Dave Brandon Signs on Through 2017-2018
Dave Brandon signed an extension taking him through the conclusion of the 2017-2018 athletic year. He gets an initial kick from $600k base salary to $800k, with automatic $50k raises each year. The maximum he can make in bonuses is now $200k, up $35k, meaning his salary plus bonus in 2018 can hit $1,250,000.
im guessing he made more being domino's CEO?
He made $3,228,000 the year before he stepped down. So, yeah, he gave up a hefty chunk of change to become AD.
http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/david-brandons-departure-from-d…
BUT ALL BRANDUMB CARES ABOUT IS MONEY AND DESTROYING TRADITION.
Damn, that's some cheese. Totally worth it if he promises not to schedule any more Thursday night games.
Bad news always comes in threes, eh?
/s
Damn it.
Prepare to enter the "Casual Male" Big "and Tall" House by 2018.
~Herm
Aw come on, this is pretty funny.
Uh. Yay. I guess.
He still needs to get the $#@! off my lawn.
I'm not a big Dave Brandon fan, but considering what's going on in the league and college football in general, I'm not sure change would be good, or desirable, until things settle down.
I know people don't like the gimicky stuff like piped in music or alternative jerseys, but Dave Brandon has:
1. Hired Brady Hoke
2. Opened up the checkbook for assistants, which is probably why were able to get Mattison from the Ravens.
3. Added varsity lacrosse
4. Has allowed a lot of renovations that were overdue and will make our facilities look awesome to recruits and fans.
I know we don't love everything he does, but in terms of the big things you want from an athletic director, hasn't he done a pretty damn good job?
What renovation projects has Brandon spearheaded? No major ones I can think of. For as bad as Martin was in many respects, he deserves full credit for the renovations at Michigan Stadium and Crisler.
For one, lacrosse is going to have the best facilities in the country. I don't think groun has been broken yet but it will be in the nest year or so.
Brandon also got the scoreboards at Michigan Stadium, Crisler and Yost. Plus isn't Yost under renovations right now?
And the upcoming upgrades to the Stadium (paint, etc.), minor sports upgrades, and Schembechler Hall.
And to celebrate, he announces new jerseys for Bama!
Why does everyone hate Dave Brandon? Look at where our football and basketballs teams are now, compared to where they were when he started. We have some of the top facilities in the nation. He's not scared to pay the assistants, which wil result in less coaching turnover. I'd say he has done a hell of a job so far.
Becuase Brian doesn't like some of the things he does and writes about it a lot - Which is fine, everyone has their own opinion - But then half the blog parrots his opinion constantly. This gives the illusion that people dont like DB, but when you talk to most Michigan fans they seem to judge him by the renovations and the Hoke hire and think he's doing a great job.
Some of us don't like seeing curly fries on the field and constant changes to the most iconic uniform in the history of college football. And for some of us even the thought of a mascot makes our agent orange act up. Some of us know the improvement on the football and basketball teams should be attributed to individuals other than DB. I do give credit to him for hiring Coach Hoke though, of course, and for paying assistants as you mentioned. The stadium renovation was not on DB's watch, and I'd throw a guess out there that the roots of the renovations currently taking place were prior to DB's watch also.
As for being a Brian parrot.....just because people agree with some of Brian's comments with respect to DB doesn't mean we're not thinking for ourselves.
From my point of view, DB cares less about Michigan's traditions than he does about making money for Michigan. Note that I am saying "cares less", not "doesn't care at all". Making money for Michigan is an admirable goal, and very important, but doing it at the expense of Michigan's traditions sucks donkey balls and isn't necessary.
Rich Rod or curly fries...hmmm
David Brandon is a Michigan alum and was a member of the football team. I'm sure he cares about tradition just as much as the rest of us. David Brandon is a business man though and realizes what needs to be done to bring Michigan to the next level. The more $$$ we make, the more we can pay our coaches, and the better our facilities will be. The better the facilities and coaching, the more attractive the school is to recruits. The better the recruits, the better chance there is to win a National Title. You have to be able to embrace change, or you will be left behind in the dust. While a Thursday game is not ideal, it will draw a huge audience and lots of attention towards Michigan. As far as ticket prices go, he might as well keep increasing them until he finds the equilibrium, because right now the demand is higher than the supply. So stop whining and get ready to watch National Championship caliber teams on both the football field and hardcourt.
"David Brandon is a business man though and realizes what needs to be done to bring Michigan to the next level."
What level do you think we're at now? Do you think Thursday night games and a mascot are going to take us "to the next level"? Get real. Great programs don't need any of this crap. Oregon needed something to draw in recruits because they had no history (as we talked about in a recent thread comparing them to USC). Michigan has history. A TON of history.
I am very happy that Brandon hired Hoke. But as much as I hated RR, I think that how DB handled that situation was very public and wrong. I hate the new uniforms every week. I hate the piped in music in the Big House. I hate having a game on Thursday? I hate the 3 million dollar billboard. I hate the cheap and classless gimmicks. We're Michigan fergodsakes, not UCF. I feel like we're a little kid who tried to cut his own hair and now the tradional schools (ND, USC, Texas, Alabama, etc...) are staring at us because we look ridiculous. A Thursday night game...
And by the time DB leaves, Michigan tickets will cost more than NFL tickets. Cripes!
As Oregon should show you, most kids could care less about tradition. Sure, some kids are drawn to that, but many are attracted to the eye candy facilities and new interactive weight rooms. But most of all, the top recruits want to win, in which having any advantage is a plus.
Let's not talk about Rich...just the handling...how was that public? If anything people complained that he was being too clandestine.
And while there are some valid objections listed there, the music was Martin and Rich. It started before DB was even there. If you want to blame him for not ending it, I guess you could.
You sure are filled with hate.
What has he done to facilitate basketball success since he took over?
Do you think Beilein firing every one of his assistant coaches and bringing in fresh blood was 100% his idea?
In the interest of peace and prosperity in the valley it is best that we dont answer that question honestly. But based on Brian's muted reaction to the 'bama uniforms and actual documented praise for Brandon's scheduling...I think Brian is actually over it.
The war is over. Everybody won. Some of us just haven't got the memo yet.
I still get the feeling this would be a hundred post thread if it hadn't been hell day for everything else.
I hated that there was no cap for people with priority pts over 50 for the cowboy classic. It resulted in my seats sucking in comparison to what I hoped for/paid for...
That said, Dave Brandon is doing a fine job. I know the internet is for stupid opinions and rabble rabble. But relax fanbase...
Great news far as I am concerned. Brandon has been one of the best AD's in recent history. The AD has grown tremendously from a facilities, marketing, and success wise.
I love most of what he's done, have no opinion on a bit of what he's done, and hate a few of the things he's done. The good far outweighs the bad. If he keeps going at the pace he is now, the athletic department will be quite the juggernaut. I'm hoping he builds up the bank account and the next AD is all about reigning in the crazy marketing schtick and building the brand without gimmicks.
and ticket increases for everyone
So Brian has six years to prepare for his interview as the next AD.
/s
Look I am in college now and I think I (decently) represent the current college student fanbase. Both of my parents went to Michigan and I have been a diehard fan since i can remember.
Here are my points:
I agree that a mascot would be awful, ridiculous, add your superlative here. But that hasn't happened yet.
I think the jerseys have been varied- some awful, some bad, some mediocre- but the players and recruits like them, and a lot of students here love them. Trust me I know lots of people who bought the UTL jerseys. If it gets us 1 extra recruit a year, thats worth it for me. My thinking is this, as long as it doesn't go overboard like Maryland (okay lets call Maryland death, 1/2 as bad as Maryland's best jerseys would be overboard?), then I would rather win. If we win BIG titles most years, beat Ohio, and compete for NC's I can choose to not see a few stripes, grey facemasks and helmet numbers.
The curly fries...unless it starts at football games. Get over it. Not a big enough deal.
The band is going now, so stop complaining. Look I realize a home and home would have been better, but this is way better than nothing. Quit complaining about weak non-conference schedules or this, but not both. I can't afford to go, but I will love watching us play a great team on tv way more than going to watch another Western game.
Since he's been here we have had great stadium renovations (not his plans but completed), Big Chill (same as renovations), Under The Lights game, created a varsity lacrosse team, completed new scoreboards for major sports, renovated Schembechler Hall (twice if I'm not mistaken), the new plan to update lots of non-revenue sports facilities, the new marquee and Scembechler hall plans released, HOKE hired, baseball coach hired, BERENSON re-signed (which as a hockey player I was shocked by), MATTISON hired as an assistant coach, was part of Nebraska joining the BIG, helped get the NCAAA away from the BCS system and even though it wasn't done exactly to our liking it also was a good compromise.
Most importantly Michigan is back. Period.
Here is my question to all of you. How much have you accomplished at work since 2010?
Overall Grade: A-
...Michgian Stadium lights to your list. That was his initiative, not Martin's.
Because you can't do the game in December without the lights.
As a new Blue I know that I am not as steeped in tradition as most of you, but it seems to me like Dave Brandon has been pretty good for the University. Tradition will carry a program for awhile, but at some point you DO have to reinvigorate tradition. He makes mistakes, but at least he acts, and mistakes like alternative uniforms and hashtags are not permanent. They will either work and attract recruits and media attention or they won't and he will move on to the next thing.
That's the key thing to remember...with a tradition like Michigan has, a few gimmicks are not going to tear it down. Having our brand gives a guy room to experiment and if bits and pieces of that experiment become something that boosts the program back into the national spotlight, then yay! If not...well, it's better than sitting on our thumbs and watching Ohio get the attention.
Make it rain Mr. Brandon. Do what you do.
2018 is a mere 14 more uniform changes away...
He's certainly an improvement over Bill Martin, who other than the coaching search debacle was a decent AD. The fact of the matter is that to compete with schools like USC, Oregon, Alabama, LSU, and OSU, we've got to focus on bringing in money and talent. Old school Schembechler approaches just don't work anymore, and it's time to come to the 21st century. Now, I'm not saying we need advertisements in the stadium, but focusing on revenue growth has to be an important part of our athletic department if we want to compete.
I expect that we'd need the help of the athletic department.
What, exactly, is the net financial benefit to our Athletic Department from the entire spectrum of "commemorative jerseys"?
The ordinary public presumption is that the various jerseys make us a lot of money; money that we might not be able to make any other way. Can we put a number on it? We'd need to be careful about figuring net-nets. That is, what amount is attributable purely to the different designs; and would not otherwise have been spent at all. I expect that the amount is pretty tiny.
"Winning" jerseys sell; losing jerseys don't. Unless you are the Chicago Cubs. Got it.
The fact that "a lot of people" bought UTL jerseys is also clear enough. I just wanted to put a number on "a lot of people." And more important, a net dollar number. If we are selling the football team's soul (or at least its on-field appearance and branding), I'd like to know what the price is.
As for our chances with Alabama; you might want to get some points. Hopefully at least you might have a "we beat the point spread" jersey.