Jay Greeson: 5-at-10: Schembechler and Michigan's mess, Goodbye, Newman, College's next problem

Jun. 10—Say it ain't so, Bo

Bo Schembechler is one of those names in college football.

An icon from the days when legends were forged over decades and demeanor.

There are a few that we all recall, and Schembechler is one of them.

Now, as reports circulate that Schembechler knew and turned a blind eye toward the hundreds of alleged molestations of then-team doctor Robert Anderson, that legacy is forever scrapped.

To make matters even worse is the confirmation from Schembechler's son, who says he was abused 52 years ago by Anderson and that Bo knew about the abuse and did nothing.

Nothing. To protect his own son, never mind the hundreds of others who were abused.

In fact, according the details released late Wednesday night, the AD at the time when Matt Schembechler made the allegations against Dr. Anderson was prepared to fire him immediately, but Coach Schembechler convinced the AD to keep Dr. Anderson in his position — where he went on to molest hundreds in his 37 years working for the university.

Oh my.

This is the most damning turn in the report produced into the allegations that last month claimed Schembechler and other U of M officials were aware of the complaints against Anderson and did nothing to try to stop him.

Last week, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who played for Schembechler, voiced support for his former coach, who died 15 years ago.

"He never procrastinated on anything," Harbaugh said. "He took care of it before the sun went down. That's the Bo Schembechler that I know. There's nothing that ever was swept under the rug or ignored."

Apparently, we didn't know Bo. Any of us.

What happened

Growing up in Smyrna, there was an all-world linebacker there in the late 1970s named Daryl Purvine. Legend has it he was credited with every tackle in a game in his senior year in 1979. He went to Alabama to play for the Bear, before injuries and life got in the way.

I wonder sometimes about how the can't-miss prospects cope when they miss.

That thought ran through my mind Wednesday, too, when I saw the transaction blurb that Jamie Newman was cut by the Eagles.

Wow, that kid got some wicked bad advice at almost every turn.

Remember when Newman transferred from Wake Forest to Georgia and was instantly among the Heisman Trophy favorites on the Vegas boards?

Then COVID happened, and Newman was among the dozens of players across the country who opted out of the 2020 season and went undrafted.

All of this for a dude who in his final year at Wake was tremendous and would have almost assuredly been drafted if he entered the 2020 draft.

And the hits just keep on coming

We have had several folks ponder aloud around these parts about the future of college sports and the changes that NIL will jump start.

It's a collection of educated guesses, of course, and the only thing we know for certain is that Mark Emmert and his band of misfit clowns will somehow bungle whatever issue with which they are faced.

Right? Right.

But, as the need for more increases — more money, more 5-stars, more facilities — for the powerhouses causes the circle of sharing to continue to shrink, here comes the next wave of bad news.

College enrollment is dropping at the fastest clip in more than a decade.

Granted a majority of that drop is at community colleges — which seems kind of puzzling to me — but if this trend continues, the already strapped budgets of universities everywhere will continue to be pinched.

We asked earlier this week who had the harder job locally, our police chief or our school superintendent. I would lean toward the Chief, for some of the reasons some of you touched on, including the sad public perception a lot of our society has on our police.

But I also believe that leading a college or university right would feel like paddling your leaky kayak upstream in the Tennessee River.

This and that

— The video clips of the nurse trying to prove that the vaccine makes people magnetic by sticking a key to the side of her face was made for the interwebs. In fact, that felt like an SNL skit, you know, back when SNL was funny.

— So TCU is going to quit using the term "Freshman/freshmen" to promote gender inclusivity. Yes, seriously. UNC and Yale have already made similar moves. But Penn State is doing away with all of the traditional class designations — freshman, sophomore, junior and senior — because "they follow a traditional male naming convention." Penn State also will replace all pronouns in course material and replace the he's and she's with they/them/theirs and focus on non-gendered terms like staff and student.

— Which way on a Thursday: Which sports story is less interesting to you, LeBron changing numbers or the next chapter in the Aaron hates Green Bay series? Discuss.

— Braves played. Braves lost. Knew that one was going the other way when they had the bases loaded and no one out in the third and did not score.

Today's questions

Which college football player did you think was can't miss until he missed?

And while we're here, and for Spy, because I know he is one of Spy's all-time favorites, if former Georgia Tech QB Joe Hamilton was playing right now, he'd be a first-round pick in the draft. Book that.

AS for today, June 10, let's review.

The Sopranos finale aired on this day in 2007. I loved it. I know not everyone did.

John Gotti died on this day in 2002.

Elizabeth Hurley is 56 today. And looks 26 on social media.

Dan Fouts is 70 today. Underrated QB for my money.

Judy Garland would have been 99 today.

Rushmore of mother-daughter celebrity tandems, and does Garland and Liza Minnelli make it?

Go and remember the mailbag.