Bo Schembechler, who became one of college football's great coaches in two decades at Michigan, died Friday after taping a TV show on the eve of the Wolverines' No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with perennial rival Ohio State. He was 77.

Michigan coach Bo Schemechler reacts on the sideline during the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl college football game against Southern California in this Jan. 1, 1990 file photo in Pasadena, Calif. At right is assistant coach Gary Moeller. Schembechler, the winningest coach in Michigan football history, died Friday, Nov. 17, 2006, after collapsing during the taping of a television show, according to three Detroit TV stations. He was 77. (AP Photo/Dough Sheridan)

Schembechler collapsed during the taping of a television show in Southfield and was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. His death at 11:42 a.m. was confirmed by Mike Dowd, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office in Oakland County.

Schembechler became ill at the studios at WXYZ-TV in Southfield, the station said. He also became ill there and was hospitalized Oct. 20.

Police were sent to the station around 9:25 a.m. along with the city's fire department and escorted an ambulance to Providence Hospital, Southfield police spokesman John Harris said.

Schembechler met with the media earlier this week to discuss Saturday's big game.

During the news conference, he discussed the device that was implanted to regulate his heartbeat after he was hospitalized last month.

He said the device covered about half his chest and that doctors still were adjusting it.

Schembechler said he did not plan to attend the game in Columbus, Ohio, and that he didn't attend road games anymore.

Schembechler had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl in 1970 and another one in 1987. He has had two quadruple heart-bypass operations.

The seven-time Big Ten coach of the year compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89. Schembechler's record in 26 years of coaching was 234-64-8.

Schembechler's Wolverines were 11-9-1 against the Buckeyes. But fans in both states generally agree that the rivalry's prime years were 1969-78, when Schembechler opposed his friend and coaching guru, Woody Hayes. Ohio State prevailed in those meetings, going 5-4-1.

"It was a very personal rivalry," Earle Bruce, who succeeded Hayes as coach, once said. "And for the first and only time, it was as much about the coaches as it was about the game.

"Bo and Woody were very close because Bo played for Woody at Miami of Ohio, then coached with him at Ohio State. But their friendship was put on hold when Bo took the Michigan job because it was the protege against mentor."

Thirteen of Schembechler's Michigan teams either won or shared the Big Ten championship. Fifteen of them finished in The Associated Press Top 10, with the 1985 team finishing No. 2.
Seventeen of Schembechler's 21 Michigan teams earned bowl berths. Despite a .796 regular-season winning percentage, his record in bowls was a disappointing 5-12, including 2-8 in Rose Bowls.
The mythical national championship eluded Schembechler, but he said that never bothered him.

"If you think my career has been a failure because I have never won a national title, you have another thing coming," Schembechler said a few weeks before coaching his final game. "I have never played a game for the national title. Our goals always have been to win the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl. If we do that, then we consider it a successful season."

His last game as Wolverines coach was a 17-10 loss to Southern California in the 1990 Rose Bowl. One week later, Schembechler — who also had been serving as Michigan athletic director since July 1988 — was named president of the Detroit Tigers.