A few years ago I bought the book What It Means to be a Wolverine at an Ann Arbor bookstore. It is a series of recollections of former Wolverine football players and what their Michigan experience meant to them. Not long ago I was reading the chapter written by Dana Coin (Linebacker and Kicker 1969-71), and the words were chilling:I was part of the last class ever recruited by Bump Elliott, and the transition from Bump Elliott to Bo Schembechler was hellacious. You're recruited by this father figure in Bump, who's a gentleman and just a great guy. He represented the University of Michigan as well as any person ever has. Bump went into administration after the 1968 season, and Michigan hired this guy whose last name you couldn't even pronounce. I remember when they first hired Bo, all the sportscasters in the area where butchering his name pretty badly.
Bo came in a immediately established his program. He told us. "We know how to win. We're from Miami of Ohio. We come from a winning school that has produced many top college coaches who know what they're doing, so you guys need to have confidence." Then the papers started running articles about the "cradle of coaches" and all the great coaches from there.
We started a conditioning program that was like boot camp. There were a lot of guys who didn't believe in what he was pitching. We went through winter conditioning, we went through spring football. In the first spring he was there, all the kids went home after the spring term was over - except us. We stayed another week and one-half and played football because Bo hadn't gotten his 20 days of spring practice in yet.When we came back in August, there was a joke - that there was this traffic jam down state and I-94 because everyone was leaving the team. I bet we lost 35 players from the time he came in and started winter conditioning through the first couple of sessions. There were senior, juniors, and some sophomores that left: these were all guys that Bump recruited.
It was in double sessions the second week that Jim Young came up with the saying "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions." He posted that around the locker room to say that if your do what we ask you to do, and do what you believe in, it will pay off.
Now, go back and replace Bump with Lloyd, Miami with West Virgina and Bo with Rich Rodriguez.
Posts
13 comments:
Or...
Michigan with Notre Dame.
Okay, that was uncalled for. I apologize.
Gawd knows I luvya whets, but NEVER liken Michigan to the "ND" word again. Ever.
I'm serious.
That said, nice post Andy. After nearly 40 years without a coaching search, we forget what an earth shattering change Bo was to the program. To further the comparison, consider how uncompetitive Michigan football had become after the snow bowl up to 1968, and the parallel is even closer to this change.
agree with SIC - heck i even remember how Michigan had to pay millions of dollars to Bo's former employer because he illegally broke his contract despite saying he'd never leave. good times, good times.
oh and don't forget how Bo cheated on his wife with a cheerleader and real estate agent, then exploded when one of his former players said he had no "family values" - yeah he and rrod were pretty much seperated at birth
SiC,
Duly noted. I don't know what came over me. Sorry.
sru,
Geez Louise! Dude, you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with Bo on a Michigan blog.
Bo didn't have a contract @ miami. he didn't have a contract @ michigan until 1984.
for a more modern comparison, i don't recall Tre$$el being unemployed when tosu hired him. he was working somewhere else already, wasn't he? did ysu just have him on a year to year/no K basis? fact is that just because Switzer didn't have a buy out clause doesn't mean he didn't break his contract when he came to tosu.
and truth is that Bo wasn't too into "family values" compared to Bump. Bo was considered waaaay tooo ruff (ever been to Barberton?) by the elitest michigan alumni when he arrived in 1969. he was a self described gym rat who had learned to coach from some guy named hayes (who was well known for his strict adhesion to emily post's guidelines for polite behavior).
anyone who has actually read "Bo" knows how very aware he was of the huge culture shock. he swore. a lot. he offended a large number of players who weren't used to such treatment. he had alums & friends tell him that his tactics wouldn't work w/ michigan players. they were wrong.
and so are you, sru.
my point sic is that anyone that tries to compare the asshat that is currently running your program to a man like Bo is pretty much pissing on Bo's grave.
just because the teams may have somewhat of a parallel, there's no way in hell you can try to say that rrod can sniff, let alone hold, bo's jock.
the fans that are already calling rrod a Michigan Man are a joke and have pretty much turned that phrase from a credo into a marketing term.
the comments about bo not having a contract or family values were smart ass comments, however i guarantee you bo would have never left his alma mater the way rrod did, especially after using the Alabama job to get a richer contract the year before. and bo might not have made the elitist alum happy but i'd bet a million dollars he'd never cheat on his wife.
rrod is a asshat and michigan honestly deserves better.
Sru, I think you might protest too much. I KNOW that you don't care "what Michigan deserves". Might RRod be causing you some sleepless nights, wondering if he can (will) bring Michigan back into contention with your beloved?
Bo came from Miami of Ohio, was "taught" by Woody and was notably "a Michigan Man", so why is it that someone can't come to Michigan, change the culture a bit, and NOT become a "Michigan man".......this aside from the fact that YOU really don't have a say in WHO is called a Michigan Man and who isn't.
That is all.
Sru
Thanks for your comments are welcome -- but your bias and fear is clear.
I agree the "michigan man" thing is a bit overdone, but RR isn't producing the espn stories.
A couple of return volleys:
1) Bo frequently exploded when someone said something he considered wrong. He would have fired back (and hard) at Ryan Mallet and Justin Boren.
2) Bo left his alma mater to take the Michgan job.
IMO, Bo would have loved the tempo that RR has brought.
Catie and Andy - thanks for the retorts. I'm not saying rrod can't become a michigan man, over a loooong period of time. I'm saying there's no way you can call him one right now, like i've seen on many a forum.
With all honestly though, I don't fear rrod at all - I believe he'll be gone within 5 years, either on his own or not. I would have feared Les Miles big time (and would have begrudgingly admitted it). I think Miles will be your coach by 2012.
Sru said "I think Miles will be your coach by 2012." I'll be damn, Sru said something I have though for a good while.
well, if nothing else, we have sru's fear in 2012 to look forward to. so we got that going for us. which is nice.
sru, for clarity's sake, i'm not comparing R2 to the Bo we know now. in fact, i appreciate your very fine point that such a comparison isn't fair to Bo's record.
what i am comparing is the uncertainity and upheaval of Bo's arrival in 1969 w/ R2's arrival now. R2 could be a bust, an early success and an early exit to the next big paycheck, or success over the next 20 years. no one knows- it's all speculation.
however, that part of the experience directly mirrors Bo's hiring. Bo had no (as in "none") connection to michigan. Bo was a MAC coach, from Ohio, who had been a Woody Hayes assistant. in 1969, the thought of having a coach like Hayes at michigan was an anathema. disaster was widely predicted.
he was a complete shot in the dark that turned out to be an excellent choice.
we don't if that's the case w/ R2. we do know that this kind of uncertainty is a part of change, change like we've seen before.
and if "the Hat" in 2012 is really our "downside"??? this could be the best hire ever!!
+1 to sic for quoting Carl Spackler
Post a Comment