Michigan football countdown to kickoff: 80 days until 2022 season
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 3 opener against Colorado State. We’ll discuss the current Michigan events, upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
The 1980 Michigan football season is a fascinating study, as fans well know.
The Maize and Blue began the year 1-2 with losses to Notre Dame and South Carolina. On its own, it wasn’t a huge reason to panic. The Fighting Irish were ranked No. 8 at the time and finished the year a solid 9-2-1, while the Gamecocks proved to be solid, going 8-4. Michigan still had the Big Ten season to go, with hopes of a conference title still there.
But the 1-2 start didn’t happen on its own. It was part of a trend. Michigan had lost five of its last six games dating back to the prior campaign, when it suffered setbacks in its final three, to Purdue, Ohio State and North Carolina in the Gator Bowl.
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Halfway through Bo Schembechler‘s legendary career, something appeared to be off. How could Schembechler — the man that had turned the Michigan program around, made it one of the nation’s elite and won eight Big Ten titles in his first 10 years on the job — let this happen?
Things weren’t hunky dory on the inside, either. Schembechler and his staff were searching for answers, including on how to get the team culture back on track. There was disconnect between the coaches and players, namely captain and linebacker Andy Cannavino, who complained to Schembechler that, among other things, practices and the coaching staff were too tough on the Wolverines.
Schembechler, as one might imagine, didn’t take kindly to the remarks. He and Cannavino had a heart-to-heart conversation, which was one-sided, also as expected.
Cannavino shaped up, and the team showed out. Michigan won nine straight games — 8-0 in the Big Ten with a conference title, Schembechler’s ninth at the helm — including the Rose Bowl against Washington, the coach’s first win in Pasadena. The defense, captained by Cannavino, didn’t allow a single touchdown in the final five games, an amazing statistic.
Adversity hit, and Michigan responded. And despite the rocky start, to put it mildly, the 1980 Wolverines became one of Schembechler’s favorite teams, Cannavino one of his most fondly remembered captains. And they earned rings for winning the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl. Not bad for 1-2.
Speaking to a crowd at the University of Michigan, Bacon, who co-authored Bo’s Lasting Lessons with Schembechler, explained the lesson that came out of that season — how to deal with a problem within an organization. Confront it head-on, he said, and speak directly with the person with whom there’s an issue.
“And finally, after all is said and done, you can hold no grudges,” Bacon continued.
“You ask Bo what his best defense of all time is — he’d never say ‘1980,’ or ‘my defense,’ he’s always said, ‘Cannavino’s defense.’ You ask him, ‘Who’s your best captain of all time?’ No coach will ever touch this. Bo will say in a heartbeat, ‘Easy, Andy Cannavino. Not only was he the best captain I ever had, he was the best coach I ever had. They were following him, not me, by the end of that year.'”
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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