Schembechler left mark at Michigan

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- If you wanted to know the essence of Bo Schembechler, you needed only one statement, dating to the spring of 1989, when Michigan basketball coach Bill Frieder accepted an offer to coach at Arizona State the following season.

Schembechler had finished his long stint as Michigan's football coach the previous fall, but was continuing in his role as athletic director. He had to deal with the issue of a lame-duck coach who had made it known he intended to coach the Wolverines in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Forget about it. "A Michigan man will coach Michigan, not an Arizona State man," said Schembechler, who instead gave the job immediately to assistant coach Steve Fisher, who then guided the Wolverines to the NCAA title.

Pure Schembechler. A Michigan man hiring a Michigan man.

Yesterday, on the eve of the biggest Michigan-Ohio State football game in history, a battle of unbeatens and the Nos. 1 (Ohio State) and 2 (Michigan) teams in the polls, the quintessential Michigan man collapsed while taping a television show in Southfield, Mich., a Detroit suburb, and died a short time later. He was 77.

Schembechler had a history of heart-related ailments that dated back 36 years. Schembechler had felt ill during a similar taping Oct. 20 and was hospitalized for a few days, during which a pacemaker was implanted.

Earlier this week, Schembechler met with the media to discuss today's game. At that time, he said the pacemaker covered about half his chest and that doctors were still adjusting it. Because of that, Schembechler didn't plan to attend the game.

His health had been an issue since 1970, when he suffered a heart attack the night before the Rose Bowl. He had another heart attack in 1987, and also had two quadruple-bypass operations.

Schembechler and former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes typified a generation of Big Ten football, which was not surprising since Schembechler had spent four seasons on Hayes's staff from 1958-62 before establishing his identity as a head coach.

Yesterday, Ohio State sports information director Steve Snapp, who has been at OSU since 1972, and had known Schembechler since his days on Hayes's staff, talked about the two longtime coaching adversaries.

"They were the same guy," said Snapp. "They used to play handball all the time, and Bo was better than Woody and beat him all the time. Woody wouldn't let him off the court until Woody won a game. And Bo was so competitive that he was not going to do that. But it went on so long that to get back to work, Bo finally let Woody win a game."

Schembechler was a seven-time Big Ten coach of the year and compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89. Schembechler's record in 26 years of coaching was 234-65-8. One week after coaching his final game, the 1990 Rose Bowl, Schembechler was named president of the Detroit Tigers, a title he held until 1992 .

Schembechler's roots were in Ohio. He played college football at Miami of Ohio and coached at his alma mater from 1963-68, before moving on to Michigan.

Schembechler's Wolverines went 11-9-1 against the Buckeyes. But fans in both states generally agree the rivalry's prime years were 1969-78, when Schembechler coached against Hayes. Michigan held a 5-4-1 edge in that span .

"It was a very personal rivalry," Earle Bruce, who succeeded Hayes at Ohio State , once said. "And for the first and only time, it was as much about the coaches as it was about the game.

"Bo and Woody were very close because Bo played for Woody at Miami of Ohio, then coached with him at Ohio State. But their friendship was put on hold when Bo took the Michigan job because it was the protégé against the mentor."

If there was a downside to Schembechler's career, during which he compiled a .796 regular-season winning percentage, it was his record in bowls, a less-than-stellar 5-12, including 2-8 in the Rose Bowl.

Also missing was a national championship, but Schembechler said he was not bothered by that.

"If you think my career has been a failure because I have never won a national title, you have another think coming," Schembechler said a few weeks before coaching his final game. "I have never played a game for the national title. Our goals always have been to win the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl. If we do that, then we consider it a successful season."

The reaction around college football was of grief mixed with praise for a coach who had old-fashioned values.

"This is an extraordinary loss for college football," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement. "Bo Schembechler touched the lives of many people and made the game of football better in every way. He will always be both a Buckeye and a Wolverine, and our thoughts are with all who grieve his loss."

Schembechler is survived by his second wife, Cathy, and sons Glenn, Matt, and Geoff, the University of Michigan said .

The news tempered the party atmosphere that has taken over Columbus.

"It was good until about a half-hour ago," said Buckeyes fan Sherry Segers, 40. "Now Bo Schembechler dies; I feel sad."

On the Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, students and fans left flowers at the entrance to Schembechler Hall.

Former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, the only player to win two Heisman Trophies, remembered that Schembechler recruited him before Hayes.

"Bo was a special, special man, and he's someone whose friendship and camaraderie I treasured," Griffin said in a statement. "Although we were often opponents on the football field, I had the pleasure to develop a relationship with Bo through the years."

This afternoon, Michigan and Ohio State will again contend for a Big Ten title in a game that will begin with a moment of silence in memory of a Michigan man and a Ohio State man (he had a graduate degree at OSU), but most importantly of a college football man.

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.