CC: Breaking news from the Edge of the Internet

Well that's it I'm getting naked.

Signed... with Michigan, right?

If true, my bet is it breaks either tonight nationally or sometime on the 26th (I assume most sports reporters take Christmas off).

There's an order of operations to news leaking in the age of the Internet. First it's places like the Edge Of The Internet (TM), then it hits Twitter and the comments section of more reputable blogs. Then the reputable bloggers themselves confirm it independently and report the same info. Then local sports radio and local sports writers with columns and social media platforms report it. Then national radio shows, and major outlets like ESPN websites, then television. Then your grandmother. And then a few weeks later NFL reporters.

Do you think it would be appropriate to use "It's Happening" as a reason for getting cozy with Mrs. macdaddy tonight?

Jim will be in Ann Arbor on Tuesday morning. I think he signed a contract just after Thanksgiving, so it proves he wants to be the next Michigan coach. I think he will have more fun developing college players then having pro players bitch at him.

If true, there is no way this doesn't get out nationwide. If not, this will be the only place discussing it. We wait......some more.

If it's on the web, that means there's a URL, right?

I apologize if clipping from a board post is verboten, but I don't think it's treated the same as a proprietary site seeking traffic. From the Victor's Blog (board). This detail is amazing: 

"I had dinner with him over the summer in SF. The guy was clearly extremely smart, but admitted to me he had never attended a (real) college football game. We had a long talk about the importance of football at Michigan, not just for revenues, but for the culture, spirit and pulse of the university, its student body and its alumni base. He told me his own philosophy and admitted he had a diametrically opposed point of view from my own. However, he promised me he would hold the thought and re-assess his perspective after his first season. Well...fast forward to the weekend of the Penn State game. We had lunch that day (group setting at donor event) and I sat in his box for the game. We spoke at length about Dave Brandon (whom I have been supportive of, obviously to a fault), Brady Hoke, and multiple other things. Without going into further detail, it was crystal clear at that moment he figured out what had to be done. He knew he had to get rid of Dave, knew he had to get rid of Brady, and knew he had to bring in someone who could hire the best coach in America. He knew he had to bring in the wolf (a la Pulp Fiction) -- basically a hired assassin who could fix it immediately. And, beyond getting the economic ROI to UM on spending the money, most important, he got the point on the culture and pulse of the university, its students and its alumni. I take nothing away from Hackett. He has been A+. And Lloyd, Bill Martin and even Dave Brandon have been very helpful to him, much to the chagrin of many on this board, but my mvp goes to Mark Schlissel and his 180 IQ for a complete turnaround and reassessment of his own biases in a 2 month period. I have enormous respect for the man. And he will never get credit for this from the media, the fans, the alums, etc., but he's my mvp in this saga. If Hackett is the wolf, Schlissel is Marcellus Wallace. By the way, the white smoke went up when I posted it last weekend. Shocked it's 5 days later and still hasn't leaked. Credit on that to Hackett. OK, off to the ski slopes of Colorado with my family. Adios amigos. NFC and merry christmas to victards everywhere."

I can conceive that Hackett provided incentives for both Harbaugh and the 49ers to get this wrapped up before any additional NFL parties enter the fray at the last minute on Sunday. 49ers floated some ideas and scenarios to the Raiders, Jets and Bears and both they and Harbaugh agreed that they weren't going to work. With that, Harbaugh agrees to sign NOW with the stipulation that it remain "Unofficial" and under wraps until the season ends. Any UM- or NFL-related reporter would simply get a denial that anything "is happening or not happening." Any rumors that come from anyone but Harbaugh or Hackett themselves are dismissed as simply that: More rumors. 

It seems like neither Hackett nor Harbaugh would have wanted that team meeting to proceed the way it did without some sort of firm handshake agreement in place. The kids have to be guessing it's Harbaugh, are home with their families and probably getting excited about it. So unless they bait-and-switch a Stoops or Mullen in there next week as a nice consolation prize, that would be some lousy toying around with the players. But Hackett's "we have our man but we're waiting to make sure" would fall in line with "we're waiting for coach Harbaugh's season to end" and passing it off as "we're making sure all the contract details are set, etc."

We are referring to "Tony" from board 5 as this source right?  Hmmm.

Word on the street is the EDGE is not credible.

I'd love for it to be true, but "amazing amounts of detail" does not equal credible.  Liars often create fanciful stories with tons of details.

We have not heard any other coaches interviewing or bring mentioned we contacted them.

This means Jimmy is coming home, book it!!!!

My guess is that Michigan contacted the 49ers in order to get their blessing, probably by paying them (the 2.5mil rumor?), to lock JH up before the end of the NFL season.  Why else would Michigan have contacted them?  Once this was agreed to, Hackett flew out and had JH sign.  

This "other coaches" thing is also why I'm optimistic. Hackett is not a moron. They all know what happened last time around. No way he'd let the Plan B swim lanes get ignored unless he was 100%--as in legally binding "it's happening"--he'd get his Plan A.

In the past few weeks we've heard almost zero rumors about serious Plan B movement. So either the Plan B knowledge circles are for some reason far more air tight in terms of leaks than Plan A knowledge circles, or the Plan B activity had ground to a near halt.

My money is on scenario #2. Combine with by belief that Hackett is not a dummy and knows his Michigan CC history, and I think we are looking good.

Maybe I should grab a ticket to the Illinois game?

He did not want it announce until after the 49ers season. Next Monday will be a big day. If the 49ers fire Jim or Jim resign I will be worried that it won't happen. If nothing is said Monday and Jim shows up in Ann Arbor Tuesday morning then it will be muppets forever!

are we all being trolled by one or two, uh, trollers -- just making stuff up day after day, like an evolving story. it makes no sense to me that someone who is really plugged into what would be a careful, orchestrated, confidential process -- posting regular updates to the punlic internets (invented by al gore). and yet no one in media is picking it up. it stinks of being a total ongoing fabrication.

hope for the best, plan for the worst, expect something in between. Jim, Schiano, Miles, something like that.

far too many unilkely events would need to occur if JH were NOT coming. Ask yourself, would a person of high character who seeks the "high road"

-- keep his alma mater publicly waiting a month, using their offer of possibly the highest paid coaching salary in history to gain leverage, boost his own reputation, and set up his alma mater up to look bad?

-reject calls from his family to come home and spend time with his aging father who’d move to AA to be close to him?

-give an arrogant NFL what they want, after being let out of his contract by an idiotic management after having one of the best NFL win %s in history?

-risk uprooting his wife and young children multiple times for insecure NFL (Not-For-Long) jobs by going to an abysmal team that has destroyed past coaches—especially when the team may move again (eg Oakland to LA or San Antonio)?

-toy with current UM team members and recruits, who expect him to come and thereby make them disappointed with—or even harm the chances for-- an otherwise great alternative coach?

-alienate prominent UM alums who called him (Brady, Woodson, Howard,….), deny his best friends from childhood (like Andy Moeller), and risk the loss of other job opportunities for those who helped him in the past (eg DJ Durkin, who’s been offered by texas a&m)?

 

ALL of these events would need to be true if JH were NOT coming.  They simply cannot be.  So he must be coming.

QED

 

Sam is now at 75% and bacon was at 85% Those guys won't go much higher than that unless JH was in a limo headed to Schembechler Hall... At this point, it's as good as anyone could have hoped for...