Instead, I'll leave you with this tribute to Bo Schembechler I found on YouTube. It brought the same tears to my eyes that Bo's death did about a year and a half ago. Here at Michigan State, people don't understand what he meant to us. His death was like the end of an era; it was like the last hero of a forgotten age had passed. Everything about him was larger than life. After losing twenty or thirty players because of his hard workouts, he posted a sign that said, "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions," and he delivered in Year One. He beat the 1969 Buckeyes, probably one of the best college football teams of all time, 24-12, in a game that many, including my own father, have said made them shed tears of joy. He was a superhero with an archnemesis, his friend and mentor Woody Hayes, a legend in his own right. He made the Wolverines chant, "The Team! The Team! The Team!" before taking the field. And he wasn't just a coach; he was also like a father to so many on his team, even after they'd graduated. When they heard of his death, several players bought tickets back to Ann Arbor immediately, without pause. Former players from a period of more than twenty years came back to share their experiences with Bo, and grown men who had made our most violent sport their life came back to weep and laugh and remember one of their dearest friends. And in fitting legendary style, he died the day before one of the biggest Michigan -- Ohio State games in memory.
Rich Rodriguez is being compared to him because of the intensity of the workouts and Michigan football's recent struggles, but no one could ever be who Bo Schembechler was, and no one ever will be. I'm just glad that we had him while we did--that we, no one else, had been lucky enough to have him with us.
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