Bo Schembecler (R.I.P.)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Bo Schembechler, who became one of college football's great coaches in two decades at Michigan, died Friday after taping a TV show on the eve of the Wolverines' No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with perennial rival Ohio State. He was 77.Mike Dowd, chief investigator with the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office, confirmed Schembechler's death at 11:42 a.m. "You only meet someone like that once in a lifetime," Michigan executive associate athletic director Mike Stevenson told the Ann Arbor News. "In the history of Michigan athletics, nobody had a bigger impact. He was passionate, bright, and an unbelievable leader. He loved Michigan."Schembechler became ill and collapsed while taping the show, Big Ten Ticket, at WXYZ in Southfield, the station said, and he was taken by ambulance to an area hospital.The Detroit News reported that Schembechler, just before taping the show, visited the restroom and collapsed.Schembechler also was hospitalized Oct. 20 after becoming ill at the same location.Police were sent to the station around 9:25 a.m. along with the city's fire department and escorted an ambulance to Providence Hospital, Southfield police spokesman John Harris said.The Detroit Free Press reported that friends and family soon began to arrive at Providence Hospital, including former Wolverines coach Gary Moeller. At Schembechler's Ann Arbor home, a family friend told the Free Press: "It wasn't time for him to go. He wasn't ready. He knew that he had a problem with his heart, but he wasn't ready to give up."The friend said Schembechler's wife, Cathy, was on her way back to Ann Arbor from Providence Hospital.Schembechler met with the media earlier this week to discuss The Game.During the news conference, the 77-year-old discussed the device that was implanted to regulate his heartbeat after he was hospitalized last month.He said the device covered about half his chest and that doctors still were making adjustments to it.Schembechler said he did not plan to attend the game in Columbus, Ohio, and that he didn't attend road games anymore."This is an extraordinary loss for college football. Bo Schembechler touched the lives of many people and made the game of football better in every way," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement. "He will always be both a Buckeye and a Wolverine and our thoughts are with all who grieve his loss."Schembechler had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl in 1970 and another one in 1987. He has had two quadruple heart bypass operations.In his biography, Bo, the coach addressed his history of cardiac trouble."Will I die from a heart attack? I've pretty much accepted that," Schembechler wrote. "I'll probably go through another episode before I'm finished here on earth."The seven-time Big Ten coach of the year compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89. Schembechler's record in 26 years of coaching was 234-64-8."Bo was Bo," said Don Nehlen, an assistant on Schembechler's staff at Michigan until becoming head coach at West Virginia in 1979."He had such a unique ability to motivate players and motivate his coaches," Nehlen said. "The hallmark of any great football program is complete honesty between the coaches and the players. There's got to be a trust between the two. And Bo was always, always honest and so sincere. There was such a bond between the coaches and players at Michigan, because he was so highly respected by the players because he told it like it was. He didn't tell them what they wanted to hear."Schembechler's Wolverines were 11-9-1 against the Buckeyes. But fans in both states generally agree that the rivalry's prime years were 1969-78, when Schembechler opposed his friend and coaching guru, Woody Hayes. Ohio State prevailed in those meetings, going 5-4-1."It was a very personal rivalry," Earle Bruce, who succeeded Hayes as coach, 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 protege against mentor."Thirteen of Schembechler's Michigan teams either won or shared the Big Ten championship. Fifteen of them finished in The Associated Press Top 10, with the 1985 team finishing No. 2.Seventeen of Schembechler's 21 Michigan teams earned bowl berths. Despite a .796 regular-season winning percentage, his record in bowls was a disappointing 5-12, including 2-8 in Rose Bowls.The mythical national championship eluded Schembechler, but he said that never bothered him."If you think my career has been a failure because I have never won a national title, you have another thing 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."His last game as Wolverines coach was a 17-10 loss to Southern California in the 1990 Rose Bowl. One week later, Schembechler -- who also had been serving as Michigan athletic director since July 1988 -- was named president of the Detroit Tigers.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.