Just in case you’re not familiar with the Ohio State - Michigan rivalry, well, it’s kind of a big deal.  Residents and university alumni from both Ohio and Michigan take it pretty seriously, and at the turn of the century ESPN rated the match-up the “greatest rivalry in sports”.  The two teams have been playing each other since 1897, but legend has it that the rivalry between the two states started back in 1836, when Andrew Jackson took Toledo away from Michigan.

The rivalry has had over one hundred years of competition to grow in intensity, but it’s not even a question which time period amplified the big game to what it is known for today: 1969-1978.  During the “Ten Year-War”, coaches Woody Hayes (Ohio State) and Bo Schembechler (Michigan) created and led the two most successful teams in the Big Ten.  Not only did almost every match-up have National Title implications attached to it, but they almost all came down to the last minute of play.

It is not surprising, then, to understand why Michael Rosenberg chose to titled his book about this remarkable era in college football, “War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America In A Time Of Unrest” (although the title actually comes from the 1947 narrative “War As I Knew It”, a narrative written on WWII General George Patton, one of Woody Hayes’ heros).  Rosenberg own narrative attempts and succeeds in capturing the personalities of two great men coaching the successful football programs during a time of historical social unrest in the United States.  He also does an impressive job writing in an unbiased manner, considering the fact that he’s a Michigan native.

Rosenberg makes it clear that both men were very stubborn, and that there were many times where players, university faculty, athletic directors, and even fans that did not agree with their styles of coaching.  In one instance, in Schembechler’s first season at UofM, the players came to him after a loss and complained that he had to ease up because he was crushing the team’s spirits.  The coach responded by saying, “I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna make it harder.  To hell with you.”  Woody was just as stubborn.  In several close games when his team was losing, times that called for passing plays, he chose to stick with his running game, against the will of his assistants.  What was his reasoning?  Woody despised the running game, and was once known to say, “There are three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them aren’t good.”

There was obviously merit behind their stubborness.  Their style of coaching would lead them to the top of the AP polls each year, as well as several trips to the Rose Bowl.  They were also both very successful in helping many young men turn into great businessmen and professional athletes.  However, the same stubborness that brought them success, would ultimately lead to their downfall outside their conference.  The two coaches did not find success in bowl games, where the game was transitioning from the old running-dominated game to the passing-game.

All in all, the most important point the author communicates throughout the book, is that it’s important to have a strong sense of character and beliefs in order to succeed in life, but if you wish to enjoy continued success, you need to be willing to adapt to the changes around you.  Rosenberg does a brilliant job relating Woody and Bo’s conservative styles of coaching to the War in Vietnam in the quote excerpt below:

In the spring of 1979, Hayes invited several friends to meet former Marine general Lewis Walt in a private room on the second floor of the Faculty Club.  A decade had passed since they were at the heigh of their powers, with Walt commanding the Marines in Vietnam and Hayes guiding the best college football team in America. In 1968 Walt had addressed Hayes’s Buckeyes at halftime of the Purdue game, spurring them to victory and the national championship.

Now Walt told the gathering at the Faculty Club there were two messages he wanted to express about the United States’ involvement in Vietnam—two reasons, essentially, why the mission had failed.

The first reason was that the media had worked to undermine the U.S. military and divide the country, severely hampering the American effort. The second reason was that the rules of engagement had changed. The United States had self-imposed limits on whom it could attack and when, instead of going all out to win the war.

Woody Hayes voiced his wholehearted agreement

*The title of this post comes from Woody Hayes himself, as he held up Bo Schembechler’s book in the locker room after beating Michigan in 1970.  Woody took it directly from the famous scene in the movie “Patton”, where the General looks across the battlefield through his binoculars to Nazi General Rommel’s book, ‘Infantry Attacks’ and screams “Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!”

**Disclaimer: I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio.  Go Bucks!