Why is Schembechler considered a "great coach"?

362-121-3 overall record (.748 winning percentage)
2 national titles
5 undefeated seasons
21 top 10 finishes
21-10-1 in bowl games (.672 winning percentage)
You can argue all you want about how good a coach Paterno is now, but to say all he has going for him is "longevity" and wins over "Maryland, Temple, Rutgers, Syracuse, and Cincinnatti (sic)" is probably the most retarded thing I've ever read in my entire life.

 

Don't worry, Jimmy Olson, the Bobbsey Thinskin Twins don't like posts filled with facts.

 

"You were OK in the beginning....."

Sort of shit the bed with this post Olson.

Joe Pa has a legitimate resume for the love he gets.

 

Agreed!
Five undefeated seasons?
I don't care who youare - that's pretty impressive.

 

Yeah, Paterno is a hack... Those of us with memories know that Syracuse until the last 10 years or so, Syracuse had a pretty good football program... Paterno has also had at least two undefeated seasons when his team didn't win national titles... He also deserves credit for beating a great Georgia team to win his first title and a Miami team some were touting as the best ever to win his second...

But because he played Temple every year, he's a hack...

 

Sometimes, character and how you affect people can count too...

 

Schembechler's record speaks for itself. Only the reality challenged would challenge it. But here's a question for Slappy and other Michiganders on this board. No snark, I really want to know.
In my very brief meetings with Schembechler, he struck me as a gruff but pleasant old buffer. I got none of the larger-than-life vibes he obviously gave off to you and his community. Acknowledging that a super successful Michigan coach is by defintion a major player in Detroit life, what made him such a profound figure?

 

Character, Michael.
The way he did things. He believed in a way, stuck by it and lived it. There was no behind the back personna, the way you see with some coaches where they said one thing and went the slimy route behind the back.
Was a hundred little things that individually meant nothing, I suppose.
The true larger than life figures act like they arent. He was just an old football coach if you asked him.
But he did things. When Millie died, he wanted to raise money for adrenal cancer research. He asked UM how much it would cost to start a center and they told him X dollars. So he ran a golf outing for eight years to raise money for it. A List guys; A ton of Michigan guys, but also Bobby Knight, Sparky Anderson, Al Kaline, Bob Griese, Nick Saban, John Engler..
When they raised enough money, that was it. He wasnt in it as a perpetual fund raiser, he wanted to build a center and he did it.. He finished the task and now it was the next one.
He lived as he preached. He was a throwback. He was intense, he was driven and he was sincere.
He got out when he wanted; he didn't want to linger on as Paterno and Bowden had. He coached the way he was taught -- by Woody, by Doyt Perry.

Does that help?

 

Saying Schembechler wasn't a great coach is like saying Bobby Cox is not a great manager.

First, the national championship: That's a poor way to judge whether a I-A football coach is great (and still is, in my estimation) because champions were chosen and not won.

Schembechler's resume is as strong as virtually anyone this side of Bear Bryant: Seven-Time Big Ten coach of the year, 234 career wins, no losing seasons, 13 won or shared Big Ten titles, 15 top-10 finishes in the AP Top 10 (yeah, I know, chosen, not won. but still).

The fact of the matter is, any long-time coach is going to play against a significant number of weak sisters in his career. To figuratively penalize Schembechler for this is wrong.

As for the bowl games (Schembechler was 5-12 in bowls), well, that's the only area in which he did not succeed. I don't buy the notion that it means he wasn't a great coach. There weren't as many bowls then. Only the best teams got to them (as opposed to .500 teams getting to bowls now).

 

actually he got out cause he knew he would die if he kept coaching..

 

I think Bo's stubbornness got the better of him in bowls.
He had teams designed to win the Big Ten -- smashmouth power football. His teams struggled when he went outside that -- teams who could open up their offense -- that he couldn't out-personel (if that makes sense). If his players could beat your players, they'd win. If your players were as good or better than his, Michigan would struggle becuase he'd hope eventually, his scheme would wear you down.
Other than Jim Harbaugh, Michigan quarterbacks didnt play in the NFL because they were leaders first, runners second and passers third.


Ned, that isn't right. He got out because they wanted him as AD, he realized he couldn't do both, and he wanted to insure he picked his successor. He was in his prime when he retired in 1989...

 

Bo Schembechler won 13 Big 10 titles in 21 years in a league where conference championships were infinitely more important than national titles and, to some extent, still are.

He is the father of Michigan's modern-day football excellence. When he took over Michigan had gone through some lean years and the program was far removed from the greatness it achieved in the early 20th century. By the time he retired Michigan was one of the top football programs in America and it still is today.

With apologies to the folks at Aubrn and Alabama, Michigan-Ohio State is THE rivalry in college football. Bo's 10-year run going up against Woody Hayes is the reason why.

If that doesn't make him a great coach in some people's eyes, so be it.