Bo's Competitiveness Part 3

 Bo’s Warriors remembered the frequency of Bo’s wrath. His hostility, competitive power controlling tenancies and anger was frequently displayed on the practice field. With power and competitive tendencies, we find anger. This suggests that for Bo, football was a life-and-death experience. He had to win, at all costs, regardless of the personal or self-sacrificing costs. It certainly didn’t help that Bo’s competitive players. Initially expressed their resentment toward their coach. In fact, it was as if they had an inhibition towards winning. For the first five games of that 1969 season, the Wolverines record was three wins and two losses. Bo’s seemingly mothering or looking for affection attitude change occurred during the halftime against the University of Minnesota. The Wolverines were behind and Bo, during half time, didn’t rant or rage, like a father, at his players. Instead, he talked to them clearly, directly and stated something to the effect that they were the better team and they shouldn’t allow themselves to lose the game. From the second half on, the team, dominated Minnesota, as well as the remaining teams on their schedule.

Another example of Bo’s hostility, with his competitive tendency, was his conviction that he was right, and would not allow or take in input that was counter to his own. Bo’s 1971 team was undefeated and dominated their opponents with their superlative and crushing rushing attack- “it was 3 yards and a cloud of dust.” They were primed and ready to face Stanford in the 1972 Rose Bowl.  With that victory, they would have won the National Championship, according to Thom Darden. Stanford was good, but not in the same class as the Wolverines. However, to diminish, Michigan’s famed running attack, the” Sanford Indians” stacked the line of scrimmage and placed 10 men on their side of the ball . That meant they had more defensive players on the line than Michigan’s offensive line players. There were just too many “Indians” for Michigan to block.

To Be Continued