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 '% ::+. °;:{ :;'f 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.