ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The son of legendary University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler said he will come forward with evidence against his father in the case of a university doctor believed to have sexually abused hundreds of patients.
Matt Schembechler, 62, is set to speak at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 10.
According to his attorney Mick Grewal, Matt Schembechler was first abused by Dr. Robert Anderson in 1969 when he was 10 years old.
READ: Bo Schembechler’s son to offer evidence against father in case of Dr. Robert Anderson’s abuse
Grewal said when his client told his father, he went berserk, punched him in the chest and said “I am not going to hear this.” Grewal said Matt Schembechler remembered that Michigan athletic director Don Canham assured his mother Millie that he would fire Anderson but asked not by his father.
He said he was abused again at age 16 during a physical.
On Thursday, Matt Schembechler will be joined by two former Michigan football players, Daniel Kwiatkowski -- offensive tackle who played from 1977 to 1979 -- and Gilvanni Johnson -- wide receiver from 1982 to 1986.
Both men said they told Bo Schembechler about the abuse immediately. Kwiatkowski said the coach told him to “toughen up.”
Their accounts along with the hundreds of others fly in the face of what current head coach and former U of M quarterback Jim Harbaugh said to the media a few weeks ago.
“There’s nothing that was ever swept under the rug or ignored,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the Bo Schembechler that I knew.”
Former all Big Ten running back Jon Vaughn called those comments heartless and told the Free Press this week that it’s apparent to survivors of Anderson that Harbaugh is against them.
Matt Schembechler is the son of the football coach’s first wife, Millie. When they married, he became Bo Schembechler’s youngest stepson and was later adopted by him.
He said his father sent family members to Anderson because it was free, although he was not a U of M athlete.