Michigan vs. Texas A&M History: Bo Says No
We don't have much of a history with Texas A&M in either of the two main sports. We're 2-1 all-time vs. them in football, and the game most of us remember is the 1995 Alamo Bowl, in which Brian Griese's late TD pass to Amani Toomer wasn't enough in a 22-20 loss. But good things came just two years later.
Our lone basketball game vs. Texas A&M came in 1962, when we beat them, 82-79. Bill Buntin was on that team, and it was the year before Cazzie Russell started playing. I think that Grayson Allen was a freshman at Duke, too.
As noted in a previous thread, the main sports connection between Michigan and Texas A&M came in January of 1982, when the Aggies and their oil money tried to hire Bo Schembechler away. I was a sports reporter at the Daily at the time, and this story was HUGE. In the history of Michigan football, it's still huge. There was a story about this in the HTTV issue a couple years ago.
Texas A&M was offering an ungodly amount of money – something like $3 million over 10 years! Incredible! After mulling over the offer, Bo took to the microphone at a press conference, and we still didn't know what he was going to do. I was there for the presser. Bo actually started to tear up when he said that there are things in this world that are more important than money - "and one of them's Michigan."
Here's the video:
March 19th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^
try to hire away Brian Ellerbe at one point?
March 19th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
A&M was ready to make Bo the highest paid college football coach by a WIDE margin. Seems amazing to think he turned that offer down, although I can't imagine how miserable he would have been coaching in the SWC in the 1980's. Pressure-cooker Texas football with ethically questionable boosters entrenched at every program. His legacy would have certainly been different under those circumstances.
A&M finally landed their Bo. Except it's a Jimbo. Good luck with that...
Joe Falls said it was Bo's best coaching effort in his nine years at Michigan! Here's the lineup from that game.
It was no contest.
"I was 77 at that game against A&M" and thought to myself, geez Don is really really OLD!
His avatar would be very fitting if that was the case.
also at that game in '77 vs A&M, I was a 22 year old enjoying my first year as a Michigan Football season ticket holder. I'm almost as old now as Don might have been then!
:-)
I love that we had a pair of 260-pound offensive tackles.
why we will always love Bo.
In our hearts.....
I never even made it all the way down the rabbit hole for that story. Shortly after I published it we were doing a WTKA segment with the guys involved in Billy Taylor's touchdown for Dr Sap's article that year, and I brought up A&M courting Bo to Fritz Seyferth during a break. Fritz had been the recruiting coordinator at the time and told me they had a huge visit weekend early that January, with kids in from all over the country (including a California QB named Jim Harbaugh). But no Bo! Nobody knew where he was. He was taking a secret visit to College Station with MIllie and Shemy.
March 21st, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
I remember crying when a local station, erroneously reported that Bo had taken the A&M job . Does anyone else remember that or did i mis remember ? I was 11 at the time .
but if it did happen, it was probably on 97.1*.
.
*even if 97.1 didn't even exist back then.