Historical Perspective: Bump to Bo Questions

My understanding is that a huge number of players quit the team in the spring of '69, prompting Bo to put up the "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions" sign.  (One wag then wrote underneath, "And those who quit will become doctors, lawyers and captains of industry.")

While I wasn't even alive when he took over, the HBO series that looked at the UM-OSU rivalry dealt with some of that.

They talked about how Bo embraced the tradition at UM so completely. When he went into the locker rooms, he didn't see facilities that were decades past their prime. He saw the place where Fielding Yost had given speeches.

"Look! That hook right there! He hung his hat RIGHT there!"

That reverence and the enthusiasm and passion for what he was doing went a long way.

For those that were at UM in ~1967 to 1970, how big of a deal was football?

That was a pretty busy time. Tom Hayden, SDS, the asassinations of MLK and RFK, the sexual revolution, the drug revolution, the racial revolution, the rise of black militancy, Vietnam, the election of Nixon, the draft, the Summer of Love ending with the bombings the ROTC headquarters at Univ. of Wisc. the previous year, hippies, the Beatles getting ready to break up, Charles Manson, the race riots in Detroit, Newark, and all across the midwest, the escalation of Vietnam, the guy at the University of Texas who shot those people from the Bell Tower...

If you were born in 1950, it had to feel like the world was getting ripped apart on a near-daily basis.

Bo talks about it in Bo's Lasting Lessons co-written by John Bacon. It's a crazy good book that's not just about football. Very interesting to read against the backdrop of the Rodriguez tenure.

Summarily, Bo had the backing of Canham obviously but more importantly Bump. The players loved Bump, but when they went to see him to complain, he told them to suck it up. Bump had Bo's back in unambiguous terms.

MCalibur's right-- Bo was loathed not only for the grueling practices, but also because they'd grown so accustomed to the laid-back, country club, aw-gee-shucks everything'll be alright atmosphere of Elliot's practices and program.

This were a little too cushy, and the record showed.  So Bo came in and growled at everybody from the starting center to the cleaning lady, and not everyone liked it.  At least, not until he knocked off Woody.

was interested in speaking to Joe Pa about the M football position but the PSU coach was not interested in leaving State College. He did act as a consultant to Canham and highly recommended Bo. The rest is history. I remember when Bo was hired and everyone said "Who?"

The transition between Bump and Bo appeared seamless to the public. There is a historical picture of the three men participating in a TV interview long before 24/7/365 sports talk radio and ESPN. It is well established how tough Bo was on his players during his first year in preparing for the 1969 season. Several players quit the team with no one complaining that Bo lacked "family values" back then- he just had to kick ass and take control of a program that had become soft. Both Don Canham and Bo would not have tolerated people within the athletic department who were not 100% loyal to them back then.

Bump wanted to be an AD and got the opportunity at Iowa where he did a good job from 1970-1991.

Most of these issues have been covered in the numerous "Bo" and "Bo & Woody" books.

~ People sometimes forget that not only was Bo new; but Canham himself was relatively new to the AD job, although he had been the Track Coach.

~ There was a conversation between Bo and Canham, to the effect that Bo was wondering about the pressure on him to win, or else Canham might fire him.  Canham said, "If you don't win, we'll both be fired."

~ Bo was a total unknown when he came to town.  Sportswriters were laughing at the spelling of his name.  Nobody had heard of him.  Nobody knew anything about what had been happeneing at Miami, except that is where Paul Brown, Woody Hayes and Ara Parseghian had all coached.  Bo was from "The Cradle of Coaches."  Bo really, really relied on that rep to get through his first months, which were really hard.

~ Canham wanted Bo to keep all of Bump's staff.  Bo said "No."  Bo insisted; he brought all of his own guys, including Jerry Hanlon.

~ Bump's whole adult life (along with his brother Pete) had been focused on Michigan; he was in no hurry to leave -- they made him an Associate AD until he took the job at Iowa. 

~ I don't know about things between Bump and Bo, but I do know that Bump got the game ball from the 1969 OSU game.  I wonder where that ball is now; Schembechler Hall?  It's like an original copy of the Constitution.  It is a supreme tribute, of the focus by both men on Michigan's success, no matter what.  And when Bump turned the team over to Bo, there were a bunch of guys, all Bump Elliott recruits, who would later be All-Big-Ten and All-American football players.

~ Oh, and this:  Before Bo won the The Big Game in '69, we were SLAUGHTERED by Missouri.  I think it was a home game.  I think the score was 40-0.