Ten years ago, the Michigan Wolverines were preparing for their biggest game of the decade when they received some devastating news.
Legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler died Nov. 17, 2006 -- collapsing the day before the team's game against rival Ohio State. He died from heart failure at Detroit Providence Hospital. He was 77 years old.
Recommended Videos
Schembechler suffered from a heart attack before the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1970, and underwent quadruple heart bypass surgeries in May 1976 and December 1987.
"Ten years since Bo’s passing, and it changed so many people who know Bo," Jim Harbaugh said Thursday on the "Jamie and Stoney Show." "To be around him and to learn from him -- there’s so many days where I go, 'I wish he was here, how great would it be if he was here, to walk down the hall and talk to coach?'"
Schembechler coached Michigan for 21 seasons from 1969-1989, compiling an overall record of 194-48-5. He won 85 percent of his Big Ten games (143-24-3) and led the Wolverines to 13 conference titles. Michigan never won a national championship under Schembechler, but he is best remembered for his team's dominance in conference and the 10-year war against Woody Hayes and Ohio State.
The winningest coach in school history, Schembechler lives on through his emphasis on "the team, the team, the team" and the promise that "those who stay will be champions." Every player who stayed at Michigan for four years under Schembechler won at least one Big Ten championship.
Schembechler's words still ring through the Big House every football Saturday before Michigan takes the field for opening kickoff.
"No man is more important than the team. No coach is more important than the team. The team, the team, the team, and if we think that way, all of us, everything that you do, you take into consideration what effect does it have on my team? Because you can go into professional football, you can go anywhere you want to play after you leave here. You will never play for a team again. You'll play for a contract. You'll play for this. You'll play for that. You'll play for everything except the team, and think what a great thing it is to be a part of something that is the team. We're gonna win it. We're gonna win the championship again, because we're gonna play as a team better than anybody else in this conference. We're gonna play together as a team. We're gonna believe in each other, we're not gonna criticize each other, we're not gonna talk about each other, we're gonna encourage each other. And when we play as a team, when the old season is over, you and I know, it's gonna be Michigan again, Michigan."
Schembechler was inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor on June 3, 1992. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the State of Michigan Hall of Fame and State of Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
Harbaugh said he talks about his former coach every day.
"So many others that knew him, like a brother, like a dad, like a best friend -- it doesn’t seem like it’s 10 years since he’s been gone," Harbaugh said on the "Jamie and Stoney Show." "You think about him a lot. Almost every day you have a memory or a reminder of Bo."
Harbaugh played four seasons under Schembechler at Michigan from 1983-1986. He threw for 5,449 yards and 31 touchdowns and rushed for 12 more touchdowns in his Michigan career.
It's been a rough decade for the Wolverines since Schembechler's death, and it started the very next day. No. 2 Michigan lost a heartbreaking 42-39 game to No. 1 Ohio State to miss a shot to play in the national championship game. In the ensuing Rose Bowl, the Wolverines got pounded by No. 8 USC.
The following season wasn't much better, as Michigan lost its first two games to Appalachian State and Oregon to fall out of national relevance. Lloyd Carr -- who was hired by Schembechler as a secondary coach in 1980 -- stepped down as head coach after the 9-4 season and Rich Rodriguez led the Wolverines to a 15-22 record over the next three seasons. Despite a Sugar Bowl appearance in 2011, Michigan wasn't very good under Brady Hoke the next four years, going just 31-20.
But now, 10 years after Schembechler's death, Michigan finds itself almost in the same situation as 2006. Ranked No. 3 nationally, Michigan faces a pseudo-playoff game in Columbus against No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 26, along with a home game against Indiana this weekend.
WATCH: Michigan football creates hilarious highlight video for holder Garrett Moores
There was no College Football Playoff in Schembechler's days, but his most famous goal is also within Michigan's reach this season: a Big Ten championship. The Wolverines haven't won an outright Big Ten title since 2003 and haven't shared the title since 2004.
With wins over Indiana and Ohio State, Michigan would qualify for its first-ever Big Ten Championship game in Indianapolis.
"It’s great to be reminded of how Bo did things," Harbaugh said Thursday.
What he did was win Big Ten championships, and since the day after his death, Michigan hasn't come close to winning one. That could all change in a week.
And if the Wolverines take care of business, Harbaugh could accomplish something that even Schembechler never did.