Bo and why he was/is important

This is pathetic and makes me ashamed to be a Michigan fan, that this is how most of you think. What a joke.

All the schemes in the world do not matter if your team does not block or tackle well, is mentally and physically soft, and does not play as a unified group.  People on here are obsessed about schemes, but it schemes are of lesser importance than the aforementioned characteristics.

We should not replicate Bo's schemes because those schemes were for another time. Rather, we should seek a coach who operates his program like Bo did. We need a coach whose team plays hard, possess mental and physical toughness in abundance, and most importantly plays as one. That is what Michigan needs. 

Michigan Man

What a bunch of bullshit! Will you people listen to yourselves?

One of the supposed qualities of a Michigan Man is that no one is above the program.

Sure seems to me that all these factions, in fighting, and bullshit, highlight that these supposed Michigan Man aren't putting Michigan's interests above their own.

I say clear house and start over.

I love what Bo did for Michigan, but until Michigan as a whole can get past the past it won't get any better in AA.  I don't care where the next Bo comes from or if he has any connections to the university beforehand.

How is OP posting without gaining the vaunted "Trusted" status at 500 points? Reading this imagination driven fiction (including pretend Bo quotes) leaves me to believe the threshold needs to be much, much higher.

 

I grew up in the 80's in Ann Arbor and have been a Michigan fan all my life. My first exposure to football (that I can remember) was the 1985 season when Jim Harbaugh guaranteed victory against Ohio State. I agree that Bo was a great man for his personality and character as much as his accomplishments on the football field. But this "What would Bo do?" mindset has got to end. Bo Schembechler was not Jesus. The Schembechler era is an important part of our history but it belongs in the past. It should have no bearing on how the program is run today. Our obsession with the past has become a self-destructive tendency that is seriously limiting this program's potential. The only criteria for hiring a coach should be a strong track record of running a winning program and not being a scumbag. The "Michigan Man" meme needs to be taken behind the barn and put out of is misery.

I think one thing that was crucial to Bo's legacy was that he was an enormous and charismatic personality.  He seemed to enjoy engaging with the media and fans, and was good at it and often suprisingly funny.  That, combined with his success on the field, made him into an almost cult figure.

Lloyd Carr had arguably as much or success as Bo (obviously with the national championship but also the 2000 Orange Bowl win and the 2006 season), but Lloyd never seemed comfortable with the media or in informal fan interactions.  RichRod spent much of his time at U-M on the defensive, and Brady's "this is Michigan fergawdsakes" lovefest ended a year or two ago.

Finally, I think that the "Michigan Man" label is nearly meaningless.  Bo had spent no time at the University of Michigan prior to when he came here, nor had Crisler or Yost.  To the extent that there are attributes that define a "Michigan Man" that have nothing to do with his connection to Michigan (ethics, competitive success, devotion to players etc) then the term has very little meaning other than to say that someone I like (or you like) seems like a Michigan man to us.  It just means the kind of coach we want..

Bo has been dead 8years, hasn't coached in 25. move on! can't move forward when you are always looking back. hence the last 15 years of UM football

If OSU had not found Tressel they'd still be doing this BS with Woody.

If Oklahoma had not found Stoops they'd still be doing this BS with Switzer.

If Bama had not found Saban they'd still be doing this BS with Bear.

Why can't we respect someone from the past, honor him, but move on?  He is a legend but all this hanging onto is a sign we are a lot like Nebraska - stuck on Osborne.  We need a new Bo, not in his mannerisms or type of play philosophy or any of that stuff.  But a bad a$$ football coach who is an independent entity onto himself?  Or else we sound like a fanbase stuck in the past - which is what so many accuse of of.  And right now they are correct.

I caught the last 8 years or so of Bo and loved the guy but these threads sound insufferable.

Congrats on 50! I think Bo dying on the eve of the biggest Mich vs OSU game in probably two decades, while fitting, seems like a curse we will have a hard time shaking.

I see no problem remembering the man for what he made Michigan. But we should also accept that he was flawed - never won a national championship, had a hard time in Rose Bowls, had some hard times in the begging with bad records and poor ticket sales, and stood idly as the AD during the Fab Five scandal.

Was he a great coach? Yes. Should we honor him? Yes. But do we need to accept that he only rebirthed Michigan football versus is Michigan football? Definitely. Until we let his ghost go we can't turn the page and become relevant again in this new age of college football.

I know this sounds crazy - but stranger things have happened. Like the Babe curve on the Red Sox. Or Lane leaving the Lions. I just feel like we are stuck with a ghost of what Mich football is with the love of Bo. We have to move on as a fanbase and as a program.

I am in my mid 40s and grew up with Bo pacing the sidelines.  It hurt when he passed.  HURT.  But dammit, this program has to stop going about things with at least one eye always on the past.  Our attempt to modernize with Rodriguez was torpedoed internally by "supporters" who still think it is 1974, but haven't run off Hoke who seems set on running an offense from the 20th century.  Yes, we need to cherish, celebrate and be proud of our past but good God can we please move forward with a focus on at lest the present if not the future?

I completely understand why so may people worship Schembechler the way they do, especially those who graduated from Michigan during his tenure as head coach. Bo had a saavy to him that you mostly see in politicians, and it helped him shape the culture of the program and the university during the 70s and 80s. He knew how to play a situation perfectly, which is why he turned down the A&M offer the way he did. It made those who experienced him in their youth become completely devoted to him for the rest of their lives.

 

The guy's personality was so big that he inexplicably became the president of the Tigers and fired Ernie Harwell. When he was asked about becoming the Tiger's president he said, "Football and baseball, it's all competition. It can't be too much different from what I was doing at Michigan. I'm a reasonably intelligent guy." Think about the kind of magnetism you need to get away with something like that.  

 

The biggest issue we have had since Schembechler's death has been the lack of a big persona to fill his void. Moeller's firing and Lloyd's demeanor just couldn't fill the gap and Rich Rod was viewed as a country bumpkin (unfairly) and not allowed time to put a stamp on the program. He simply didn't realize that part of being Michigan's head coach means you have to be like a politician (See also: Yost, Crisler, and on the AD side, Canham). Brady Hoke simply doesn't have the competence. The only guy who's tried (and failed) to be the big ego has been Dave Brandon. Hopefully, the next coach we hire has a big enough personality to quell the discension the way Bo did when he first got to Michigan. 

 

The reason why the factions happened after Bo's death, I think, is because Bo's boys have an inferiority complex and Lloyd's guys don't think their coach gets enough respect. The problem with Bo is that despite his personality and the stamp he left on the program, he's probably Michigan's 3rd best coach behind Yost and Crisler (and there's almost certainly an argument for Carr being better).

 

I've lived in SEC, Big 12, and ACC country, and as painful as it is to hear, outside of the Big Ten, most people view Bo as a really good coach, but not an all time great one. Michigan brags about 11 national titles, but he won none of them. Michigan has 3 Heisman winners, and he never coached any of them. Bo was good at being a big personality, hyping up the OSU rivalry, and beating up on an awful Big Ten.

 

I looked this up and it was kind of shocking. Here's the final AP poll for the 1970s, count how many times a Big Ten team besides OSU finished in the top 20: http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/polls_1936_present_e.html

It gets only slightly better in the 1980s: http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/polls_1936_present_f.html

 

The reason why we talk about "Bo's way" or being a "Michigan Man" has less to do with Bo's results on the field and more to do with his personality (Brandon talks about "the brand" so much because her personally witnessed the way Bo masterfully cultivated it), and that's what I think led to the second faction developing. Carr had the results, but not the personality, and his devotees feel slighted, especially after Rich Rod came in and critiqued him. I think that's why it seems like the program has been tearing itself apart. 

 

I completely agree with Rich Rod when he said that had Bo been alive there would have been less drama, mostly because Bo's faction is bigger than Lloyd's. Bo's personality would have allowed Rich some cover to build the program in his own image and given him time to understand and learn the political side of the job. The next coach we hire has to be a big, intimidating personality along with being a good coach. There are a few guys out there (two or three of which learned from Bo themselves), hopefully we land one because I fear that's the only way we get out of this tailspin.

Bo was overrated. Couldn't win a bowl game. And the Big Ten was a league of two.

and RR would have had his ass handed to him had Bo been around to hear him call the whole Michigan Man thing "hyper-bowl." And Bo wouldn't have put up with the defense or infighting...hell, he called out Carr's defense towards the end. Bo loved Michigan. He expected every coach to consider it a destination job. To the degree he could have educated RR about those traditions and values it would have helped. To think RR would have been protected absent that loyalty and passion for the University is to not know Bo.

I know he's been around UofM since Mo, and I'm sure he understands the whole "Michigan Man" thing and what Bo meant to this program, but I'm just sitting here watching the weekend highlights of the different Michigan schools and I see Thomas Rawls.  I know he's playing MAC schools and what not but why all of a sudden is Rawls Beaking off 121..155...220...229 and 270 now that he is at CMU?  When he was even on the field, this guy couldn't find a hole to run through for Michigan.  I also think about Mike Cox, who played his last year for UMASS (not impressive), has been playing for the Giants, off and on the practice squad, since he graduated.  Put that with how we haven't had a great running back here since Mike Hart and I wonder if this guy is really not what he used to be or was he ever that good of a coach?  Don't get me wrong I love the quotes over the years Brian had had fun with (Jackson talking up recruits), but what keeps him here?  Is he that good of a recruiter?  Do Michigan fans want him retained if and when Hoke is canned?  I know this is a long reply but is there anyone out there who wonders the same thing?