Schumacher was born to the late Albert and Mary Fier Schumacher on Dec. 26, 1952, in Cleveland. After an athletics-filled childhood in Northeast Ohio, Kurt Schumacher became a star athlete at Lorain High School. With a 6-foot-3, 200-plus-pound frame, he was recruited to play offensive line for the Buckeyes in 1971.
Over the next four years, Schumacher blocked for some of the best running backs in Ohio State history, including college football's only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, Archie Griffin, and the Buckeyes' all-time touchdown leader, Pete Johnson. In 1974, his final collegiate season, Schumacher was named a consensus All-American as Griffin captured his first Heisman.