4yrsday. i, fepem.r I'9 TE MYHIA DAILY PageThre
Thursday, September 4; 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
ootba :
ear
of
the
caalenge
By JOHN KAHLER
Could this be the year that
the Michigan football team
makes the long-predicted drop
into also-ran status in the Big
Ten? One would be wise to bet
against such an occurrence. But
ever since Bo Schembechler
took over as head coach, a
Michigan football team has nev-
er gone into fall practice with
so many question marks.
The sense of concern em-
anating from 1000 South State
Street has several roots. The
Wolverines lost some key peo-
ple to graduation, quarterback
Dennis Franklin and All-Ameri-
can safety Dave Brown to be
specific. Replacements must be
found, and quickly.
The biggest horror film in Ann
Arbor is the film of the Spring
Game. That debacle sent Mich-
igan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio
State fans scurrying to b o o k
hotel reservations in Pasadena.
(The MSU fans have since can-
celled.)
THE SUPPOSED first string
offense could gather only 199
total yards against the second
string defense in that game and
quarterback Mark Elzinga could
only connect on four of fifteen
aerial attempts.
Elzinga, who had been groom-
ed for two years as Franklin's
replacement, was hampered by
bruised ribs all spring. Still, his
performance came close . ex-
hausting Schembechler's reser-
voir of patience.
"I have an open mind on the
quarterback situation," said Bo
last spring. "I won't decide any-
thing for certain until I see the
freshmen in the fall. I'm not
saying I'll start a freshman, I
just haven't decided on any-
thing."
So there exists the possibility
that a freshman will start at
quarterback for Michigan this
fall. The question now becom-
es which freshman.
RICK LEACH of Flint South-
western and Richard Scofield;
of Morris Plains, N.J., seem to
have an edge over Stacy John-;
son of Camden, N.J., D a v e
Stavale of Harper Woods Bis-
hop Gallagher, and Chi lPeder-
son of Bay City Central, nut all
five will be given a shot. I
But once the freshman cuar-f
terback is selected, h- m u s t
learn enough of the Michigan
system to operate the offense
on its accustomed level of per-
fection against a very g o o d
Wisconsin team.
Nor is quarterback the only
problem spot on the offense The
offensive line was not impres-
sive during the spring. in al
fairness, this was ->artly due
to the fact that prrbable reg-,
ulars Steve King and Mark Don-
ahue were out with injuries.
AT THE moment, the line
will be manned by Jimu Czirr,
the pride of St. Joseon, at cen-
ter, Donahue and Kirk Lewis
at guard, and King and either
Jim Hall or Bill Dufek at tack-
le. Depth will be a cawse of
worry to offensive line coa h
Jerry Hanlon all se as:>n.
And now for strengths. Nei-
ther Gordon Bell nor Rob Lt -
tle apeared at tailbacK in tie
Spring Game, and their ab-,
scence was keenly felt.
Observers feel that, if Bell d d
not have to alternate, ho >uldf
pile up yardage in Arclie Grif-
fin fashion. The fact that!
Schembechler makes Pell splt
playing time with Lytle should t
tell you all vou need to know1
about Lvtle's abilities.
Behind them is freshman Har-'
Ian Huckleby of Cass Tech, the
Glass A sprint champion,
FULLBACK is unsettled. High
school All-American Ruse:lI
Davis is presumed to have the
inside track, but Scott Corbin,I
Kevin King, and Phil Andraws To sum it up, the Wolverines
are not out of the running. possess a brilliant corps of run-
The big experiment of t h e ning backs, but even the best
spring featured the moving of runners need holes to run+
split end Jim Smith to wing-' through, and someone to hand
back. "Smith is the type of play-I them the ball.
er you look for when you're The defense may have to car-
scouting," said Red Hdickey, ry this team. And the defense
head scout of the Dallas Cow- can do it.
boys. Four starters return on the
Smith is probably th3 finest I defensive line, with experienced
G i.X v. S S tSS SS...S
t
The, challenge
Sept. 13
Sept. 20
Sept. 27
Oct. 4
Oct. 11
Oct. 18
Oct. 25
Nov. 1
No. 8
Nov. 15
Nov. 22
Wisconsin at Madison
Stanford at Ann Arbor
Baylor at Ann Arbor
Missouri at Ann Arbor
Michigan State at East Lansing
Northwestern at Ann Arbor
Indiana at Ann Arbor
Minnesota at Minneapolis
Purdue at Ann Arbor
Illinois at Champaign
Ohio State at Ann Arbor
;:;:ti
'%
::+.
°;:{
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IfI
...
Calvin O'Neal, the Saginaw
Stud, and Dave Devich n o t h
saw a lot of action last fall, and
are proven commodities.
Wolfman (and hockey player)
Don Dufek is the only returning
regular in the secondary. But
safety Dwight Hicks, and corn-
ermen Derick Howard and Jim
Bolden are all immensely tal-
entad, though inexperienced,
players. Hicks, in fact, w a s
named the sophomore-to-re with
the most potential.
None of these three have yet
nailed down a job, and Jim
Pickens, Jerry Zuver, and Ray-
mond Johnson will keep the
pressure on the front-runners.
HANDLING the placekicking
will be Bob Woods. Woods lacks
the distance of Mike Lantry,
but is probably more accurate.
John Anderson returns as the
' inter.
It would help matters ':onsid-
erably if this Wolverine team
could open against a few weak
sisters. Unfortunately, fate and
the schedulemakers have made
this impossible.
Michigan must open on the
road against a nontender. The
Wisconsin Badgers feature All-
American Billy Marek at tail-
back and, what is probably
more important, the best offen-
sive line in the Big Ten. That
bunch humiliated the Wolverine
defense last fall, and without
Dennis Franklin to perfari nmir-
acles, things could get sti.y.
The more one looks at it, the
more one is convinced that the
fate of the Michigan fooaall
team depends on one man -
Bo Schembechler. Bo is con-
tinually criticized for his con-
servative, stereotyped offenses,
and his supposed inability to
win the big game, but no coach
can match his five year record
of 50-4-1.
{?;"' + 9: .T}}v ..:".X } }?:?? "?:" s"a:
pass catcher in the Big Ten, and sub Mike Holmes manning the
a sure first round pick two open defensive end spot. All
years from now. Max Richard- four veterans -- defensive end
soa will back him up. Dan Jilek, tackles Greg "Mo"
Morton and Jeff Perlinger, and.)
BO ALSO experimented with middle guard Davis - aaVe the
a two tight end system, presum- potential for post-season hon-
ably because the offensive lineI ors.
Jilek jaunts
Dan Jilek, a senior defensive end, circles around a flimsy
for a little talk with the Hawkeye's quarterback Rob Fick.
intact this year as stalwarts Jeff Perlinger, Greg Morton,
Daily Photo by STEVE KAGAN
Iowa pocket and prepares himself
The defensive line remains almost
Tim Davis and Jilek all return.
could not be trusted wi'i t h e
blocking assignments. Candi-
dates for tight end jois include
erstwhile cager, Rick Wh'Le,
George Pryzgodski, and Pete
Traber. Tight end Gene John-
son of Flint Southwestern has
the best shot at a starting role
of any freshman.
If Bo needs a split end, Keith
Johnson is available.
AND IF that weren't enough,
the line is deep, so deen that
freshman Kyron Williams, a
middle guard, and Tom Seabron,
a defensive end, will probably
spend the fall playing 'or Den-
nis Brown's Varsity Reserves.
Both starting linebackers are
gone, and by the middle of the.
season, they may be forgotten.
Bo Schembechier talks: Ethics,
finance, and women in sports
EDITOR'S NOTE-Early last June, head football coach Glenn E.
"Bo" Schembechler granted an exclusive interview to Sports
Editors Al Hrapsky and Bill Crane. Schembechler candidly dis-
cussed several topics, including:
The current financial status of
collegiate athletics:
rpHIS IS A VERY difficult period for intercollegiate athletics.
I wouldn't want to speculate right now which way it's going
to go. Because what has happened is that with increased costs
and the economy as bad as it is, there are a lot of schools that
are filling their stadiums in football, and still can't operate in
the black.
And, then, all of a sudden you're hit with the responsibility
of increasing the effort in the women's program at the same
time. I can't give you all the ramifictitions of it. This so-called
Title IX°which provides for equal rights and opportunities for
women on college campuses concerns intercollegiate athletics as
well. And there isn't any way (laughing) that you can have equal-
ity of financing with both men and women. Because, you know,
women's sports, at least today, and speculating about the future,
probably will not be a revenue sport.
So where does it all go? It goes on the back of the
football program to produce all the revenue. Even though
some of our other sports, for example basketball, can prob-
ably pay for themselves (but not contribute much to the
other non-revenue sports), the only operation that I know
of here that operates in the black, is the golf course. Other
than that, football is the only one.
Now, I don't like to look at it that way. I'm still old-fashioned
enough to believe that college football does more for the young-
ster who plays, than the youngster does in terms of bringing in
the spectators' money to the university.
In other words, I'm saying that it's all worthwhile. The
experience is worthwhile for the kid. I feel very strongly about
that because exploitation is always in the back of my mind. I
don't ever want to let that happen.
I sit in a position where I know-and you can talk all you
want-that it's important for us to win football games at Mich-
igan. But it isn't so important for us to win football games that
we have to exploit the kids.
I think a good, well-run program, if we get enough
athletes, if they believe in what we're doing and they enjoy
what they're doing-bust their necks and work hard-is worth-
while. In my opinion, it's the greatest experience they have
in college. Not the most important, but it's the greatest
experience they have in college.
I'm not opposed to women's athletics, not at all. But I don't
want the pressure of the additional funds necessary to operate
an extensive women's program to be saddled on the back of the
Michigan football program, which is exactly what's going to
happen.
So I think that all of our intercollegiate athletic programs
have to realize that football is paying the freight. If we could
play a tennis match and 90,000 people would pay seven dollars
to come in to see it, then that sport would become more im-
portant than football.
And those sports are important. My big pitch is that I'd
hate to see it get to the point where we eliminate some sports
because we can't afford them. I think that would be wrong. I
would like to see us try to keep some type of grant-in-aid pro-
gram available for outstanding athletes in other sports.
Lord knows, we give a lot of grants-in-aid around here
for gifted students, and for gifted musicians. Or if you have
a talent in some area that's beneficial to the university and
the university would like to have you, they're willing to give
you some financial aid to get you, aren't they? That's all
I'm saying about the athlete.
t If you have a gifted athlete that can perform and develop
here at Michigan while he's going to school, we ought to have
some financial aid that we can offer. And I think that's true in
{ fall sports, not just football. But I'm not in favor of cutting back
r- v: football grants-in-aid, or staff, or whatever, because the other
thing we face that one of the other sports face here is that we're
competing against the pros.
Let's say you're Joe Fan. To me, financially, you're going
to have to make a decision whether to go pro or college.
Football and the community:
I'VE BEEN IN college coaching for 23 years. I think that the
student approaches it a little differently today. He's a little
more sophisticated in his interests, but he nevertheless likes to
see Michigan football win. I don't care who it is-when you go
home and there's some guy from Michigan State or Ohio State
there, you say "What the hell, we beat you."
I think it's good for the university and I think the stu-
dents like it. I mean, the students appreciate excellence in
anything, and they're athletic-minded. Oh, sure, there are a
few who aren't.
For example, I get a kick out of the Free Press or the News
coming up here and seeking out a few girls and a guy who don't
give a damn about football-which is true, there are some. But
by and large the majority is enthusiastic about football-I think.
The other thing is that whether you like it or not, sports are
a part of American life. Take a guy who graduates from here.
:fWhen he is an alumnus and is drinking his cup of coffee in the
Daily Photo by PAULINE LUBENS
Smith snares spiral, scores six
Aerial artist Jim Smith delicately snares a Denny Franklin pass in last year's 52-0 shelacking of Navy. Smith, only a junior
and one of the Big Ten's finest, was switched to wingback last spring to take ful advantage of his pass catching abilities.
Coaching and character:
T THINK I'M a player-oriented coach, and I want them to enjoy
their experiences in football. It's tough to play here-we have
a very demanding program.
But I think by and large that the guys who come out of here
and go through this program respect it and appreciate it. And
they're respected when they talk about their experiences in foot-
ball. I want the experience to be good for the players.
Basically I've been sort of a player-oriented guy. I mean,
a guy like myself-I'm 46 years old-if you don't like young
people, you'd better find something else to do.
Frankly, I enjoy it. I really enjoy it-it keeps me young,
and I even compete with them. I'll play paddleball and stuff
like that. I like the way they think. I like their ideas. Of course,
some of them are impractical as hell, and we aren't going to
use them.
You take every football coach at the college level who lasts
for some period of time, and says, "I like my job. I like what
I'm doing."-the reason he does is because of the association
with young people.
Look at my career in college coaching. There are some
guys I've coached whose sons I am now recruiting. Now no
' matter what you say, the greatest friendships I have through-
out the country are people I've been associated with in
college football. It really enriches your life.
There are guys I've coached all over the country in top
positions. Not just in pro football-those are just the most
recent-hut uvs who are in huines T run into them all the
Take for example the trauma of Mike Lantry. You talk about
a pressurized situation; he's faced it twice. He's faced it more
than that: he, saved us in the Purdue game, but nobody remem-
bers that.
Ethics and the MSU affair:
TT ISN'T WHO squealed on who-what diference does that
make? Is it true that they have been violating NCAA and Big
Ten rules: that's all you need to know. I've been around and.I
have a pretty good idea of what's going on, but nothing has been
substantiated yet. Although, if you believe what you read in the
papers, you've got to think that there are some problems there.
As I look back on my career, I went to a school that was
straight arrow, Miami of Ohio-as conservative and straight
as you've ever seen. And their football program is that way.
I have always been associated with men in coaching, as an
assistant, who were straight guys who would not do anything
illegal to get players. I made it a point myself that when I
became a head coach I would never accept a job where I didn't
think I had a good opportunity to win and to get good players
without having to prostitute myself to do it. That's the route I
took when I took the head coaching job at Miami, coming out of
Ohio State as an assistant.
When you coach at Miami and win, you get a lot of oppor-
tunities to go to a lot of schools. While I was there, I would have
to say I could probably have had close to eight or ten major
college head coaching jobs.