Reset the “Days without embarrassment for Michigan athletics” counter back to zero.
Saturday night, Michigan confirmed the resignation of Glenn “Shemy” Schembechler, who had been hired just days earlier as an assistant director of recruiting after years as an NFL scout. The reason was scores of racist and offensive likes on his Twitter account, which were shared publicly by other Twitter users immediately upon his hiring.
It’s yet another controversy in Ann Arbor, one of several over the past year that span from a sexual abuse scandal to bullying in the hockey program to the actions of various players and coaches. But this one was the easiest to avoid and makes one question what the people in charge were thinking. It’s not hard to find someone’s Twitter likes.
Among the tweets “liked” by Schembechler included one claim that slavery and Jim Crow laws were good for Black people, one tweet that compared a member of Congress to an African tribe, many transphobic comments and numerous political conspiracies involving the Black Lives Matter movement and the election.
After the initial reveal of screenshots, someone went through the account to attempt to remove some of the likes. It wasn’t enough to save his job. The account was disabled Saturday.
Whether or not Schembechler was to have a player-facing recruiting role or an analytical role, having someone who interacts with the notion that slavery was good around a team full of Black players cannot happen. Will Harbaugh feel any need to address that with his team? (The same question goes for the Las Vegas Raiders, who employed Schembechler for four years before firing him in February).
Schembechler released a lengthy statement on Sunday night in which he said he “inexplicably and irresponsibly” liked the posts. It was a well-written apology distributed through a P.R. group. It just didn’t square at all with the Twitter activity that went back months. The fact he needed to clarify in the statement that Jim Crow laws were bad kind of says it all.
There are only a few potential explanations for how this happened, and all of them are inexcusable for Michigan:
- The school did a background check and didn’t discover the likes, which makes for a terrible background check.
- The school did a background check, found the likes and hired him anyway.
- The school didn’t do a background check and let Jim Harbaugh hire whoever he wanted.
No matter the answer, it’s another embarrassing moment for Michigan. Especially because Schembechler’s extreme and inflammatory political beliefs were not a secret to many who followed Michigan football closely.
“We are aware of some comments and likes on social media that have caused concern and pain for individuals in our community,” Harbaugh and athletic director Warde Manuel said in a joint statement. “Michigan Athletics is fully committed to 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, equity and inclusion.”
That’s not an apology nor acknowledgment of error on the part of Michigan, and Schembechler was even given the grace of it being labeled a “resignation.”
Separate from the appalling social media activity, hiring Bo Schembechler’s son in the first place was an insult to the hundreds of former Michigan athletes who came forward in recent years alleging sexual abuse by former team doctor Robert Anderson. Many of those players claimed Bo and athletic director Don Canham knew of Anderson’s behavior and didn’t stop it.
One of those survivors who alleged abuse by Anderson and knowledge by Bo was Matt Schembechler, Bo’s adopted son and Shemy’s stepbrother. Shemy was among those who defended his father.
The Anderson scandal resulted in a $490 million settlement between the school and more than 1,000 survivors last September.
Other than the settlement money, there has been little to no attempt to further amend for the past. The Michigan football building is still named Schembechler Hall. The statue of Bo still stands. Both are symbols of defiance, that Michigan’s winning history matters most, that Bo’s ultimate legacy cannot be tainted and that the former Bo players who currently lead the football team and the athletic department don’t believe that should change.
Harbaugh and Manuel continued to praise Bo amid the Anderson scandal’s unfolding. Manuel spoke of Bo’s “integrity” and “belief in doing things the right way” in 2022, while adding, “We are all fallible.” Harbaugh said in 2021, following allegations against Bo, that his former coach would never have looked the other way about it.
That comment from Harbaugh led one of his teammates, Gilvanni Johnson, to come forward to say he had also told Bo about abuse from Anderson. Johnson played with Harbaugh at Michigan from 1983 to 1986 and said it was a common joke among players to refer to Anderson as “Dr. Anal.” Johnson said he was worried he’d lose his scholarship if he brought it up to Bo a second time.
Michigan’s leadership hoped everyone upset with the continued honoring of Bo would simply move on and forget about it. Many did. Until Harbaugh’s haughtiness led him to bring another Schembechler back into the building. Had the social media likes not been discovered, Michigan football would continue to move forward in hopes of everyone remembering Bo for his Big Ten championships and his slogans.
And again, this is just the latest in a string of embarrassments and scandals around Michigan athletics in the last year.
The Shemy Schembechler affair comes less than a year after Michigan parted ways with hockey coach Mel Pearson following numerous allegations of a toxic culture that included mistreating women, bullying and retaliating against players, and violating COVID-19 safety protocols.
After the school hired a new coach, Pearson was still allowed to attend Michigan hockey games, where he could watch those same players he bullied. He was interviewed from the stands on the Big Ten Network during a game, something the athletic department said it was unaware would happen and would be addressed with the broadcast.
In October, running back Donovan Edwards retweeted an anti-Semitic tweet involving a Kanye West clip. Edwards later apologized and claimed it was a “glitch.” University regent Jordan Acker said Edwards and the team would visit a Holocaust museum.
In December, it was discovered that defensive tackle Mazi Smith had been charged with a gun felony in October during a traffic stop for speeding. Michigan defended its decision not to suspend Smith, even as Harbaugh had called for criminal charges for Michigan State players following the stadium tunnel fight. The shooting of multiple Virginia football players in November also highlighted the seriousness of the issue. Smith’s charge was reduced to a misdemeanor in a plea deal.
And in January, Michigan received a draft of a Notice of Allegations for potential NCAA recruiting violations, including a Level I violation against Harbaugh. That same month, co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss was fired for “computer access crimes,” which included inappropriately accessing computer accounts belonging to other people.
These situations are not all equal in their level of seriousness, but they continue a pattern of controversy.
The past few years have been a return to glory for Michigan football, coming off consecutive College Football Playoff appearances, Big Ten championships and wins against Ohio State. Even as Harbaugh has flirted with the NFL twice in two years — the second time notably led his president to make public statements while Manuel did not — Harbaugh has remained and the Wolverines could be a national championship favorite this fall.
But leadership around the program and department continues to fall short in certain areas, leading to these troubling moments. Harbaugh or Manuel will at some point be asked publicly about the decision to hire Shemy Schembechler. There is no good answer as to how and why it happened.
Whether the lack of awareness of Schembechler’s social media was accidental or willful ignorance, either option is a horrible look, and it continues to project the image that maintaining the Bo Schembechler legacy is worth any pain and embarrassment that comes with it.
(Top photo of Jim Harbaugh (right) and Michigan AD Warde Manuel: Adam Ruff / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
