy, action-packed pages of Michigan football information, this magazine is a must-have for the upcoming season! A hard (while supplies last) or digital copy (for a reduced rate) can be ordered by clicking here or the banner below.
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