NEW Gregg Henson article alleges ex-players signed petition to fire Brandon
Gregg Henson has published a new article on his website alleging that more than 450 former football players signed a petition and presented it to the Regents to have Dave Brandon removed.
Among other things, there's an alleged email exceprt from a "former football captain" that lists all the things the players can't stand about Brandon. If you like juicy info and potentional conspiracy theories, this piece is chock-full.
If any or all of this is true, look out, fireworks may actually start happening around the Big House.
September 26th, 2014 at 8:42 AM ^
It was calculated for his advantage as he was trying to build up his program at the expense of ours. We do go up against Stanford for some recruits who take their academics seriously. I don't think the reaction would have been as negative if he was in the NFL at the time.
September 26th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 9:23 AM ^
Maybe he's the perfect guy for the job after all.
September 26th, 2014 at 12:15 AM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 12:25 AM ^
Brandon should resign. Now. Right Now.
September 26th, 2014 at 12:32 AM ^
Went into this thinking it was gonna be a load of bullshit, but the mention of Joe Parker indicates this guy is legit.
That's a name I know people at the university covet. He is the real deal. Could have left Tech for a couple other AD gigs but is waiting for the right fit.
So yeah, there may be something to this.
September 26th, 2014 at 1:09 AM ^
Joe Parker was also a guy who was generally groan-worthy when he worked as a liason to the Victors Club donors. But, I guess, comparatively speaking to what it is now, he'd be welcome back.
September 26th, 2014 at 1:00 AM ^
at the part where he claims 2015 is our best chance to win the BIG with Hoke. Are we talking like a 2% to 2.3% jump?
September 26th, 2014 at 1:03 AM ^
Who were the 3 ADs that were highly regarded under consideration when Brandon was hired?
September 26th, 2014 at 1:07 AM ^
Warde Manuel, Brad Bates, and Jeff Long, IIRC.
September 26th, 2014 at 1:14 AM ^
Sanity check here. Would "an e-mail from a former Michigan Football Captain to the Regents at Michigan outlining the “grievances” against Brandon" include the line
Just a start boys, you and I have lots more
Nobody writes to the Board of Regents and addresses them as "boys".
Assuming for the moment that this wasn't something Henson pulled out of an orifice, isn't it more likely that it's an e-mail from one alum to others? "Just a start", a sort of angry first draft of a petition that they'll probably reconsider once they've sobered up a bit. (I mean, you have to be drunk to cc Gregg Henson on this, don't you? Unless it never was going to the Board and the point all along was to get this out to the public and rouse the rabble.)
September 26th, 2014 at 8:55 AM ^
that makes you think he didn't pull this from an oriface? How does he have "inside" information that ESPN, the Detroit papers, Sam, Beaver, TomVH... do not have?
He's Ace Williams. Nothing more, nothing less.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:42 AM ^
He doesn't have any "inside" information.
There's two possibilities here:
1. He's invented the whole thing.
2. Some pissed off alums remember him from his Michigan radio days, know he's willing, and are using him to get their anger out to the public in an attempt to fan the flames against Brandon and start pressuring the new AD, if there ever is one, to aggressively go after Miles and/or a Harbaugh.
I'm leaning towards (2) because I'm not sure he's got the imagination to pull off (1).
But the comparison to Ace maybe isn't so far off in a way. Ace gets his stuff off social media, taking whatever rumor he might find out there and passing it off as inside stuff. This "e-mail" is sort of the same--there's nothing in it that isn't already floating around out there. If a couple of angry former players have heard the same stuff we all have, it doesn't make it inside information or make any of it any more or less credible. The completely botched Gibbons/Lewan line makes me think whoever wrote this knows even less than I do and I'm not connected at all.
September 26th, 2014 at 1:14 AM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
Your last sentence is kind of perplexing. Not contacting Harbaugh could just be due to the fact that he had already settled on Hoke, for whatever reason. Bad judgement, no doubt; was he already committed to Hoke, perhaps, but ego maniac, I don't know.
However, his constant comments of him "building the brand" of Michigan athletics, particularly football, when it is already the winningest program in football and has already been build by his predecessors, yeah.
And his statement that he doesn't want to talk about the past, that he makes the future. Yeah, given the context they were made, these are statements of an ego maniac.
And these fit right in with the e-mails that he has sent that are being posted by various people.
September 26th, 2014 at 1:29 AM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 2:02 AM ^
I'm not sure how much of this I buy. However, it seems like maybe the important alumni and "Michigan Men" who want Dave Brandon gone are dangling Miles and Harbaugh as a potential catalyst to make it happen. This is an awfully dangerous game because if this does work and Dave Brandon is fired (crosses fingers), what happens if neither of the Harbaughs or Miles wants the job, then what? That's what scares me the most in all of this. Another unknown coming in to coach Michigan football when what the program really needs is a splash with a big name (both to fire up the alumni & students as well as keeping the current recruiting class mostly intact). This is going to be a longgg fall and even longer if the team continues to play as poorly as they have been against quality opponents.
September 26th, 2014 at 2:23 AM ^
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September 26th, 2014 at 5:41 AM ^
in 1984. we all signed a petition and gave it to the then-AD, don canham, to get rid of the then-coach, john giordano. unfortunately for me that was my senior year and i never got to play for red, but it sure worked out well for the team.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:34 AM ^
As somebody who has gone to just about every home hockey game since 1975, thanks!
Although I'm shocked that Canham cared enough about the hockey team to even think that this mattered. Other than when Wilf Martin retired for "health reasons" (that was a pretty lame excuse, I think), I don't think Canham ever showed the slightest bit of interest in the coaching of the hockey team.
Amazing fact: Wilf Martin's predecessor, Dan Farrell (who was reasonably successful at Michigan), retired in 1980 to go into private business--basically because he couldn't afford to remain head coach at Michigan on the salary they were paying him.
September 26th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^
and i was a bit surprised my freshman year at training camp when he wasn't there.
and as for wilf, he was a very nice guy, but lets just say the pressure got to him and there might have been a problem with the bottle.
giordano on the other hand thought he was the next herb brooks and he inherited an ungodly amount of talent (myself excluded) and crapped in the campfire in epic proportions. i used to call him 'chupamirto', which is the spanish word for humming bird. he had alligator jaws, but a hummingbird rear end, if you know what i mean.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
Where/what do you farm quiverfull?
A few years ago we moved west of Ann Arbor to an old homestead to get our kids outside more and to start raising our own food (beef, dairy, chicken, lamb, wool, etc.). It's been great for us, though for now I still run with my day job.
September 26th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
and just clicked on your tag address to 'vpfarming'. going to take me a while to go through that, but my guess is we are quite like-minded. enjoyed the pics, particularly the wonderful family stuff.
as to livestock we are the same as you, but i'd also add eggs, turkeys, some row crops and some fruit to the mix. i also built a bio-diesel reactor in the barn so we can make our own fuel, though i do buy fuel too.
we will harvest most of our turkeys and cows within the next 3 weeks. chickens (meat birds) are already raised/harvested/sold. eggs are on-going.
no chemicals on the farm, meaning our animals have no hormones, antibiotics, etc, and our crops don't depend on fertiizer and pesticide. we pasture all our livestock, including the poultry.
blessings to you and your family.
q
September 26th, 2014 at 6:02 AM ^
I have so little respect for the person(s) who wrote this based off of that. Adolf Hilter was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions. Dave Brandon is responsible for being an arrogant douchenozzle and nothing more.
It's says something about the education level of the person who wrote this that Brandon reminds them of Hitler. Clearly they have a poor graso of who Der Fuhrer was if they honestly believe that.
September 26th, 2014 at 8:57 AM ^
I'm about to say something unpopular, but I never liked the idea that it's OK to dismiss offhand everything someone says just because they brought up Hitler. People often get compared to Abraham Lincoln, too, and nobody says, well that's the end of the discussion and you're wrong because Lincoln freed the slaves and person X did only this and nothing more.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:31 AM ^
are ever compared to Abe Lincoln. The problem with comparisons to Hitler is that they are nearly always simply personal attacks. This one comes off as a childish insult, nothing more.
September 26th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
I agree with your last point, which is why I agree with Wahoo above. Comparing him to Hitler is dumb, no doubt, but it doesn't by itself negate everything else that was said. Does it call into question the judgment or intelligence of the writer? Sure. But someone with poor judgment can still be full of knowledge, correct knowledge.
September 26th, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^
Yeah, I agree - Godwin's Law exists because too many people use the comparison for the shock value, and this instance here wasn't well thought out at all. But if someone sees in Dave Brandon a megalomaniac who's been pushing people he doesn't like out of power, well, it's true there's no shortage of others who've done the same, but Hitler comes to mind a lot easier than most.
September 26th, 2014 at 6:30 AM ^
"2)Reminds me of Adolph Hitler"
Yeah, I don't think you go to the University Of Michigan Board Of Regents with this as a grievance, among others, and expect to be taken very seriously by a group of educated human beings. Actually, even without that line in there, I very much doubt something written as this is would even be considered, and the way it is presented, rightly so.
September 26th, 2014 at 6:33 AM ^
But this is juvenile. I've never seen such a toxic fan base.
And this Henson thing looks like it coulda been written by Chat Sports. People are publishing a lot of stuff now. I want more football and less drama.
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September 26th, 2014 at 6:58 AM ^
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September 26th, 2014 at 8:01 AM ^
Honestly, it sounds like he's done a phenominal job, he just hired the wrong head coach in the wrong era at the wrong FOOTBALL SCHOOL. Right? Plenty of facility renovations that everyone is elated with. He has no trouble getting donations and raising additonal funds. If Michigan's football team was in a different position (lets say reigning big ten champ) don't you think the Fireworks and drone announcements would have been dismissed as trying to entertain younger fans?
Its 8am, so excuse me if I'm totally off, etc.
September 26th, 2014 at 8:09 AM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 8:25 AM ^
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September 26th, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 8:06 AM ^
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September 26th, 2014 at 8:44 AM ^
I should also make up random crap and make money off page views.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:04 AM ^
Gregg Henson was in sports radio in Detroit for years. Ace Williams is a high school kid with a laptop.
Henson isn't exactly Woodward and Bernstein, but at least the guy worked in the local media market. And he broke the Hoke hire before anyone else did.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:17 AM ^
Your post lost any legitimacy when you compared the guy to Ace Williams.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^
Do you have a link from Henson saying that RR was on his way out and Hoke would be hired? I did a 2 minute google search and found this from December 13, 2010. I didn't bother to search, but we all knew this as of December 2010. The common thought here was that RR's fired unless he pulls off a great showing in the bowl game. No dispute.
http://gregghenson.typepad.com/gregg_hensoncom/2010/12/brady-hoke-wants…
"Hoke is a dark horse candidate to replace Rich Rodriguez at Michigan if there is a change and Harbaugh doesn't want the job. Hoke has even gone as far as to tell San Diego State that he would leave for the Michigan job."
Again, I'm saying Henson is a hack and there is no plausable way he has more "inside" information than Webb, Beaver, any of the Stretchgate writers or any of the web guys (Brian, 247, TomVH...).
He's making money by writing clickbate and using "anonymous" sources.
September 26th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 7:52 PM ^
September 26th, 2014 at 8:50 AM ^
delivered to the Regents, the emails and petitions would be subject to disclosure under the freedom of information (or public records) act. So if the same exists, then they will be available for inspection and publication. If they do not exist, then the article has little value - doesn't it.
September 26th, 2014 at 8:55 AM ^
Say what you will about Brandon, but the dude looks like a straight-up bad ass with his shades on.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:05 AM ^
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September 26th, 2014 at 9:24 AM ^
Most of the list of grievances are seriously flawed in some way.
the ridiculous:
petioning to the board of regents that the board of regents has been left out of the hiring process for coaches
complaining about how Coleman got her job in 2002
the price of hot dogs in the stadium.
alienating Schembechler boys
the flat out wrong
the scoreboard, Gibbons
Many of the rest are vague or dubious. There are legitimate things to complain about. I have to believe that any petition signed by 450 former players would bear little semblance to this list of grievances.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:43 AM ^
If you read the article, though, there are 2 things going on here: (1) A list of grievances a "former captain" mailed to the Regents, and (2) A mention of a petition signed by 450 former players.
I'm sure that item #1, as absurd as it is, actually happened. There is surely 1 person out there enraged enough to have come up with that list and e-mailed it to the Regents (copying Gregg Henson).
Item #2 (the idea that there is a petition that has been sent with 450 signatures attached) is also plausible, although 450 former players is quite a lot. What are there, about 1500 living former Michigan players? Getting 1/3 of them to sign any petition at all seems like it would be quite a task. I'm sure the petition didn't have that bizarre list of grievances. There are enough reasonable grievances to put out there, I would think.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
I'm sure that item #1 didn't actually happen either, because it includes the line "Just a start, boys." Henson's taken an e-mail sent by one former player to others and presented it as something that was sent to the Board.
September 26th, 2014 at 9:56 AM ^
I'm just saying that the e-mail by one apparently semi-deranged former player presented there could easily have been sent to the board as well. If he is furious enough to compile a list like that, surely he is furious enough to send an e-mail to the Regents (with the bizarre 'just a start boys' turn of phrase in it).
I would say, though, that Mr. Henson seems to be trying to conflate the petition and the strange e-mail by presenting the 2 items in the same article.
September 26th, 2014 at 10:30 AM ^
But how it reads to me is as the third e-mail in a series that goes something like
A (to B and C); Fuck Brandon. Let's write the Board and try to get this jerk out of there.
B: Good idea, what are we going to say?
A. Blah blah bullshit rabble mblvckd hitler. Just a start boys, you and I have lots more.
---
I have absolutely no faith in Henson's accuracy with details like whether or not the message actually went to the Board. He reminds me of one of my former bosses--I wasn't sure whether you could really say he was lying, because he had no concept of 'truth' in the first place.