Brick in The Wave

October 15th, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^

Similar to posts about what Hoke could do to save his job, are there things that Brandon could do to save his?  Obviously he does or doesn't do things that piss people off but is there any chance the powers that be could lay down the law and DB gets to stay?

Joined: 05/17/2011

MGoPoints: 2421

mjv

October 15th, 2014 at 1:09 PM ^

DB would have to (a) roll back all of the crap he has done to season ticket holders, (b) return the game day experience to what it was, and (c) hire a Harbaugh.

The issue is that the timeframe for those things is beyond the end of the season and his time is up well before then.

Bye Bye DB.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3656

MGoFoam

October 15th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^

All Ilitch said was that they're going to talk about Brandon at their meeting. Is the "contacted possible candidates" part just last week's refuted rumor?

Joined: 04/11/2014

MGoPoints: 12157

SF Wolverine

October 15th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^

with Ross at a reception for the present fundraising campaign.  Ross, who moderated teh talk, asked Schlissel right out of the gate about the present "situation," which I took as a bad sign.  But, Schlissel noted that there was unanimity among the groups he was talking to that the "direction" of the athletic program was off, that there had been "drift" from typical values, and that he was open to a "reset."  $5 water made it as an example of the "drift" from traditional balance.

 

Read into that what you will; the question from Ross was clearly pre-planned, and the answer (or at least its gist) must have been as well.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 24906

SF Wolverine

October 15th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^

was that everyone knew the question they wanted Schlissel to answer.  Hard for me to imagine that Ross would ask the softball question and not be on board with at least the general tenor of the answer.  Which is different than his pre-Morris injury full-throated support for Brandon.

Confirmation bias, to be sure.  But, I was actually worried when he asked the question that it was designed to give Schlissel a chance to line up behind Brandon.  Instead, his answer at a minimum acknowledged that lots of people are pissed about the direction of athletics generally, as opposed to the football team specifically.

Let the tea leaf reading commence.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 24906

goblue20111

October 15th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^

I can't believe this politically motivated witch-hunt has gone this far.  Whatever happens, Dave Brandon has been one of the most honorable men to ever serve the University in any capacity.  He will always be my Michigan Man.

Joined: 10/31/2010

MGoPoints: 7251

BornSinner

October 15th, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^

For all his shit throwing against a wall to see if anything sticks, he's been timely that's for sure.

Let's be honest though he also suggested Schlissel being canned...

Credibility level: Just slightly higher than before.

 

Joined: 09/20/2014

MGoPoints: 14672

Mr. Yost

October 15th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^

I'm offended that no one asked me to be AD. I didn't play for Bo, but I've been an MGoBlogger for 3 years now and that should account for something.

In all seriousness, Manuel, Bates and Long are almost CERTAINLY the candidates that have been contacted. I spoke with my AD about it today and it's a very small circle.

What's interesting is you have 3 very different candidates. ALL would be upgrades.

I'll share more later, but here are some of the basic differences/thoughts.

 

Jeff Long
Plenty of experience as a big time AD. Not afraid of the big hire, considered one of the top guys when it comes to AD's - not necessarily in "he's that good," but more in "he's that powerful/known." VT wanted him for their AD spot just months ago, wasn't going to happen. If he leaves, it's going to be to a major, major, MAJOR program.

If Long was a current college coach, I'd say he's Les Miles/Bret Bielema.

If he is hired. Harbaugh is an instant factor, but he also has shown he'll go off the grid for another big name that no one is really thinking about. Or someone like Todd Graham at ASU who most people aren't expecting.

Arkansas has had some very nice facility upgrades and strategic planning over the years (you can Google and find both). 

He's probably going to do some things you love, and do some things you'll hate...but he'll do way more that you'll love.

I have a very good friend and former colleague who's at Arkansas as an Assistant AD, I'll get his opinion as well.

 

Warde Manuel
I wrote a long opinion post on Manuel a couple weeks ago. When I'm not so lazy, I'll dig it up. Warde is the only one of the three that I've met and can say I "know." As I said in the piece, we've met 4-5 times on my climb up in the college athletics admin ranks. So I'm not going to act like we're BFF's, but we know of each other. Probably more importantly is I know a lot of people who know him...they all love him. BUT they're all kind of in that circle, so I take it with a grain of salt.

I don't want to write a bunch on Manuel, but I'll say he's the "riser" of the group, IMO.

If Manuel was a college coach, I'd say he's Charlie Strong/Steve Sarkisian. He hasn't proven he's great, but he's respected. He's on his way up in the profession, he's a known commodity, but he's got his system or way of doing things. Which isn't bad, but it's his way.

Let this soak in for a second...at UCONN, Manuel got Michigan to play them at home and didn't buckle when Brandon tried everything to move the game to Yankee Stadium or MetLife. He also just got Landon Donovan's last international match, ever. Both were probably a fluke because the Michigan contract was probably in place when he was at Buffalo and the no one knew that was going to be LD's last match when the contract was signed...but still. He deserved some credit.

Buffalo got better. UConn is getting better - and by the way they own college basketball right now.

 

Brad Bates
Knows how to navigate academia better than the other two, IMO. Safe choice, but should be progressive enough that it's not a return to Bill Martin.

Respected among his colleagues, but I don't know if he's feared. What I mean is he's kind of just there. Long is a guy who's going to be one of the more powerful AD's in the country, he's already chair of the CFB Playoff. Manuel is a fast riser. Bates, to me, feels like someone who isn't going to mess up, but isn't going to push too far forward either.

If Bates was a coach, I'd say he's 50% George O'Leary and 50% Mark Dantonio.

Bates, to me, is going to make sure every team, every student-athlete is supported. More so than the other two who will have a clear lean/bias towards the big boys (not saying they won't care and support the other sports as well).

Academic success will be achieved and held in high regard and I think the department will take on more of a northeastern state of mind than an SEC state of mind.

Look at the sport offerings for the schools in the NE, it's about tradition and they all have like 150 sports they offer. Very Ivy league. Very inclusive. Then go look at what sports SEC teams offer, it's like football, basketball, track, swimming and gymnastics. That's it, lol.

Again, I'm exaggerating, but just to prove the point that Bates, to me, is the more academics focused, inclusive, ivy league, traditional approach to running an athletics department.

His Wikipedia page is gone - for whatever that means.

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For me Long feels "big business, big experience" Manuel feels "new school, creativity" Bates feels "tradition, academics, honor."

Three very different candidates, IMO. But one thing is certain. ALL THREE are an upgrade and ALL THREE are successful D1 AD's, not corperate executives.

If I had to guess, with this University Admin...

1. Bates
2. Manuel
3. Long

My personal rankings would be...

1. Manuel
2. Long
3. Bates

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220