The weather was crisp but dry, what would have been a perfect day for a football game in Michigan Stadium. Inside, though, the several thousand who gathered were there for a more somber purpose – to pay their respects to Michigan coaching legend Bo Schembechler.

Master of ceremonies Jim Brandstatter kept the mood light, recognizing, as he said, that the occasion was meant to be a celebration. But there were several emotional moments, fueled by stories and memories of the man revered by so many.

Lloyd Carr, former running back Jamie Morris, All-American linemen Dan Dierdorf and Reggie McKenzie and former USC head coach John Robinson were among those who relayed anecdotes before Schembechler's son Shemy wrapped it up with an emotional tribute to both his father and his mother, Millie, Schembechler's first wife.

Carr recalled the first time he saw the infamous Schembechler temper, when he flew to Ann Arbor from Pittsburgh to interview for the assistant coaching position he would land.

"After lunch, we went into the parking structure behind The Real Seafood Company," Carr recalled. "Bo backed his car out of the stall, and as he did so, we heard this guy behind us laying on the horn, obviously irate. Evidently he though Bo had backed in front of him and he laid on his horn.

"The guy had inched up, only inches from his bumper. Bo put the car in reverse and backed the car up. Then he put it forward, but before he could take his foot off brake, the guy laid on horn again. Bo put the car back in reverse and backed into him gently again. Then he waited. When there was no more blowing of the horn, he proceeded to leave the parking structure."

Carr then recalled the time he thought of leaving Michigan to become an assistant for Notre Dame in the 1980s.

"Bo did not have a particular fondness for Notre Dame," Carr deadpanned. "One year I went to see him late in his career. I said 'Bo, I had a call from Lou Holtz. "He's offered me a job down there as defensive coordinator. It's good money; I think I should go down and talk to him.

"He sat back in his chair and he said, 'NO! You're not going to Notre Dame! You are Michigan! So forget that. I don't want to hear anymore about it!' I was 40 years old, and it was better than he was paying me, But I didn't go. I can promise you, the first time Bo Schembechler will ever cheer for Notre Dame will be this Saturday [when they play BCS No. 3 USC]."

Both Carr and Dierdorf paid their respects to Schembechler's second wife, Cathy. Carr recalled the day Schembechler returned from a fishing trip about 13 years ago with a huge grin on his face.

"He says, 'come in here, I've got to tell you something,'" Carr recalled. "So I go in, he shuts the door, bends over his desk, and says, 'you can't repeat this. I went down and had a great time fishing, but the night before we left to go out, I went to this party, looked over in the corner of the room, and there was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life. We went fishing, came back, I got here name and asked her to go out with me. Now, this is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and I'm going to marry her.'

"I thought to myself, 'Bo, you've only known this girl for a week. But he knew. And those next 13 years with Cathy Schembechler, I can promise you anybody who knows, knows what an incredible relationship they had."

Added Dierdorf: "We'd all like to thank Bo for marrying over his head twice, because it gave us the opportunity to meet and know two wonderful women in Millie and Cathy. Someday, Cathy, you've got to tell us why, because none of us can understand it. It's one of the great mysteries of the universe. Seriously, Bo a ladies' man? You've got to be kidding."

Carr got emotional in speaking about the last time he spoke personally with Schembechler, just minutes before he addressed the Michigan team the Thursday before the Ohio State game.

"I asked him how he was doing, because in 15 minutes he was going to address the team. He said he was having a lot of trouble sleeping because he couldn't catch his breath," Carr recalled with tears in his eyes. "He said to me, 'I can't live like this.'

"I tried to dissuade him from going down and talking to the team and he said no, I want to do it. I asked him if he wanted a chair, and he said no. When he talked to the team, he talked about Tom Slade, his quarterback who passed away last week, and whose funeral Bo had attended. He told our players, 'you know, when I visited Tom these last days of his life, every time I talked to him, the conversation came back to Michigan football.'

"He told our team, 'you're going to do a lot of great things in your life. But you are NEVER going to have as great an experience as you will have at Michigan and in this game Saturday."

Other highlights from Schembechler's celebration brought smiles to many faces. From Morris:

"I first met Glenn E. 'Bo' Schembechler in January, 1984. It was probably the coldest Michigan winter at the time," Morris recalled. "Michigan was playing Indiana [in basketball], and Bill Frieder was chastising the referee, and [Indiana's] Bobby Knight got a technical. He told [the officials] again, and they gave him another technical. Knight got thrown out of the game. I'm sitting with Bo Schembechler eating popcorn saying, 'great game, huh?'

"Michigan won. They brought the recruits into Bill Frieder's press conference. All of a sudden out of a whirlwind, Coach Knight comes in and tears up everything. Bo looks at me and says, 'what a coach!' I knew right then he was something special."

Morris also recalled the first time he met Schembechler, on his January 1984 recruiting trip.

"I was there with 18 guys, just waiting to meet Bo," he said. "All of a sudden, I saw a guy named Chris Spielman [future Ohio State linebacker]. He went in with a tee shirt, ripped jeans, chewing tobacco in his mouth … I heard the coaches, I kept asking what had happened. I guess Spielman told Bo [OSU head coach] Earle Bruce said he could start, and he said, 'I think I'm going to take it.'

"I could just see it. Bo squinted his eyes and said, 'I'll tell you what, with your ripped jeans and t-shirt, you go to Ohio State. We're going to kick your butt.' The coaches said he was in a fury. All I know is all interviews were gone. I was the next player … I thought he didn't want to see me."

The next morning at 6:00 a.m., Morris recalled, he got a phone call at his hotel room – "Morris? Schembechler! Come one down here and let's talk!'"

"He said, 'Son, I don't know if you can handle a Big Ten season," Morris recalled. "You're small - look at you. But I hear you can stop on a dime.' He said, 'if I've got a scholarship, I'll give it you.' Then he saw my eyes and said, 'I'll tell you what. You may be Michigan material."

Morris stopped, eyes welling up with tears.

Former USC head coach John Robinson became a good friend of Schembechler's early in his career and an even better friend later in life.

"I first met Bo as head coach at USC, my first presser prior to the Rose Bowl," he said. "I was brand new, Bo and I sat down and nodded. I was up first. The night before, the lead story in the LA Times that was just a terrible story, one of our players got quoted about previous coach, John McKay, and I started out by saying what a jerk this guy was for writing the story.

"Bo jumps up and shoves me off the podium. I didn't know what to do, so I got off the damn podium. The guy's sitting in the back of the room, and Bo starts pointing at him and giving him hell for about five minutes. Then he looks back at me and says, 'okay kid, get back up here. You're going to be okay.' That started off our friendship. I said, 'yes sir, yes sir.'

"That very next winter I was in Michigan in awful weather. It was zero degrees, snowing, and I'm going into this kid's house, and there's a coach in the house just before me. I'm in my brand new California suit. I looked great, but I was about to die waiting to get in there, because Bo Schembechler was in there. I finally knocked and had to get in and get warm.

"Bo's finishing up, looks at me, comes over and puts his arm around me, and said, 'this is a really good man and USC is a really good school, but look - you can't trust a man who wears shoes like this.' I looked down at my shoes, California patent leather; they were great. And he left, and those people sat there the whole time I talked to them looking at my shoes. That kid played for Michigan."

Years later, Robinson recalled, Schembechler and his wife came for a visit tanned and in shorts, "and I'll be damned if he didn't have my shoes on!" Robinson said with a laugh.

"I told my team prior to that first game with him, 'fellas, this is different. We're playing Michigan, and you're not going to have any experience like this one. These men under Bo Schembechler, they'll shake your hand and look you in the eye, but when the game starts, you're in for the fiercest, toughest experience you'll have. That's how it was when you played Michigan."

Watch TheWolverine.com for video and other anecdotes from the celebration in the days to come …