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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Glenn E. "Bo" Schembechler walked to the podium, albeit a little slowly, at the University of Michigan's Junge Family Champions Center on Monday. A large group of reporters was seated in the plush room surrounded by blue and Michigan logos, representing a tradition that Schembechler had a large part in advancing during his time as Michigan's football coach from 1969-89.

"I haven't been to a press conference like this in a long time," said the 77-year-old Barberton, Ohio, native, dressed sharply in a blue-striped shirt and navy blue sport coat, his hair slicked back.

Then, for the next 29 minutes, Schembechler discussed the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry — which renews Saturday when the two 11-0 teams meet in Columbus. He also talked about his old coach, boss and rival, Woody Hayes.

It was a reminder of the game's legend, which has been building in 102 games played since 1897.

"There's no rivalry," Schembechler said, "that compares with this."

Ten intense years

Arguably the most heated period of that rivalry began when Schembechler arrived in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1969. Over the next decade — known as the "10-year war" — Schembechler's Michigan teams faced Hayes' Buckeyes in some of the biggest college football games of the 1970s.

Their relationship, however, started long before that, during Schembechler's days playing for Hayes at Miami University. When Hayes was hired at Ohio State in 1951, Schembechler joined him as a graduate assistant — "make the coffee in the morning, pick up the prospects at the airport and run the errands." In 1958, Schembechler returned to Columbus as an assistant coach and stayed until 1962, when he became Miami's coach.

Or, as Schembechler put it, "I escaped."

"I coached there for Woody when Woody was really Woody," he said.

Like the time after a 7-0 loss to Michigan in 1951 when Hayes picked up a projector while reviewing film at his home and tossed it across the room, yelling, "I won't subject the people of Columbus to football like that."

Or the time, in 1961, when Ohio State beat Michigan, 50-20, and the coaches attended an alumni dinner in Cleveland. Before his speech, Hayes was told the school's faculty council had voted to decline an invitation to the Rose Bowl, even though the Buckeyes were the Big Ten champions.

"Woody said, 'Get your coat,' " Schembechler said. "We started walking around downtown, talked some, walked in silence some. Then when we got back to the hotel, Woody went to the podium and gave one of the great speeches you ever heard. It took him that long to walk around there to say the faculty has a right to their opinion.

"I'll never forget how tough that guy was."

Preparing 'every day'

By November 1969, Schembechler had coached his Michigan team to a 7-2 record in his first season when the Wolverines met the 8-0 and top-ranked Buckeyes, who had won 22 straight games. Michigan, ranked 12th, won 24-12, firing the first shot in that "10-year war."

"I'll never forget when Woody said at a dinner we had for him after he retired, when he looked down the podium at me, and said, 'Damn you, you'll never win a bigger game than that,' " Schembechler said. "And, he was right."

But Schembechler did win plenty of games — he is Michigan's winningest coach with a 194-48-5 record in 21 seasons. He won or tied for 13 Big Ten championships, and his 1970s teams were 96-10-3 in the regular season, the best mark nationally that decade.

But against Ohio State, he went 5-4-1 against Hayes and the Buckeyes from 1969-78, the final 10 seasons of Hayes' 28-year tenure.

Schembechler's most animated moment Monday came when asked how often during the year he prepared for Ohio State.

"Every day!" he said emphatically. "It was our strategy here to do something to beat Ohio State every day! Even if it's in the first meeting of the year, we talked about it."

Schembechler's biggest disappointment? Missing the 1973 Rose Bowl, which happened at a time when the loser of The Big Game ended its season early.

"We had an antiquated leadership in the Big Ten Conference," he said. "It wasn't until 1973, when they literally screwed us out of the Rose Bowl, and I mean it exactly the way I said it, they changed it."

In '73, Ohio State and Michigan entered their season finale ranked No. 1 (OSU) and No. 4 (Michigan), and both undefeated. It ended in a 10-10 tie.

"Including Woody Hayes, who congratulated me after the game and said, 'You'll do a good job in the Rose Bowl,' everybody expected Michigan to go to the Rose Bowl," Schembechler said.

Instead, Ohio State beat Southern California, 42-21.

Funny, though, that the loser of this year's Ohio State-Michigan game likely will get a trip to the Rose Bowl, while the winner will go to the national championship game. Some argue this is the biggest game these two have played.

Schembechler — who won't be in Columbus on Saturday, nearly a month after a device to help regulate his heartbeat was implanted in his chest — was forced to agree.

"It'll be a whale of a battle," he said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.