What's so awesome about Dave Brandon, anyway?
The "Brandon's thoughts on the BCS" thread inspired this directly but I've been wondering for a while: what has Dave Brandon done to deserve the genuflection in his general direction on this forum and elsewhere? I think he's been competent in his capacity as AD so far if only just that. He's made no substantial hires, he's made no substantial retentions (having basically delayed, with good reason, the most important early personnel decision he's going to make). He has done some housecleaning, having apparently gotten rid of some of the folks in the department whose mistakes led to the sanctions. Maybe that's cause for celebration, though it could also be scapegoating competent bureaucrats for understandable minor errors uncovered in an investigation sparked by lies. But, at any rate, that doesn't make him "the best AD since Don Canham," as someone wrote on here today.
I mean, I'm not dissing at all. He seems fine. And I'll go ahead and say it: I'd Iike to not think of him as simply an empty suit who got rich selling coupons and pizza and as someone who knows a ton about how to make money money make money money money, but that's where I am. Nothing against pizza and coupons (i'm a fan of both, yo); he seemed like a safe hire and has been every bit as competent as I expected. I just don't get all the praise.
His first blog entry was underwhelming to the extreme — not very well-written with more old chestnuts than a Nat King Cole Christmas album (/Rick Reilly). Also, Special K. I don't want to read too much into the blog entry (as I assume his real reasons were something like "we get millions of dollars every year even if we don't go to a bowl" or something) and it's not like I expect him to be Slavoj Žižek (Žižek would make an awful AD), but when I saw he had a blog I was hoping it might be nearly as smart as, say, Mark Cuban's. And I expect him to do things like call himself the CEO of Michigan sports and talk about how much moolah the department can pull in. But these things don't inspire the superlatives issued toward him on here. But maybe I've missed something. Missed something huge. Maybe it's all in his demeanor. Maybe his coupon and pizza empires were the work of some genius that I'll never understand because I didn't go to Ross.
I just don't get it. Please explain, please — especially if you can do so without calling him a pimp. I've known pimps; they don't inspire my adulation either. (Long time reader, first-time thread-starter)
November 17th, 2010 at 5:41 PM ^
Pimp Hand.
November 17th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
Night game, yo!
November 17th, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
I laughed when i read Bolivian...lol Oblivion! CMONMAN!!
Brandon did a good job with the Big Ten Divisions. I don't want the game to be twice a year, but i also didn't want Michigan and Ohio State to now decide a BigTen Division title, that would have diminished The Game even more. We've played for BigTen championships in the past and now if we earn the right, we can still play for the conference crown. It was the lesser of two evils.
November 17th, 2010 at 5:56 PM ^
My reasons would be as follows:
1. Played for Bo. This is extremely important as he is a great bridge between the "old guard" and the "new regime."
2. Is not afraid of change and realizes when a company has become too complacent. Revamped old, stale Domino's by tweaking the product.
3. CEO experience is a little more than "being an empty suit who got rich selling coupons and pizza." We may think that the saboteurs of RR's program are "sharks," but they are nothing compared to what someone on that level of business interacts with every day. To get to CEO level, he had to feast on a lot of sharks who were trying to feast on him.
4. Did I already mention that he played for Bo?
November 17th, 2010 at 7:43 PM ^
That gains him a lot of credibility with the major M donors (big time old guard) as he was involved in almost all of the major decisions at the university from '98-'06.
November 18th, 2010 at 11:45 PM ^
And if that grass-eater gets near an AD position anywhere, said school may as well just disband athletics ahead of time to spare themselves the aggravation.
November 17th, 2010 at 5:57 PM ^
you realize that asking this question was not in the best interest of this blog, M sports or the reaction to your own neg bang health. If the phrase "Thank you sir, may I have another" didn't mean anything to you, it does now. SPANKED by Mgoblog.
HAIL!
November 17th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^
It was a legitimate question and he was actually pos banged.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:03 PM ^
My understanding of the recent ADs at M is that Martin took the job as kind of an interim/emergency fix guy. Before him, Goss had created a bit of a financial mess with an athletic department that was losing money and had aging facilities in the face of stiff competition from other schools. Martin used his business acumen and has done a wonderfully job of shoring up the ADs ledger sheet while completing a number of facility upgrades. Beyond that, I think that the department probably lacked a bit in shared vision and leadership (especially evident in the varying opinions over the Coach Rodriguez hire). But in a very real sense, Martin accomplished the job that he was tasked to do with the business side of the athletic department.
At this time, though with everything in place, the need is more for an AD who some vision and strong leadership skills. It appears that Brandon understands this and is bringing a sense of unity and vision back to the department. With the practice scandal behind us and the coaching issue seemingly settled, hopefully, Brandon can move the department forward to become the best in the country. It's probably too early to praise his accomplishments (i.e., thankfully the Norwegians haven't given him a Nobel Peace Prize) but he does appear to be off to a good start and for that, I'm happy to support him and consider him awesome until proven otherwise.
November 17th, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^
Very well said.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:04 PM ^
Hell, I expect him to be Kaiser Soze.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:15 PM ^
Hmm, did he know a guy in a barbershop quartet from Skokie, IL?
November 17th, 2010 at 7:27 PM ^
She was fat. I mean Orca fat
November 17th, 2010 at 7:31 PM ^
November 17th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
You're not missing anything meaningful. I think it stems from a comment RR made at some point in the past, but regardless, it's taken on a life of its own as another transitory MGoBlog popular phrase that shows up in large numbers of comments, whether relevant to the discussion at hand or not.
November 17th, 2010 at 8:04 PM ^
he means a fun positive attitude going into a top 10 ranked opponent instead of whining and complaining about all of our unending woes that makes you think we are on the edge (no pun intended) of falling into the MAC cellar.
November 17th, 2010 at 7:53 PM ^
It came from this guy's awesome rant:
November 17th, 2010 at 8:47 PM ^
This was an easy thread to miss. It was posted from the iPhone app which is bugged and did not appear on the primary MGoBoard page: new topics from the app only appear in the MGoBoard sidebar.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:24 PM ^
Because he is the Athletic Director of the most prestigous University. PERIOD
November 17th, 2010 at 6:27 PM ^
Maybe because everything RR is bad at, DB is good at. So RR can just focus on what he does well; coach. That's the main reason I heart DB.
November 17th, 2010 at 6:29 PM ^
A good post, intended to respectfully question the prevailing opinion in the blog.
It strikes me that there is a middle ground here - Brandon has done well, so far. However, there is much to see yet and he probably doesn't deserve the love he is getting fom this blog.
He has cleaned house in the department. That's good - and fairly easy to do with people you just met. Let's see how he rebuilds the department.
Also, I want to see how he treats the ticket holders with the Jerry Wolrd game. If the per ticket price on the season stays the same and I can get a ticket to the 'Bama game for face value, then fine. If the overall season costs the same, just with one less game, then I will feel that he screwed me out of a game. If being a season ticket holder only gets me the right to buy a ridiculously priced tour package, then I will feel that he only sees me as a source of income - not as an alumus and fan with 20 plus years of season tickets behind me.
If his talk about the "brand" and money is just an example of CEO-speak, then fine. I am worried that he is focusing too much on the money. Michigan is a great University, not a "brand."
Finally - does he retain RR or give into the pressure to get rid of him? Don't assume that he is solid behind RR. (I have heard a fairly solid rumor to the contrary.) Brandon hasn't offered an extension or committed one way or the other. His options are open. If he does make a move, how does he handle it? Does he have a good coach lined up, does he treat Rich Rod with respect? etc.
I hope for the best with him, but I am not ready to call him a great, or even good, AD at this point. Its just too early to tell.
November 17th, 2010 at 7:10 PM ^
Please expand on your rumor regarding RichRod.
November 17th, 2010 at 10:40 PM ^
I was sworn to secrecy as to the source. I got it indirectly anyway. You can feel free to disregard it. Frankly, I am not real sure what to do with it. Note that I called it a "rumor" rather than a fact.
My point wasn't that this rumor is true. My point was that while the prevailing wisdom on this board is the Brandon is solidly behind Rich Rod, there are any number of others out there who strongly believe that he is ready to fire him right after the OSU game. Those people even point to the same things that the people here are pointing to: he played for Bo and must hate this spread stuff, he is a bottom line CEO type with the strong pimp hand for underperforming employees, he beleives in the intregrity of the program and hates the NCAA stuff, and so on and so on and so on.
The bottom line for me is that we still don't know enough about this guy. There are a numer of choices in front of him that will impact the program more than any he has made to date. I think we should see how he does over the next year or two and then we will know. Just my opinion.
November 17th, 2010 at 7:17 PM ^
almost had me going there DREW SHARP...
November 17th, 2010 at 7:19 PM ^
he will officially be anointed as the chosen one
November 18th, 2010 at 1:03 AM ^
Adidas sucks. But they pay a lot of money and Nike would not match what Adidas was giving Michigan. Nike kind of left Michigan not the other way around. But would love to see Nike back.
November 17th, 2010 at 7:28 PM ^
I love how everybody hears these rumors about RR getting fired @ the end of the season. I heard the same thing last yr from all of u so called insiders. LMAO
funny how all these things get out into the open because someone has a big mouth, im pretty sure Brandon wouldnt let the cat out of the bag that easy. Y would u fire a coach who is 7-3 @ this time with a good recruiting class coming in. Brandon has showed nothing but support for RR so if he was to get fired i'd be surprised because it would mean Brandon is a snake. I surely dont think thats the case... GO BLUE
November 17th, 2010 at 7:30 PM ^
2 words on why Dave Brandon is awesome...
NIGHT GAME
November 17th, 2010 at 10:00 PM ^
Agreed....this and scheduling Bama are going to go a long way. Though I'm not sure how much of a role he played in either and whether or not these were in the works before he got there.
November 17th, 2010 at 8:03 PM ^
This will not end well.
November 17th, 2010 at 8:20 PM ^
I like Brandon and think he's doing a good job.
But one thing that I don't like is that he's joined the Big Ten cabal that fights against a playoff system and supports the dastardly BCS.
Yeah, I know it's about the money, but, businessmen or not, I think they're wrong about that. The playoff money would be even better if it is done right. And most fans want a decent playoff system, players want it and very other sport and even the other football divisions get it.
The worst anti-playoff fool is OSU President Gordon Gee. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany is one of the most vocal. OSU AD Gene Smith and Tressel also drank the Kool-Aid.
That's one of the reasons I like Steve Spurrier -- he is outspoken on the need for a playoff.
November 17th, 2010 at 10:39 PM ^
Brandon works for the university and UM's position on these issues (as well as most BCS school's positions) have been clear for some time. There isn't an AD in America that has the autonomy to go against the grain on a playoff.
November 17th, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^
they work at TCU and Boise!
Sorry, couldn't pass it up. I agree with your point about Brandon. Sometimes you have to pull the party line.
November 18th, 2010 at 1:49 AM ^
For a few reasons! He has made the Big House even better by adding press boxes. He set the game up for Mich vs Bama in 2012. He wants to improve the basketball stadium. He is going to put bigger scoreboards in the Big House. Nite game vs ND. You can tell in his short time at Michigan he will do everthing in his power to make sure michigan will be the best they can be. He clearly cares about michigan and his actions prove he does.
November 18th, 2010 at 8:46 AM ^
You forgot Brandon put wings on our helmets, wrote The Victors, coined the term "Michigan Man" and gave The Team, the Team, The Team speech.
DB has been AD for ~9 months. Do you think the tower miraculously sprouted during that time? Bill Martin is responsible for the recent renovations tot he stadium (and has the eastern concourse named after him). I agree DB has been a great hire for AD, but to justify it by crediting him with the press boxes is asinine.