Coach Schembechler
I love schools with rich tradition and greatly respect the Coaches that helped create it. Coach Schembechler was one of those Coaches and with his untimely passing this past Friday (dieing of a heat attack the day before arguably the biggest game in Michigan’s history), I wanted to learn more about Coach Schembechler and his career.
Growing up a sports junky, I of course new who Bo Schembechler was and fairly familiar with all of his accomplishments. What I did not know is that Coach Schembechler is one of several big name coaches that Miami University – Ohio produced. I have never thought of Miami University has being a traditionally rich football school, but their list of head Coaches prove otherwise. Coaches such as; Sid Gillman, Woody Hayes, Bill Mallory, Ara Parseghian and Coach Schembechler were all once head coaches there. I also didn’t realize that Coach Schembechler was only at Michigan for 20 years (1969 – 1989), it seemed like he was there much longer, probably because he was Michigan football and had such a dominating presence on the sidelines. One thing that really surprised me is that with all the great teams that Coach Schembechler had at Michigan he never won a national championship.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think where about to loose a significant part of our sports history. A group of coaching legends that will never be replaced, mainly due to their commitment to their schools and the traditions they built. Coach Schembechler is definitely one of those coaches.
