They are the most iconic six words ever uttered by the legendary coach.
"The team. The team. The team."
Delivered in 1983 by Bo Schembechler to his football team during a speech less than 90 seconds long, the words have come to signify the Michigan football program, where no man is bigger than the program and all pull together toward a common goal. It has grown beyond a speech for football into a mantra of life.
But the concept of all pulling together has frayed considerably in the past week for members of the Michigan football family — from fans to former players, including those who played for Schembechler, as a debate rages over what the coach did or did not know about Robert Anderson, a longtime team doctor accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of student athletes over decades.