Ramzy article. Good read.
This is my first forum post. I was strolling through Elevenwarriors, I found this gem:
Ramzy is my favorite writer over there. This was a good read (buckeye tilt warning).
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/college-football/2014/10/41405/the-enemy-…
"..Maybe you enjoy seeing Michigan's struggle, but this type of unthinkable decline is capable of happening anywhere - especially at our favorite ivory tower. All it requires is unchecked power in the hands of the wrong goddamn person guarded by influential people supporting him or her for all the wrong reasons."
October 8th, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^
Ed-Ace: Deleted the entire content of this post. Please don't cut-and-paste entire articles from other sites. If you can't bring yourself to click over to our friends at 11W, then don't read 11W.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^
Dude, don't do that. It's incredibly rude.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:02 PM ^
I see the error in my ways, and I will govern myself accordingly
October 8th, 2014 at 3:05 PM ^
a professional courtesy.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
MGoBlog could theoretically get in legal trouble for that.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
+1 I believe that to be legal gray area (limited legal knowledge notwithstanding).
However your concerns are valid and I will note it.
The relationship is strong; there has been all kinds of cooperation and crosspromotion before. It's not like anyone is going to sue this site, it's just insulting and ethically shitty for commenters to copy/paste entire articles.
October 8th, 2014 at 6:04 PM ^
You should give Dave Brandon some lessons on managing feedback.
October 8th, 2014 at 7:12 PM ^
Nah, you should have just put out a press release that said anybody correcting you was mean to kittens.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
Any chance I get to knock Herbie, I do.
I truly think that he cost us Les Miles by reporting that it was a done deal, when Les wanted a lid on it. I think this leak pissed Les off so he held the press conference before the game stating that none of it was true.
Not that I can prove any of this, and that the course of things would be different now, but just my opinion.
October 8th, 2014 at 7:46 PM ^
he never wanted him in the first place so the leak was moot point anyway.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:22 PM ^
the turnover (even if it was a BS flag).
October 8th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^
Blah blah blah...we've had some bad head coaching hires. End of story. The "institutional vanity" bullshit is just a convenient way for Ramzy to take several shots at Michigan while presenting almost zero factual context. In other words, it's a typical Ramzy article.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
...then all is good in Camelot?
October 8th, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 8th, 2014 at 3:13 PM ^
Of course not, but if we had made a good coaching hire, all those problems would not be here today. When Hoke was hired, the national media and most of the Michigan fanbase considered it a solid though not spectacular hire. Stewart Mandel gave it a A-, TheBigLead gave it an A, Schlabach called it "the right fit for the Wolverines," etc. That was wrong, he failed here, and that directly caused or contributed heavily to just about every other problem on Ramzy's list.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
Or all those things that Ramzy described are why we hired a sub .500 MAC coach because he was a "Michigan Man".
October 8th, 2014 at 3:26 PM ^
Yes, some of the rationale for hiring Brady Hoke was his past connections to the program, but that's not exactly uncommon in coaching searches, and he was a fairly attractive candidate at a time when Michigan was looking for stability and a rebuilt image after the Rich Rod mess.
With no connections, does he get the job? Probably not, and that's something our future Athletic Director needs to address by giving less weight to that particular trait. But all this stuff about arrogance, vanity, corporitization, administrative salaries, poltics, etc. is just a bunch of noise. Bottom line: Hire a better coach.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:26 PM ^
No it's not. Read Third and Long -- all those problems beginning with the hiring of RR are laid out quite nicely.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:42 PM ^
With no connections, his name isn't even brought up.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
Okay, so we have a bad AD who made a bad decision based on poor criterion. It happens to other places too.
I just don't get why even though every major program has periods when they are down for 5-10 years, Michigan's MUST be caused by some deeply ingrained, widespread problems among the fans, administrators, and coaches.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^
Where does he blame anyone other than the regents and the AD?
October 8th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^
Even bringing the regents into this is ridiculous. Ramzy calls them "complicit in allowing him to consolidate power and balloon spending." Huh? What power has Brandon been given that previous ADs have not? How are the regents supposed to control Brandon's discretion over the department budget? And what do the regents or Brandon have to do with Gibbons and Morris?
The entire article can be summed up as follows: David Brandon sucks and that's why Michigan sucks, now here are a whole bunch of other unrelated bad things about Michigan that I'm tossing in under the blanket of a made-up phrase.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^
Again, read Third and Long. The internal politics and BS went after RR from the get go because he wasn't the right fit. It's why this program is viewed with such toxcity and outsiders are viewed with contempt. Brandon is part and parcecel of that culture. Remember "I'm the kind of man who knows what it takes to be a Michigan Man"? Ya, that's not just a Brandon problem -- it's a problem pervasive throughout the AD and amongst its nature supporters. This isn't a case of a bad decision -- we're here because of the culture. Lots of people wanted a Michigan Man -- well you got two of them now.
October 8th, 2014 at 5:45 PM ^
These are exactly the kind of generalities I'm talking about. "Internal politics," "BS," "toxicity," and my personal favorite - "culture." Without specifics, they're just cliches. I look at Michigan's problems and I see two things. One, a head coach who knew nothing about defense and didn't hire the right guy to help him. Two, a bad AD putting too much weight on personal connection. Everything else is just a symptom of those two decisions made by those two people.
October 8th, 2014 at 6:44 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
There is no book called Third and Long about Michigan football.
I am also a little confused why you seem to have so much animosity and disdain for anyone associated with Michigan. Can you explain that to me?
October 8th, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^
Three and Out -- sorry I was mixing up my JUB book titles.
Not sure which orifice you pulled that accustation out of, but I only have animosity towards Dave Brandon, who is a blithering idiot and an empty suit and Brady Hoke, who is incompotent at his job.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:55 PM ^
Lots of people wanted a Michigan Man -- well you got two of them now.
Your words. Not mine.
Maybe you would like to clarify your remarks to suggest that you are disdainful of Dave Brandon and Brady Hoke because you view them as incompetent not because they are Michigan Men.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:06 PM ^
but I do get your point WRT the "Michigan Man" obsession and politics. However,
RR wasn't a good fit for the University of Michigan. He just wasn't. He may be a great football coach, but he just didn't fit in... I mean, Josh MF Groban, goblue20111?
You mention "3 and Out." (Not Third and Long!). Did we set RR up for success in Ann Arbor? The school could have done more to acclimate Rich Rod into the culture, yes. But I do not think the same mistake will happen again. I like Dr. Schlissel, and I trust his leadership right now.
Bottom line: DB is a very polarizing AD. There is no gray matter... But there is NO toxic culture at the school. Did you forget how electric Crisler Center was last season?
Dave Brandon had an opportunity to get in line behind Yost, Crisler, Canham and Schembechler as the greatest AD's in Michigan's history. And frankly, he sort of Forrest Gump'ed his way to the position. But in the end, Dave Brandon fucked our football team up because he's a big giant douche.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:45 PM ^
"Okay, so we have a bad AD who made a bad decision based on poor criterion [sic]."
You seem to forget that Dave Brandon didn't come to Michigan until 2010 - Rich Rod was under attack for various perceived slights against "Michigan Man" culture long before then. So Brandon is certainly the most visible and powerful proponent of the "poor criterion" that got Hoke hired, but he's not the only one. That crowd existed before he came to Michigan, and at least part of it will probably survive his departure.
Heck, even Brandon's hiring was a sign of that culture - how else does a guy with zero AD experience get that job at Michigan without his membership card in the "Bo's Boys" club?
October 9th, 2014 at 6:11 AM ^
Well, its probably because RichRod had great success at WVU and now he's enjoying success at Arizona. Seems to prove he actually is a good coach. How do you explain the trainwreck that was his tenure at UofM? Maybe there was too much BS, political infighting, lack of leadership in the Athletic Dept, or who knows, maybe bad recruiting, no player development....oh wait, I guess the same could be said today of Hoke.
Let me just say this, UofM needs to go hire a PROVEN winner, period. No more of these HC's who have one good year and all the sudden are some sort of genius. Go get Jim Harbaugh and pay him what he needs. Its the fastest solution out of this mess.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
Yes, connections should put you over the hump when you're on equal footing with the other candidates. Nothing wrong with familiarity.
But when you get a job based on connections when you're credentials shouldn't get you in the parking lot, it's a problem.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:10 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 8:34 PM ^
"shoulda coulda woulda's" ...
I felt excited about both Rich Rod's and Hoke's hiring, but it doesn't change where we are today. We can and will recover from this.
In 1987 Ohio State finished 4-4 in the B1G, and Earle Bruce was shown the door.
In 1988, Cooper's first year, OSU he went 2-5-1. For several season he finished with at least 2 losses, but the program has had continued success since '89.
Those in all the right places fucked this up, guys. And it doesn't matter if you blame the hiring OR firing of RR; Carr's lack of a clear successor, or the Brady Hoke debacle. We're still in the same place today -- We will get this right. We'll have a new AD and Head Football Coach before we're ramping up for the Sweet Sixteen in March.
We'll be fine. Drink a beer and burn a doob. It's almost basketball season.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:22 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
to be on the committree vetting our new HC. I know I'd love to be on it, but he is much better with people than I and he is capable of doing such without getting into heated debates with other committee members, not exactly a strong suit of many others that would be equally qualified.
October 8th, 2014 at 9:34 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 9:57 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 3:06 PM ^
I'm not so sure, "instuitonal vanity" seem to be fair and concise criticism of the current state of the Michigan Athletic department
October 8th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^
Anyone here get 70% raises since your buddy took over?
If you did...good for you. But it's pretty telling what the real focus here is.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:58 PM ^
sorry---
October 8th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
Yes but it has almost nothing to do with the failures of our head coach, who simply isn't very good at winning games. People love to speak in sweeping generalities about the reasons Michigan hasn't been good for a while, but they aren't very complicated. We need to hire better coaches.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:31 PM ^
I postulate the success of athletic department and the coach to be inseparable. Do you agree? If not, please highlight this point of distinction.
I do not think that "institutional arrogance" is a sweeping generality when it is centered on Dave Brandon and his cronies. It it is no insult to call a spade, a spade.
October 8th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
But that's just the point. Dave Brandon is arrogant. That isn't "institutional arrogance," and his personal arrogance may or may not have caused him to a hire a bad coach. Ramzy acts like Brandon has made 15 bad head coaching hires and each time was supported by a group of rich cronies in the administration who ignored all outside voices. It's a very easy picture to paint, which is why so many have done it, but there's really isn't much supporting evidence.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^
The facade of the instituition takes the personality of its leaders. Brandon arroganace and cronyism is to blame, no doubt. But the hive-minded nature of the Michigan brass allowed this malaise to come to fruition.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
What is a "facade of an institution"? What does that even mean? Which "Michigan brass" are you talking about, and what is the evidence that they displayed hive mind?