Matt Schembechler calls for accountability: ‘Bo knew’

The statue peers forward, his stance aggressive. His headset in one hand and game plan in the other, he could be stalking the sideline, looking for a way to beat Ohio State. It stands in front of the building named for him – Schembechler Hall, home to the football program whose foundations are rooted in the mythology surrounding Bo Schembechler, Michigan’s most storied coach.

Twenty-seven miles to the northeast, Bo’s son, Matt, stood in front of news media members Thursday to tell the world he was sexually assaulted in 1969 by a football team doctor, told his dad about it and nothing was done.

The allegation, coupled with those from several other football players – including two on Thursday who said they told Bo about being sexually assaulted by the same doctor only to be ignored – has rocked the university already shocked by more than a year of evidence about how Dr. Robert Anderson used his position to assault hundreds of students over the course of decades. It has some wondering if it’s time to mothball Bo’s statue, much like Penn State did after discoveringits legendary football coach Joe Paterno didn’t do enough to stop one of his assistant coaches from sexually assaulting young boys.

Neither Matt nor two other former players or their lawyers called for the statue to come down but repeatedly said there must be accountability.

“Bo knew,” Matt’s attorney Mick Grewal said during the news conference in Novi. “If Bo listened to his son, these two gentlemen (Daniel Kwiatkowski and Gilvanni Johnson) would not be sitting up here today” and hundreds would not have been abused.

Matt agreed. “Anderson’s abuse was the worst-kept secret at Michigan,” he said. “Anderson was able to continue this abuse for so long because he was supported by a culture that wanted to preserve the reputation.”