Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh blames failed vetting of doomed hiring of Bo Schembechler’s son

Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh blames vetting failures for the doomed hiring of the son of legendary Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler, who resigned over offensive tweets just days after joining the athletic department last month.

“Once I became aware of things that were offensive – offensive to me, offensive to other members of our team – [we acted],” Harbaugh said, as quoted by MLive.com. “We didn’t want that mentality.”

Glenn “Shemy” Schembechler stepped down on May 20, just days after being hired as Harbaugh’s deputy director of recruiting. The Detroit News reported at the time that Schembechler’s Twitter feed contained posts and likes of offensive material, including some suggesting slavery and Jim Crow positives to empower African-American individuals and families.

“You need to practice preparing/understanding,” read one post Shemy liked. “And yes, slavery and Jim Crow forced the black family to strive and establish businesses and cultivate a foundation of wealth for themselves and their posterity.”

Entering his ninth season as head coach at his alma mater, Harbaugh said the program outsourced the vetting to a contractor, who failed to notice the offensive social media posts.

The late Bo Schembechler (left) is pictured next to his son, Shemy (right)

Schembechler didn’t write all of the offensive tweets, but “liked” several controversial posts

“I read the report myself,” Harbaugh said. “We have a company looking into that — social media — and they came back and [cleared him]. We have a new company that does that [now]but they need to be better.

“I take responsibility for that. If someone can find that in a day, then we have to get better ourselves.’

Harbaugh played quarterback under Bo Schembechler at Michigan before moving on to an NFL career and then coaching.

Schembechler played for his father, who coached Michigan from 1969-89, and later was an NFL scout. In a statement released Sunday night, Schembechler said his life, and that of his father and family, is dedicated to bringing out the best in people, regardless of race or religion. He said he inexplicably and irresponsibly liked items on social media.

“What I do for a living is much less important than people knowing what’s in my heart and what was instilled in me from my pioneering father,” said Schembechler’s statement released by the public relations firm Rose + Allyn.

“Inexplicably and irresponsibly liking things on social media, I owe an unabashed and unequivocal apology to my hundreds of friends and fellow coaches in the black community, all communities…. Any words or philosophies that are in any way trying to downplay the immeasurable suffering and long-standing economic and social inequality that hundreds of years of slavery and the “Jim Crow” era have caused for Black Americans is wrong. I was wrong.’

Bo Schembechler talks to his quarterback Jim Harbaugh during a game in Michigan in 1984

Schembechler then apologized “effusively” to anyone he had offended, saying he hoped for “forgiveness on the basis of my extensive life’s work, and not on any moment of indiscretion.”

“We are aware of some social media comments and likes that have caused concern and pain for individuals in our community,” Harbaugh and athletics director Warde Manuel said in a statement after the youngster Schembechler stepped down. “Michigan Athletics is fully committed to being a place where our coaches, staff, and student-athletes feel welcome and where we fully support the University’s and athletic department’s commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion.”

The Schembechler family has been in the news in recent years due to a few scandals.

In addition to Shemy’s emails, there are allegations that Bo ignored sexual abuse complaints against then team doctor Robert Anderson, which allowed the doctor to abuse hundreds of men and some women between 1966 and 2003.

In January 2022, the school closed $490 million in settlements with more than 1,000 people who say they were sexually assaulted by a former sports doctor.

Anderson worked at the university from 1966 until his retirement in 2003 and served as director of the university’s health department and physician for several athletic teams, including football. A number of footballers and other athletes have come forward to accuse Anderson, who died in 2008, of sexual assault.

The issue shocked the campus, where many felt Bo could have stopped Anderson decades earlier.

In November 2021, a statue of Schembechler was vandalized with red paint and a message in support of victims of sexual assault.

The steps read in black “Bo knew” and “#hailtothevictims,” ​​a reference to the school’s fight song, “[Hail to] The victors.’

This archive photo shows Dr. Robert E. Anderson, who was accused of sexual abuse for decades

In November 2021, a statue of Bo Schembechler was defaced amid the Anderson uproar

Former Michigan football players have said they told Bo Schembechler about Anderson’s behavior during physical exams in the 1970s.

Schembechler’s other son, Matt, said he told his father that Anderson assaulted him as a child.

However, Glenn Schembechler and Harbaugh both remain skeptical that Bo knew Anderson was doing something unacceptable during exams.

Schembechler, who died in 2006, is hailed as the greatest coach of college football’s winningest program. He led the Wolverines from 1969-89, winning 194 games at the school and racking up 234 wins, including six seasons in either Miami or Ohio.