Michael Ventre

The shock isn’t that Bo Schembechler’s heart eventually gave out at the age of 77, but rather that it lasted as long as it did given the workload entrusted to it.

More than any other coach of the modern era, Schembechler put his heart into what he did. Joe Paterno loves Penn State. Bobby Bowden loves Florida State. Legends like John McKay at USC, Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma and Woody Hayes at Ohio State loved their universities as well.

But there was something different about Bo and Michigan. His passion for the Wolverines was protective and unwavering. Like a man who finally found the woman of his dreams and was determined to make her happy, Bo loved Michigan so much that he and Michigan became inseparable.

When he died Friday, on the eve of the titanic clash between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan, there was something fitting about it. With all the sports world’s spotlights focused on perhaps the most important game in that storied series and all of its national-championship ramifications, it’s appropriate that Bo would take his final bow on that prestigious stage.

He was head coach of the Wolverines from 1969 through 1989, but only after serving a five-year apprenticeship as an assistant under Hayes. Since December 29, 1978, Hayes is probably best remembered as the coach who slugged a player during a game and got canned as a result; Hayes’ roundhouse right to the throat of Clemson’s Charlie Bauman during the Gator Bowl caused the cantankerous old goat to end his otherwise distinguished career on a note of disgrace.

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But that was Hayes.

Bo was a chip off that block. He had the fiery persona on the sidelines. He had the growl that endeared him to some media members and alienated him from others. He was as intensely competitive as Hayes. Like his mentor and lifelong friend, he was a glorified warrior in victory and a forlorn curmudgeon in defeat.

But Bo was more beloved because he had more class than Hayes. Those in and around Michigan could sense there was a heart inside the gruff exterior. There was a twinkle in his eyes amid the fire.

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Schembechler had his run-ins with fans and reporters over the years. It’s impossible not to when coaching the Michigan Wolverines and playing in the Big Ten. But they were minor in comparison to Hayes. Both men were obsessed with winning. Yet Hayes had too much anger mixed with his passion; Schembechler was slightly better at handling the twists and turns and ups and downs of big-time college football.

While Schembechler and Hayes are inextricably linked by history, Bo carved out a magnificent niche all his own. And he did so by reversing a trend. Ohio State under Hayes had been dominant in most of the years before Schembechler got the top job after the 1968 season, and especially against archrival Michigan. The Buckeyes had trounced the Wolverines in the ’68 meeting, 50-14.

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