Bo Schembechler

Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler (born April 1, 1929 in Barberton, Ohio) is an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach at the University of Michigan, where he coached from 1969 until the end of the 1989 regular season. His last game as head coach was the 1990 . Schembechler won a total of 235 games, with only Joe Paterno and Tom Osborne recording 200 victories in fewer games.

A true "coach's coach", Schembechler combined superb technical command of the game with a fiery disposition. He preached a football fundamentalist's gospel and was a terrific motivator. As a result, Schembechler's Michigan teams were known for their physical, fundamentally sound, and fierce -- if not imaginative -- style of play. Under his watch, the Wolverines traditionally featured strong defense, dominating offensive lines, and a power-running attack. Though combative -- he was prone to sideline outbursts -- Schembechler was widely regarded as a coach of great personal integrity. He coached for more than 20 years at the major conference level without a hint of scandal.

As the winningest head coach in Michigan football history, Schembechler's teams won or tied an impressive 13 Big Ten championships during his 21 year tenure. Under Schembechler's guidance, Michigan's 96-10-3 regular season record through the decade of the 1970s was the nation's best. He guided 17 teams to post-season bowl games (Ten s) and another 17 to top ten finishes in the final wire service polls (AP and/or UPI). In his 27 years of coaching, Schembechler's teams never had a losing season. Upon stepping down after the 1989 season, Bo retired as the winningest active coach in the nation (234-65-8) and fifth on the all-time list, only behind coaching legends Paul 'Bear' Bryant, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Glen 'Pop' Warner, and Woody Hayes. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Schembechler served as Michigan's Director of Athletics between 1988-1990.

Schembechler grew up in Barberton, Ohio. He graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and he played football under two legendary (and completely contrary) coaches. Sid Gillman (his first coach at Miami) was a remarkably innovative offensive coach and is one of the fathers of the modern passing game. His concepts helped to form the foundation for today's West Coast offense. Gillman took another coaching job before Schembechler's last year and was replaced by Wayne Woodrow ("Woody") Hayes — who could not have been more unlike Gillman. Hayes embraced the run, eschewed the pass, and demanded tough, physical play from his linemen. Rather than innovation, Hayes stressed repetition — he wanted his players to run each play flawlessly. And over the next forty years, there was never any question whether Gillman or Hayes had a bigger influence on Schembechler. Schembechler's teams at Michigan were almost carbon copies of Hayes' Ohio State teams.

Schembechler graduated from Miami in 1951 and served as a graduate assistant coach for a year on Hayes' staff at Ohio State University. After serving in the Army and earning his master's degree, he moved on to serve as an assistant at Presbyterian College in 1954, followed by a one-year stint as freshman coach at Bowling Green the next year. When Ara Parseghian (a team-mate of Schembechler's at Miami University) was hired as head coach at Northwestern in 1956, Schembechler joined him and spent the next two seasons as a defensive assistant.

In 1958, Hayes hired Schembechler to serve on his staff at Ohio State. Schembechler spent five years at Ohio State and became one of Hayes' most trusted assistants. During that time, the two cemented their lifelong friendship.

Schembechler received his master's degree from Ohio State in 1952 while serving as a graduate assistant coach. He continued his coaching career with brief stints as an assistant at Presbyterian College (1954), Bowling Green (1955) and Northwestern (1958) before spending five seasons as an assistant at Ohio State. in 1963, Schembechler was named head coach at Miam. of Ohio, a position he held until taking over the Michigan program prior to the 1969 campaign.