What It Means to Be a Wolverine

Taking a decade-by-decade approach to the University of Michigan football tradition, this collection brings together over 40 stories from the most outstanding voices of the program. The spirit of Wolverines football is not captured by just one phrase, one season, or one particular game; instead, the student-athletes and coaches who made the magic happen over the decades blend their experiences to capture the true essence of their beloved school. Michigan fans will relish the intimate stories told by the figures they have come to cherish.

Michigan football is many things. It's 111,000 fans crowding into hallowed Michigan Stadium. It's the famed winged helmet. It's Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler, Tom Harmon, Gerald Ford, Bennie Oosterbaan, Rick Leach, and Bo Schembechler. It's the rousing strains of "Hail to the Victors." It's the sublimity of a brisk, sun-splashed autumn Saturday in Ann Arbor. But most of all it's the utter dependability of an institution that delivers success as regularly as the leaves change colors in southeastern Michigan. Regardless of the decade, the coach, the players, changes to the rules, or social and political upheaval, the University of Michigan Wolverines win on the gridiron-40 conference titles, 34 bowl game wins, 11 national championships, and not one coach in its history with a losing record.

What It Means to Be a Wolverine brings together many of the greatest and most significant men who have donned the maize and blue to share their memories of playing and coaching at the University of Michigan. Many schools tout their football tradition, but very few possess a history as rich and varied as Michigan's. The compelling and heartfelt stories and reminiscences of the men included in this book illustrate that vividly.

What It Means to Be a Wolverine includes Gerald Ford, who captained Michigan to two national championships in the early thirties and later became president of the United States; Bump Elliot, who played in a Rose Bowl for UM and coached the Wolverines to one as well; Ron Kramer, who starred at Michigan and then went on to write a bestselling book about his time with the Green Bay Packers; Jim Brandstatter, who played on Bo Schembechler's first team, went to the Rose Bowl, and is now the radio voice of the Wolverines; Rick Leach, a four-year starter at quarterback who led Michigan to three Rose Bowls and an Orange Bowl; Lloyd Carr, who coached UM to a national championship in 1997; and the incomparable Bo Schembechler, who over two decades returned Michigan to its exalted status in college football.

What It Means to Be a Wolverine is unlike any book ever published about Michigan football. It gets at the essence of what it means to be a "Michigan Man," what it means to play or coach at a school with a 112-year winning tradition, and what it means to be affiliated with the best football college has to offer.

Kevin Allen has been writing about hockey at every level for over two decades. He is the author or coauthor of numerous sports books, including Without Fear. He is the president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. He lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Nate Brown is a writer and author. Art Regner is a sports radio broadcaster and author who has been on the Detroit sports airwaves with WDFN and WXYT for over a decade. He is a coauthor with Kevin Allen of What it Means to Be a Red Wing. He lives in Detroit, Michigan. Bo Schembechler is a retired head football coach for the University of Michigan. Under his leadership, the team won over 10 Big Ten Conference titles and he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year six times. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach. He lives in the Detroit area.