The David A. Brandon Manifesto: 11 Months Later
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/brandon/spec-rel/112713aaa.html
This gem was posted to our Athletic Department's official website on November 27, 2013. It really deserves a second read with all that's gone down since it went up.
This piece has it all. Implicit comparsions between Brady Hoke and Nick Saban. Subtle jabs at a guy that has Arizona competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Lots of exclamations!!
This blog post may be the biggest indictment of Brandon's tenure, and that's saying something. But I feel like it deserves some newfound attention as this season wears on.
Discuss.
October 27th, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^
I just want our next coach to have total control. Be able to run things his way, with whatever staff he picks, decide who attends film sessions and meetings. Is it too much to ask to let the guy in charge of the football team be in complete control of the team without anyone micromanaging them
October 26th, 2014 at 11:20 PM ^
He was not only involved - he was instrumental.
October 27th, 2014 at 7:37 AM ^
October 26th, 2014 at 9:25 PM ^
Also thought the dig on the seniors in 2011 were all credited to Carr and had underperformed to that point. Isn't that the Carr/RR class with some 5th year Carr guys thrown in? Just because they were recruited by Carr means nothing if they played entirely under RR. Nice to see Brandon isn't hiding the fact that when he came in there was not going to be a fair evaluation of RR but he was shown the door on these standards: couldn't win on the road, couldn't beat conference teams, hadn't won any conference championships, couldn't beat rivals. Brady's record on those counts is better but slipping badly, and his primary purpose of winning conference championships is sadly still eluding him by a large margin.
Time to go for both of them!
October 26th, 2014 at 10:50 PM ^
A lot of former Carr players wanted Hoke as coach. Art Regner talked about this a month before the Hoke hire. He said Brandon had made up his mind the summer(at the charity golf tournament) before RR's final season. I hope they're happy now...
Remember this?
On Friday at his charity basketball game at Pioneer High School, former Michigan star receiver Braylon Edwards said that Hoke's regime already has a different feel than Rich Rodriguez's.
“It’s just different,” Edwards said. “You feel welcome. That right there is enough. You can feel that warmth. That sense of, ‘I played here, I deserve to be able to come back and walk around.’ That wasn’t there. He’s bringing that back.”
After the spring game, Van Bergen was asked what it was like to see some former Michigan greats back in the Big House.
“It’s just kind of unsettling," Van Bergen said. "It’s great that they’re back. But it’s kinda like, 'Where have they been the past two or three years?' Because we’ve still been wearing the same helmets we have been since they were here. You know what I mean?
"It’s good to have them back, but at the same time, it’s new all of a sudden. Which is a good thing, it’s good to have alumni back to support us.”
October 26th, 2014 at 9:36 PM ^
October 26th, 2014 at 10:07 PM ^
October 26th, 2014 at 10:34 PM ^
The Saban line was just fucking gold.
Many don't remember that Alabama finished fourth in its division during Nick Saban's fourth year with the Crimson Tide. At present, Alabama seems to be doing pretty well!!
- Saban won the national championship the prior year, posting a 14-0 record (following his 12-2 season back in 2008).
- Saban had already won a national championship at LSU
- Saban had a 10-3 record that year he finished 4th in the SEC west and finished at #11/#10 in the polls
- Saban was 48-16 at LSU, and 34-24-1 at MSU, Hoke was sub-0.500 at Ball State and SDSU (HAHLOL)
Then he goes on to say this:
Stanford had 4-8, 5-7 and 8-5 records under Jim Harbaugh before reaching its current string of consecutive BCS appearances. This shows that it takes time for the right leader to build a consistent winner.
Well, let's see here. Rich Rod went 3-9, 5-7, 7-6 but Hoke has gone 11-2, 8-5, 7-6, and likely 4-8/5-7 ... so which coach is DB trying to make a case for again? Holy fuck this is incredible.
Delusional is the only way to describe this post by Brandon.
What a disingenous, pompous megalomaniac.
October 26th, 2014 at 10:52 PM ^
October 26th, 2014 at 10:54 PM ^
Pardon a couple spelling errors, I was having a moment and I didn't correct them soon enough.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
The only reason one should compare Hoke to Saban is if one were describing the opposite ends of the coaching spectrum...or who would finish first and last in a hypothetical coaches hot dog eating contest.
October 26th, 2014 at 10:45 PM ^
Brady has done a great job rebuilding the program and reshaping the culture to the level it was under coaches Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr.
To be fair, the program has taken steps in this direction, but again, the important difference in my opinion is that some of the platitudes regarding things like "execution" and "toughness" and so forth which now get thrown out in pressers were actually points of activity and originators of results under the people mentioned above. There is a lot that is missing here, it seems.
October 26th, 2014 at 10:50 PM ^
October 26th, 2014 at 11:24 PM ^
at how people like this become in charge of important things.
October 26th, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 12:04 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 27th, 2014 at 1:08 AM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 1:31 AM ^
Is gone to a better place (banned) and was never around to see this crash of the program.
RIP ~ Herm
October 27th, 2014 at 3:42 AM ^
If it were possible, it would have made me detest DB even more than I already do.
October 27th, 2014 at 4:00 AM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 6:22 AM ^
One of the points (made in a backhanded way) is that the 2011's team's success was the result of the efforts of Lloyd Carr recruits. Obviously, David Molk and Mike Martin were huge on that team but so were Denard, Fitz, Roundtree etc.
One thing that's interesting about RichRod's recruiting vs. Hoke's is that while RichRod had some obvious and significant misses (Justin Turner coming to mind immediately) among Hoke's recruits I'm still waiting for someone other than Funchess to emerge. I realize that Henry and Ross and some other guys have played well, but I feel like the stars of the last few seasons have been Denard, Devin, Jake, Lewan, Gallon (all RichRod recruits) etc. Maybe Green or Darboh or Kalis or Peppers or Pipkins is one year away from a breakout season (obvs for Green or Peppers since they're out) but I feel like it's amazing so many touted players have yet to make a dramatic impact.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:00 AM ^
The picture of Hoke clapping is priceless.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:00 AM ^
The picture of Hoke clapping is priceless.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:02 AM ^
Thanks a lot...I just thew up my breakfast.
Seriously...is it just me or does anyone else get really nauseous at even the slightest bit of support for the current regime? I know this piece (of shit) was written a year ago, but it turns my stomach thinking that DB might actually believe the crap he is spewing.
October 27th, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^
October 27th, 2014 at 10:45 AM ^
He's a poor judge of quality. His pizza was tied for last with Chuck E. Cheese in a survey in 2009 and his football program has fallen behind Sparty.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
Brandon's manifesto on Hoke reminds me of Baghdad Bob.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
I'm going to be so, so dissapointed if Schlissel doesn't fire Brandon.
October 27th, 2014 at 12:02 PM ^
And Ross can hire him to be the GM of the Dolphins. Win-win for all, unless you're a Dolphins fan.