Bo Schembechler

Bo Schembechler
Schembechler from 1970 Michiganensian
Biographical details
Born(1929-04-01)April 1, 1929
Barberton, Ohio, U.S.
DiedNovember 17, 2006(2006-11-17) (aged 77)
Southfield, Michigan, U.S.
Playing career
1948–1950Miami (OH)
Position(s)Tackle
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1951Ohio State (GA)
1954Presbyterian (assistant)
1955Bowling Green (freshman)
1956–1957Northwestern (assistant)
1958–1962Ohio State (assistant)
1963–1968Miami (OH)
1969–1989Michigan
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1988–1990Michigan
1990–1992Detroit Tigers (president)
Head coaching record
Overall234–65–8
Bowls5–12
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • 2 Mid-American (1965–1966)
  • 13 Big Ten (1969, 1971–1974, 1976–1978, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988–1989)
Awards
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1993 (profile)

Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. (/ˈʃɛmbɛklər/ SHEM-bek-lər; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and athletic administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234 wins, 65 losses and 8 ties. Only Nick Saban, Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne have recorded 200 victories in fewer games as a coach in major college football. In his 21 seasons as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Schembechler's teams amassed a record of 194–48–5 and won or shared 13 Big Ten Conference titles. Though his Michigan teams never won a national championship,[1] in all but one season they finished ranked, and 16 times they placed in the final top ten of both major polls.

Schembechler played college football as a tackle at Miami University, where in 1949 and 1950 he was coached by Woody Hayes, for whom he served as an assistant coach at Ohio State University in 1952 and from 1958 to 1962. In his first ten years at Michigan, Schembechler's teams squared off in a fierce rivalry against Hayes's Buckeyes squads. During that stretch in the Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry, dubbed the "Ten-Year War," Hayes and Schembechler's teams won or shared the Big Ten Conference crown every season and usually each placed in the national rankings.

In 1988, Schembechler assumed the role of athletic director at Michigan, succeeding Don Canham, the man who hired him as football coach in 1969. Schembechler retired as head football coach after the 1989 season. His longtime assistants, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, helmed the team for the next 18 years. Schembechler left the University of Michigan in 1990 to take a job as president of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers, which he held until 1992. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1993. During his later years, Schembechler remained in Southeast Michigan and hosted a sports radio show. He died in 2006 at the age of 77 on the eve of that year's Michigan–Ohio State football game, a historic No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown.

Outside of football, Schembechler came to posthumous public notoriety after 2018, when it was revealed that he was one of several high-ranking University of Michigan officials who covered up accusations of sexual assault against team doctor Robert Anderson. Anderson sexually assaulted more than 600 University of Michigan athletes, along with hundreds more individuals at other institutions.

  1. ^ Michigan was voted National Champions in 1973 and 1985, but neither are claimed by the university.