Why is Schembechler considered a "great coach"?

Meat, Meat, Meat.
LaVell Edwards a one-hit wonder? Are you trying to match Jimmy O for absurdity?
Edwards went 258-101-3. His attention to the passing game helped revolutionize college football, launched the careers of Steve Young, Jim McMahon and Mark Wilson and brought both the national championship and Heisman Trophy to a place that never thought it would sniff either. Who else outside the big six leagues has won the national title or Heisman in the past 40 years? Anybody?
If Bo was a great coach -- and he was -- surely LaVell Edwards fits that description.

 

By one-hit wonder, I mean one national title. His argument would be that Edwards is more worthy than Bo in being called "great" (a nebulous term if ever there was one) because he does have that title.

I would have no qualms calling Edwards a great coach. A better coach than Bo? I'm ... hesitant. Which isn't your point, I know, but is sort of his when he says that you can't be a great coach without a national championship.

 

Back to the OP's point, here's Bo's record put another way:

@Michigan (1969-1989)
Overall Record: 194-48-5

Against Winning teams: 74-46-4
Against Losing teams: 120-2-1

Against Ranked Teams: 26-35-1
Against Top-ten teams 7-26-1
Against Top-six teams 2-18-1
Against Unranked Teams: 168-13-4

Against Ohio State: 11-9-1
Against Notre Dame: 4-6

Bowl Games: 5-12
Rose Bowl: 2-8

Championships: 0
Heisman Winners: 0
Perfect Seasons: 0
Undefeated Seasons: 1

 

Great coaches

First Team

Joe Paterno
Bobby Bowden
Tom Osborne
Paul "Bear" Bryant

Second Team

Steve Spurrier (He not only created an offense, but an attitude)
Bo Schembechler
Darrell Royal

 

Bo may not have been a GREAT coach as he was a lot like John Cooper at Ohio State but most programs would have loved to have someone as caring, understanding and he was a great over all human.

 

Good to see you know the names of Ohio State coaches. You must be a big fan.

 

The best play caller in college football.

 

At the risk of fanboy accusations, where does Holtz fit among the great modern-day coaches?
Obviously, he suffers a bit from from bouncing around a bunch and, Notre Dame aside, not coaching at any really major programs. But he did do great things at Arkansas (where, interestingly, Pete Carroll was an assistant), appeared to be turning Minnesota around and has been the only coach able to win in a sustained manner at Notre Dame in almost 30 years. It's easy these days to forget how damn good they were from 1988 through '93. He won a national championship and should have won another (had he, Bowden would have only one). And he was a tremendous big-game coach while at Notre Dame. Plus he brought South Carolina to legitimacy in the SEC, but he probably stayed around too long.
I'm not saying I'd put him in the top tier, but he's got a pretty decent claim to second-team status. Should at least be in the discussion.

 

I think Holtz, based on wins and losses, could be a top 10 coach.
But since college football is based on all areas of the program and Holtz has left just about every placeon the brink of probation... no way can you consider him.

 

Give Holtz two weeks and he will beat you.

But then the next week he will have his team lose to Rice.

 

Wow! I never even realized he was that PATHETIC!

 

To me, Schembechler falls right beside the Pat Dyes and Vince Dooleys of the coaching world.

Good coaches, if you're looking at them from a national/historical perspective. Great coaches, if you're an alumnus or fan of the school where they coached.

So, the phrase "Michigan great, Bo Schembechler" absolutely applies. Because to Michigan people, he was great. Why is that a problem?