national championship or two) he
raised his team's performance in a
significant way. He did it all with
an enormous amount of hard work,
dedication, enthusiasm and energy.
The man might have been a buckeye
when he arrived in Ann Arbor, but
his blood ran Maize and Blue by the
time he left the sidelines. He loved
Michigan and revitalized the "Michi-
gan Man" tradition." He always hon-
ored the coaches and players who
came before him and he ensured that
every player who completed their
eligibility had a friend for life.
The Michigan Football program
was no longer in decline. Wolver-
ine coaches and players had worked
extremely hard for 21 years to get
Michigan back where Michigan felt
it belonged — among the best! Don
Canham and Bo formed an unstop-
pable team on the field and in the
stands like Charles Baird and Field-
ing Yost in the early days of Michigan
Football. The value of the "Michigan
Football Brand" increased signifi-
cantly from 1969 to 1989 thanks to
Don Canham's marketing genius
and Bo's winning football teams. The
Michigan Athletic Department was
making more money than ever and
supporting a large number of Wol-
verine sports programs in the pro-
cess. Thanks to Bo, and his amazing
run, the Michigan Athletic Depart-
ment's "Bottom Line" was looking
good and the Wolverine Football pro-
gram was positioned for continued
greatness. ❏
Reprinted with permission of Nighten-
gale Press. For more information go to
www.nightengalepublishing.com
