Can someone explain why Bo was a great coach?

Other than not winning a National Championship, which for a good amount of his era, wasn’t exactly the goal of the program(s), Im not exactly sure what the argument against him is?

He didn’t have a losing season, averaged 9-10 wins a year for 20 years, won Rose Bowls, etc.
 
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In 21 seasons at Michigan, they finished in the AP Top Ten 16 times. That's pretty good.
 
No, I can't explain, OP.

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NoleKing said:
Other than winning a National Championship, which for a good amount of his era, wasn’t exactly the goal of the program(s), Im not exactly sure what the argument against him is?

He didn’t have a losing season, averaged 9-10 wins a year for 20 years, won Rose Bowls, etc.
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What national championship?
 
NoleKing said:
It should say other than not winning.
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Exactly. In today's world he wouldn't have made it past his second contract. Maybe 7 years. Some years he benefitted from the success of others to get a better bowl game since the Big 10 had their dumb rotation policy.

But I just dont see what he did so great
 
Irishblooded said:
Exactly. In today's world he wouldn't have made it past his second contract. Maybe 7 years. Some years he benefitted from the success of others to get a better bowl game since the Big 10 had their dumb rotation policy.

But I just dont see what he did so great
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Not really, he won: 8,9,11,10,10 games his first five years and that was before 12 game seasons and conference championships. He certainly keeps his job. He was also hurt a few years from that dumb BIG Ten rule as well.

In today’s playoff era, who knows what happens when his teams get into the playoffs and maybe they win one or two.

He coached for 21 years and half of those he won double digit games. The other years either 8 or 9. That’s super high level consistency.

Are there others that are better? Sure, no one is going to call him the greatest coach of all time. But he’s certainly a Hall of Famer and up there with others.
 
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Irishblooded said:
Exactly. In today's world he wouldn't have made it past his second contract. Maybe 7 years. Some years he benefitted from the success of others to get a better bowl game since the Big 10 had their dumb rotation policy.

But I just dont see what he did so great
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It was more of bringing back a culture than anything else. Before Bo, OSU was on a run like they are now against us. Like I said that 1969 game was what created Bo. He ended up 5-4-1 vs Woody in that 10 year war. It brought the rivalry to being at the top which it seems to have fallen now. He was consistent in winning which helped his cause. He was never after NCs. It was B1G titles for him. It was brining a blue blood back to being a blue blood again, though he didn't get that ultimate prize. He also came up with phrases that fans loved and brought back a "tough" hard nosed style or running and hard hitting defense.
 
Irishblooded said:
Other than a coupe of Big 10 titles. And a few bowl games.
what did he accomplish ?
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I've never understood it either. Do what he did at several major programs today and you'd be lucky not to get fired.

He beat up on the little 8 in the Big 10. So what? Michigan routinely got rewarded by the sporting press for being a blue blood by being named top 10 even though they had beaten nobody. When they had to play good PAC teams, they routinely got their brains beaten in. So did OSU for that matter.
 
15 Conference Championships with 13 at Michigan in the Big Ten and 2 at Miami-OH in the Mid-American certainly ain't bad.

At Miami-OH, his worst season was 1963 when the Redskins went 5-3-2, his first as a head coach. At Michigan, his worst was 1984 when the Wolverines went 6-6, including a loss to BYU in the Holiday Bowl which could lead to a whole different discussion altogether. He never had a losing season and only finished outside the Top 5 in the Big Ten once which was that 1984 campaign where they tied for 6th. His worst effort in the MAC was finishing tied for 3rd in 1967.

If there's a knock of Coach Schembechler's career it's his bowl record of 5-12.

Fun Fact: Bo Schembechler played and coached under Woody Hayes, playing at Miami-OH and serving as an assistant at Ohio State.
 
Irishblooded said:
Other than a coupe of Big 10 titles. And a few bowl games.
what did he accomplish ?
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Back in those times CFB was national title or “bust” like it is now. Obviously a title was the goal, but bowl games meant more as a whole. And he is forever beloved by UM because he finished in the top 10 in 80% of his seasons I believe as well as never having a losing record. What takes his legacy over the top in the eyes of UM fans is his record against Ohio St.

side note: he’s so great Bc OSU (woody) made him!
 
Colekibler said:
Back in those times CFB was national title or “bust” like it is now. Obviously a title was the goal, but bowl games meant more as a whole. And he is forever beloved by UM because he finished in the top 10 in 80% of his seasons I believe as well as never having a losing record. What takes his legacy over the top in the eyes of UM fans is his record against Ohio St.

side note: he’s so great Bc OSU (woody) made him!
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Meant to say wasn’t in the first line*
 
Basement Bias said:
It was more of bringing back a culture than anything else. Before Bo, OSU was on a run like they are now against us. Like I said that 1969 game was what created Bo. He ended up 5-4-1 vs Woody in that 10 year war. It brought the rivalry to being at the top which it seems to have fallen now. He was consistent in winning which helped his cause. He was never after NCs. It was B1G titles for him. It was brining a blue blood back to being a blue blood again, though he didn't get that ultimate prize. He also came up with phrases that fans loved and brought back a "tough" hard nosed style or running and hard hitting defense.
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I’m a Buckeye guy, and as a TTUN fan I’d like to know your opinion on Harbaugh?
 
Irishblooded said:
Exactly. In today's world he wouldn't have made it past his second contract. Maybe 7 years. Some years he benefitted from the success of others to get a better bowl game since the Big 10 had their dumb rotation policy.

But I just dont see what he did so great
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I think UM’s fans image of him, as well as some B10 history buffs are what keeps the idea of his legend alive.
 
Colekibler said:
I’m a Buckeye guy, and as a TTUN fan I’d like to know your opinion on Harbaugh?
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I'm a bit of an outlier when it comes to him. He's been my guy/coach as I am also a 49ers fan. My biggest thing with Harbaugh is that I wish he would be a little more like Lloyd Carr. Lloyd was the first coach in my college football watching days. Lloyd wasn't as outspoken as Harbaugh, but it is what it is with him. I will take the consistency of winning each year. Just would like a few more wins over OSU, ND, & MSU as well as PSU & Wisconsin. I'm not going to want the Alabama & Clemson dominance at this point. I'd just want to be more like LSU and getting a title appearance or winning one maybe once a decade or so. The biggest headscratcher has been since the last year of the 49ers. I thought it may have been Kaepernick or some other players, but it appears not to be the case. He hasn't been able to develop the QBs or keep them consistent enough. He did so much with Alex Smith and Kaepernick before that last year in SF. Heck he did well with Rudock as well. Just hasn't went any further. However, I think the biggest problem at Michigan even before Harbaugh has been the offensive line play. Just not good at all for being able to run the ball. That used to be a Michigan staple but now we have kind of went to an in between of that and Rich Rod offense. Really would just like to be like Wisconsin personally on offense. I think that would create more rivalry wins to be honest.
 
Basement Bias said:
I'm a bit of an outlier when it comes to him. He's been my guy/coach as I am also a 49ers fan. My biggest thing with Harbaugh is that I wish he would be a little more like Lloyd Carr. Lloyd was the first coach in my college football watching days. Lloyd wasn't as outspoken as Harbaugh, but it is what it is with him. I will take the consistency of winning each year. Just would like a few more wins over OSU, ND, & MSU as well as PSU & Wisconsin. I'm not going to want the Alabama & Clemson dominance at this point. I'd just want to be more like LSU and getting a title appearance or winning one maybe once a decade or so. The biggest headscratcher has been since the last year of the 49ers. I thought it may have been Kaepernick or some other players, but it appears not to be the case. He hasn't been able to develop the QBs or keep them consistent enough. He did so much with Alex Smith and Kaepernick before that last year in SF. Heck he did well with Rudock as well. Just hasn't went any further. However, I think the biggest problem at Michigan even before Harbaugh has been the offensive line play. Just not good at all for being able to run the ball. That used to be a Michigan staple but now we have kind of went to an in between of that and Rich Rod offense. Really would just like to be like Wisconsin personally on offense. I think that would create more rivalry wins to be honest.
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I like your analysis. I think a problem under him has been the chasing of the spotlight. Obviously he was a big name before, and so was UM. From the moment he took the job it seems like everything has been made to be a spectacle, recruiting included.

Consistency is another thing. The Shea Patterson transfer could have been gold but they didn’t handle it right. Patterson thrived in the Ole Miss system before injury. Then he was jerked back and forth between spread and power schemes at UM which is difficult for a QB still trying to learn the offense. There’s no law against mixing things up but it’s important to have an offensive identity, something that is your bread and butter, and then throw in other things to mix it up. It seems nowadays they recruit these high level recruits/athletes that 1. Don’t develop fully and 2. Are put into rotation. Rotation can be good, but for an effective offensive attack consistency is imperative and it hasn’t been there.
As a Buckeye fan I’ve been enjoying the recent string of wins we’ve had against TTUN but I must say it was much more enjoyable back in ‘04-‘06. The first three games of the series I watched and although we won all 3, they were nail biters, down to the wire, and they were everything the rivalry should be.
 
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