Prior to entering high school and playing in a football pickup game, Bo attempted to tackle the ball carrier. However, the ball carrier would not go down and dragged him along. In the process, Schembechler tore up his leg-ripped open his knee. But he wouldn’t dare cry on that occasion in front of his friends. In high school as a sophomore, he saw that the incoming freshman were noticeably faster than him. The intelligent Schembechler went to his high school coach Carl Harter and asked him how he could help the team. The coach said he needed an offensive guard. The 5’10”, 190 pound, give or take Bo became an offensive guard.
Bo listened to Notre Dame Football games on the radio and would’ve liked to have played football for them, but they were not interested in him. That was another severe narcissistic injury and disappointment, and perhaps added to his competitive drive to succeed. During one football game in high school he suffered a broken nose. His mother took him to a Dr. and the doctor said “no more football.” Bo gave his mom that special look. Bo played the rest of the season with an old facemask helmet. Notice the mom, even though Bo was injured, supported his decision to play football.
In order to play high school football, Schembechler would travel 3 to 4 miles to the practice field by crossing a canal, and running to the practice. Football, became more and more important to him, because he liked the challenge. “I would respect the guy who would go in there and hit and I wanted to be that guy.” He was recruited by Michigan but didn’t think he would get in because of academics. He was also recruited by Ohio State. When Sid Gilman, coach of Miami of Ohio recruited him, Bo attended that school on a football scholarship. Incidentally, Sid Gilman is a coaching legend and considered one of the all-time best coaches.
In Bo’s greatest football game in high school, he was playing offensive tackle. His team was in a real battle with Alliance. Both teams were undefeated. However, his team lost. 7-0. He became frustrated and mad during the process. After that game, Bo went to the locker room, was sick to his stomach and started crying. He said he didn’t care if anyone saw him cry. He said that football is an emotional game. If you don’t let your emotions show you can’t be much of a football player. It’s not okay to cry if you are hurt or injured. It’s okay to cry if you lost the game. Another disappointment and failure was experienced by Schembechler, this time in another sport. Likely, the fear of failure became more pronounced and added to his drive for mastery. Bo didn’t take losing very well.
Bo would hang out with his friends and not always study. But he finally changed his ways and studied. Perhaps it was a school report that said “his chances weren’t very good.” And his mother kept that report. Carl Harter was also the basketball coach. During one basketball game, a technical foul was called. The coach ran after Bo, followed him to the locker room, grabbed him by the hair and said “don’t you ever do anything like that again.” Actually, the technical call was on another player, McCoskey who cussed out a referee. The coach hit Bo, but maybe it was more like a slap. Bo didn’t admit that he was abused. Bo, however confessed that he was afraid of that coach. That high school coach modeled the physical physicality in sports with the message that it was okay to be physical with the player. Bo at Michigan, exhibited the same physical and verbally abusive behavior with Jim Brandstatter. Bo believed that Jim missed the block and ran after him verbally and physically accosted him. Even though one of his coaches said that Jim made his block, Bo said “he needed it anyway.”
To Be Continued
