The most BPONE 2020 Michigan Coaching search scenario
There has been a lot of talk as of late about a possible coaching replacement. Harbaugh is not getting the job done, and this is the worst Michigan has looked in recent memory. Many reasons can be sited as to why this team is so bad, and maybe a new coach is the answer. While I do agree, this concerns me for a myriad of reasons. Maybe it is the new lockdowns compounded by the previous 2020 lockdowns affecting my mood. Maybe it is that I am so fully immersed in BPONE that I am thinking of getting my mail forwarded here. Maybe there is some Michigan version of the Curse of the BIlly Goat, and no matter what happens, things will not work out in Michigan’s favor. Maybe it was because I indifferently turned off the game before the end of the 1st quarter, and instead played several games of Chickapig with my kids before bedtime. Whatever the explanation, here are my thoughts on the most likely outcome of a Michigan coaching search.
Once Harbaugh is let go/quits/retires/steps down/mutually parts ways, there will be a plethora of coaching candidates examined in detail. People finally decide that the “Michigan Man” comment was not a mandate that Michigan hire someone with a Michigan connection, causing an emboldening where the A.D. is able to branch out and look for people outside of the program. After a lot of searching, they will probably decide on Luke Fickell. He understands the big ten, he has been successful, he is a good recruiter, the move to Michigan will be a step up, and he understands Ohio State and may give Michigan some advantage in the Rivalry. This is all great, and the Michigan Faithful are nervously optimistic that the program will soon be back on track.
In the meantime, candidate B, C, D, and E all either resign with their teams with a Michgian is interested bump in salary, or move on to other programs. A majority of those who are not selected by Michigan will go on to have great careers at their new schools.
At the last few days before a contract is signed, Luke Fickle will change his mind and decide to return to Cincinnati. Rumors will abound, with many clamoring that he never intended to come here, and it was a masterful troll job orchestrated by current and former OSU coaches and alumni. There are a lot of people upset about this, but there is no way to prove that it was the plan all along, while the cooler poopers proclaim from the top of their ivory towers built of championship trophies that our mothers were a hamster, and our fathers smelt of elderberries. Michigan will be left scrambling for a worthy candidate, and must settle for a B- hire. This lasts for a few years, where Michigan fans will be exactly back where we are now.
Tell me why I am wrong…
Please...
November 17th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Always you plethora and myriad in your posts.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
A man walks into a funeral and asks the widow if he can say a word, she agrees, he steps to the podium and says “plethora” and walks away. As he passes the widow she says “thanks, that means a lot”.
Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
It's time to roll the dice - Thomas Wilcher. Bring in another Michigan Man! Woohoo!!!!
(Do I need the /s?)
November 17th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
So to distill what you are assuming;
We approach 5 coaches whom leverage the Michigan offer for more money with their current teams except one
- Luke Fickell who agrees to coach here but last minute leverages the Michigan offer for more money at Cinnci and everyone goes on to great careers.
And you want us to tell us why you are wrong?
Maybe you bumped your noggin playing Chickapig?
November 17th, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
I think LF is a bad choice.
a) he is defensive oriented in a world increasingly offense dominated
b) he seems a little dense
c) he is just do damn pro Ohio
d) Urban knew him well and didn't pick him - and alas Urban seems like a sharp cookie
The only way that LF could work out is if his being scorned at OSU drives him so strongly that he makes it his mission to take them down. But that seems like a long shot to me.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:34 AM ^
In my humble opinion, Luke Fickell is not an A coaching hire.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
Have you been hitting on those newly legalized magic mushrooms? If so, you're on a bad trip, man.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:38 AM ^
I don't think Luke Fickell comes to Michigan because he's waiting for the OSU job. Day doesn't strike me as a college lifer and I think he heads to the NFL in the next few years.
I also don't see Lincoln Riley or Mario Cristobal leaving their teams to come to Michigan. We are on our third failed coach in a row and it just doesn't make sense to leave Oklahoma/Oregon to come here.
Matt Campbell is our best realistic option, so if he decides to pass for whatever reason we are in BPONE city.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
I would love it if Day left and Fickell went to OSU. I know he's done great things at Cinci, but he's still the only guy that made OSU look bad in recent history
November 17th, 2020 at 2:40 PM ^
Matt Campbell makes almost double at ISU as Mario Cristobal makes at Oregon. 5 mil a year compared to 2.6 mill a year. Offering Cristobal 6 mil should get him here.
November 17th, 2020 at 4:54 PM ^
Wow did Oregon run out of their Phil Knight money? In that case I stand corrected and agree Cristobal should be considered a realistic option.
November 17th, 2020 at 10:42 AM ^
Cool story man
November 17th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
No way U-M goes after Fickle ... dude carries a buckeye in his pocket for good luck. The question is who runs this process ? Everyone, including Warde Manuel is a lame duck. Everyone's contract expires end of 2021 season - Harbaugh, Brown, Gattis, the rest of the staff.
I think Manuel and Harbaugh get a 2-year extension to 2023 ... time to fix the situation with no major buyout options for either. My guess is that Brown and his staff are gone prior to 2021 spring ball and Gattis gets a 2-year extension.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:06 AM ^
Everyone is pining for the last guy to be an O$U assistant and small OH school HC, so why not Luke.
If I'm making a short list, frankly he's #2 behind Urban (who will likely be a candidate for USC and Texas if they're open).
And, with the way his loyalty at O$U was shoved out of the line for HC seat, I bet he'd be full of fire for that game every year.
November 18th, 2020 at 4:48 AM ^
He wasn’t shoved out of line, he decided to take a HC job at a really good g5 school and then 2 years later Ohio State decided to hire internally, Fickell was never spurned
But if Fickell has bad blood with anyone, it’s probably Michigan after the way they handled the James Hudson transfer in 2019...
November 18th, 2020 at 9:40 PM ^
He was the guy that was there to pick up the pieces on the vest debacle, has to be "the guy that lost that game" in the last 20 years, though barely. Didn't he get pushed to co-DC? Then passed by the OC with the new car smell as the heir apparent? I wouldn't be surprised if he felt like they treated him poorly.
And Michigan didn't do that, JH did. There's some FUQ in taking the guy's job because he couldn't do it.
I think he's a legit candidate.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:09 AM ^
Give Chris Petersen whatever he wants. He's the John Beilein of football. Like Beilein did with hoops, he could successfully transition football away from an obsession about the 80s and 90s and modernize the program. That's what he did at Washington, which is a similar program and university.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
Honestly, Petersen isn't even in my top 5. I mean, he's good on paper--he had one great year at Washington in 2016 and made it to the playoff and a few pretty good seasons record-wise, but the guy literally resigned due to stress. If he couldn't handle stress at Washington in a much easier conference, how do you expect him to handle the immense amount of pressure to win at Michigan in a much harder conference? Nothing against him personally, I just don't ultimately think he'd even want the job.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^
There's a decent chance that he's got a nice set up at UW and wouldn't leave it. The stress thing is real, but there's also talk that he pulled a Bo Ryan and retired to ensure that the person he wanted in charge after him got the job.
But you're wrong about the one good season. He won 2 conference titles and played for three of them. He's won 7 conference titles overall. What always bothered me about Hoke and Harbaugh is that they've never actually won that many conference titles. Hoke had zero and Harbaugh only had San Diego.
I hope whomever we hire has won his conference.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:10 AM ^
The most BPONE is that Harbaugh stays for the rest of his contract.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:15 AM ^
Make Gattis HC, give him a similar contract to what what Juwan got and give him a couple years to see what you get. If I am going to take a shot at a new coach, let’s try the up and coming new coach already on staff. I am POSITIVE Gattis does not currently have the keys to this offense.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
I agree - if he does have the keys, we have been bamboozled. The play calling SCREAMS Harbaugh.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
And if he does have full control of playcalling you are set back another 5 years. Im', sorry but I'd have to have somebody with HC experience and the connections to bring in a really good staff. IMO guys like Gattis haven't been around long even to establish enough connections to do that.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:20 AM ^
because Money talks and bullshit walks.
Fickle is not turning down being made a top 5 highest paid coach in CFB to go to 4.2 million a year at Cinci.
November 18th, 2020 at 4:23 AM ^
It’s not like Fickell has casual Ohio State connections, he was directly connected to the program for 20 years and has never lived outside of Ohio.
He’s as Buckeye as it gets and that will be the reason he turns UM down. Especially considering that he’s going to be getting other big time offers elsewhere.
Also, I find it hard to believe that UM would offer Saban/Dabo/Meyer money to a good, not great, group of 5 HC that has yet to win a conference championship. Especially considering that it’s the middle of a pandemic and most schools are on a budget crunch
November 17th, 2020 at 11:23 AM ^
What about Jim Leonhard ?
November 17th, 2020 at 12:04 PM ^
But he's a "Wisconsin Man."
November 17th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
Chris Petersen or Tony Annese
November 17th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
You must be an OSU troll by spelling Michigan wrong. They have this thing called spell check!! No way Fickell comes to AA.
November 17th, 2020 at 11:37 AM ^
Is Bob Stitt still the hotness?
What about Chris Creighton?
James Franklin?
Pat Fitzgerald?
David Cutcliffe?
chip Kelly?
Adam Gase?
bill cowher?
bo Pelini?
frank solich?
November 17th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
Since the first two options will inevitably turn down the job, give me Lance Leipold from Buffalo as a dark horse.
Barry Alvarez coaching tree, won a ton of titles at WI-Whitewater, builds good culture. Would be a Beilein type guy.
November 17th, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
Only knock is age. I'm a big fan of his and I think he could do great things here. Plus would love to see a D3 guy make it to the mountain top.
November 17th, 2020 at 8:17 PM ^
He's the same age as Jim Harbaugh 56, has no P5 experience so is a complete unknown at recruiting and he's 32-32 over the last six seasons at Buffalo.
So he could pick up right where Harbaugh left off without missing a beat.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
In another post, I said we need to lose the Michigan arrogance. This is an example of what I have in mind. Let's drop all our preconceptions about what kind of coach we need or who we should hire. Listen to the candidates about what their goals for the program would be and how they would go about reaching them; then pick the best one.
For the current staff, we gain nothing by firing Harbaugh before the end of the regular season. All that would do is confirm to the rest of CFB we are as desperate as we appear. Let them finish the season, but Warde has to meet with Jim, and tell him that it appears he has lost the team. How does he plan to address that and what does he think he can accomplish on the field this year to set up next year? What's the plan for the following seasons? Tell Harbaugh he has the regular season to prove he hasn't lost the team, and to show some progress. If not, he can either resign, or get fired after the OSU game.
In the meantime, the AD needs to very quietly approach a list of candidates (as varied as possible) and ask that IF we are starting a search for a HC in December, would you be interested in talking then? IF SO, we want to hear your ideas for what you would do and what you would change.
The brutal fact is that the Michigan Athletic Dept and program insiders have not a clue on how to hire a HC. Since 2000, they have tried just about every HC approach they or we can conceive of: stay the course with Carr, hire the hot coach with the revolutionary system (RichRod), the Michigan man (Hoke), and the platonic ideal combining everything we want (Harbaugh). Every one has ended in humiliation if not disaster. It's time to shut up and listen.
Warde needs to tell Harbaugh or HC candidates that they need to tell us what their course of action (COA) would be. No more BS traditions or preferences. The only two non-starters would be: (1) we aren't using steroids or other PEDs; (2) all our athletes will get an education in some form or fashion; no "eligibility majors." LISTEN to them all; pick the best one; give him (or her!) a free hand do their COA.
As I said, we should be like Chris Evans. Shut up and take our medicine. We should also have his attitude.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
This thread is just loaded with bad takes.
I’ll just say I want a young, over-achieving P5 or G5 coach who is known for attention to detail and upsetting more talented teams. That list is...
1. Luke Fickell
2. Matt Campbell
3. Tom Allen
4. Chris Kleiman
November 17th, 2020 at 12:28 PM ^
none of this matters if the administration can't move beyond the whole "Michigan Man" mentality.
You know what that mentality has gotten you?
-0 conference championships since 2004
-0 wins against OSU since 2011
-0 National Championships since 1997
-0 Playoff appearances
the most wins in college football means nothing if it's been 20+ years without anything meaningful to show for it.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
Nobody can disagree with this though. Take Harbaughs resume pre Michigan and put it against Fickells. Got damn if there isn't a shocking discrepancy. I love me some Michigan but its damn hard to achieve expected results at this University at the game of football. As a 5 star recruit or a 5 star coach.
November 17th, 2020 at 12:58 PM ^
Luke Fickell ain’t it. If we do move on from Harbaugh, I hope he wouldn’t even be near the list of potential candidates.
To calm your fears though, I don’t believe the scenario you’re concerned about is at all possible. Ohio state alums/boosters/fans aren’t anywhere near smart enough to come up with a plan even as simple as that one.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^
As Bacon tweeted after the game, Harbaugh is not getting fired.
Schlissel will only get involved in football dealings IF there is a problem that comes across his desk. He doesn't like football. He doesn't care about football. The only time he's sticking his nose in it is if he's forced to.
Warde isn't firing Jim because:
- There's been virtually zero off-field issues
- Players are graduating (mostly from LS&A <and not with a massively misunderstood General Studies degree>)
- The athletic department makes money
As long as those three things continue on the same path, Jim has a job for as long as he wants it.
November 17th, 2020 at 5:48 PM ^
We’ll see what the season ticket cancellation ratio is before I’d say that.
November 17th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
Wow. We are already at the fan fiction portion of the coaching search. I thought we'd have to wait a bit longer.
It's one thing to discuss possible candidates and the likelihood they would take the job. When you are fantasizing about conspiracy theories during a hypothetical coaching search that you've fully played out in your mind, it might be time to take a step back.
November 17th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
Tony Annese should be in this convo but he has some baggage
November 17th, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^
"Warde isn't firing Jim because:
- There's been virtually zero off-field issues
- Players are graduating (mostly from LS&A <and not with a massively misunderstood General Studies degree>)
- The athletic department makes money
As long as those three things continue on the same path, Jim has a job for as long as he wants it."
That's EXACTLY right. Prior to COVID tickets for the 2020 season were climbing. The graduation rate under Harbaugh is among the highest in the NCCA. Harbaugh hasn't been arrested. That's all the University higherups (i.e. Warde's bosses) care about.
November 17th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^
you're wrong
November 17th, 2020 at 3:14 PM ^
NO LUKE FICKEL
I'D RATHER EAT A PICKLE
JUST HIT ME WITH A SICKLE
I'LL GIVE YOU A SHINY NICKLE
AND A FUNNLY LITTLE TICKLE
NO LUKE FICKLE
November 17th, 2020 at 3:14 PM ^
INFOLINKS SUCKS FICKLE!
November 17th, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
Whoever we hire needs to bring Mike Hart with them. He would be an awesome recruiter for us. I think he will make a great head coach someday.
November 17th, 2020 at 3:51 PM ^
If this didn't happen on the Simpson's show, it won't happen in real life.