A reason for hope
However, this classes impact will not be felt for 1-2 seasons. Yes, someone may step up but let's not kid ourselves.
Also, if you believe our current commits are all staying at this point...well let's just say it will take a miracle. We didn't receive a miracle today so I'm not expecting one near-term.
With that said, here's something which many of you are in the position to do: (Crowd Sourcing)
I'm not on campus nor even in the state of michigan but the current student body, fans, friends, faithful...please help by keeping the current team intact. Fortunately, (unlike in 08) it is Tee'd up for the next coach.
We are in great position to compete with 9 starters returning on both sides of the ball. (Thank you RR)
Please, everyone who is in shouting range of these young-men, encourage them to stay.
This is really really really important. We love you guys. Stay...Please!
January 5th, 2011 at 8:19 PM ^
The Fellowship of Bo Coaching Line was indeed broken. Turmoil surges and confusion and terror besieges the great stadium stronghold of the Wolverines and the evil minions of the Vested Dark Lord pour forth. Ruin and desolation foul the land.
But soon the Riders of Rohan will crest upon the ridge and surge down, and all of the repentant oath-breakers (Michigan men and women who forsook their UM heritage) will arrive borne on the dark sailed ships and we'll sweep the Pelennor Fields of the Big House.
Then will be the time of the Return of the Coach and he'll lead the team to the very gates of Mordor (just outside of Columbus in the great blighted horseshoe stadium) and destroy the Vested Dark Lord and his tainted tattooed wraiths who long ago were men but who sold their football souls for tattoos, free cars and bling.
All will then be well back in the Shire of MgoBlog. We'll rejoice with butterbeers, first and second lunch and breakfast. But every now and then in all the decades to come we'll feel the scar of this moment, like the scar of the Horror until in the end those few lucky enough will be carried off beyond the Western seas to join the Wolverine Immortals like Yost, Crisler and Bo and dwell in maize and blue forever.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
My favorite movie(s)/books of all time! Thanks for brightening the evening
January 5th, 2011 at 11:13 PM ^
Last time I checked 13-14 year olds didn't wear diapers. I think we were rather good and relevant in 2006&2007.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:21 PM ^
Can someone please start a thread for the Under Army all American Game? It won't let me
January 5th, 2011 at 7:34 PM ^
Michigan has struggled against Wisconsin's length for most of coach Beilein's tenure. Will Darius Morris and company be able to buck the trend?
January 5th, 2011 at 8:23 PM ^
Does anyone have a link to a stream of the Wiscy game?
January 5th, 2011 at 7:25 PM ^
January 5th, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^
Do you know which Michigan Man is there, and no one's brought up at all?
He's just a-itching to get back into coaching, if recent events in Boulder are any indication.
...Bill McCartney!
They wouldn't have quite crossed paths on campus -- McCartney was arriving as Brandon was leaving -- but I bet they've had opportunities to become acquiantanced. They are have Bo and their polical persuasions in common.
Could this be the coup de grace DB has planned? Is anybody keeping an eye on flights in and out Rocky Mountain Metro?
(Anybody need an AED?)
January 5th, 2011 at 7:35 PM ^
McCartney would have been a helluva hire... in 1995. I wonder whether Michigan made any attempt to land him when Mo was fired. He retired in 1994 after going 11-1 and beating ND in the Fiesta Bowl.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:35 PM ^
Bill McCartney is 72. He will need the AED more than we do.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^
Also, except for a tiny sliver of support, the general reaction in Boulder to McCartney's pursuit of the CU job: Brady Hoke? Yeah, riiiiiiiight....
January 5th, 2011 at 8:20 PM ^
His daughters are probably too old for the players to go after now. Unless Denard and Tate troll for cougars in their spare time, this would be a disappointment.
January 5th, 2011 at 9:13 PM ^
imagine him in a recruit's living room. come play for michigan, now do you have any preparation H?
January 5th, 2011 at 7:34 PM ^
is being hired by Texas, so the Dan Mullen theory is not half as good anymore IMO
January 5th, 2011 at 9:14 PM ^
it is. b/c he hired a great DC, evidence he can again.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:37 PM ^
.782 winning percentage in the SEC while at LSU. Better than Saban.
I don't care if he eats grass, uses all of his timeouts in the 3rd quarter, lets time run out while holding onto timeouts, or rolls around naked in jello in his spare time...just win at that clip in the Big Ten and we will be smelling roses every other year.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:41 PM ^
I worry about the fact that his only real national success was with Saban's players though. I want more than just Big Ten championships.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:12 PM ^
Go Blue !
January 5th, 2011 at 8:15 PM ^
I think Rodriguez has left behind some pretty good players too. I liked his Ok. State teams and this year with all his guys and a shitstorm at QB he won 10 games. Insert Denard into that team and they are national champs.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:20 PM ^
LSU has been on a downward trend since Pellini left for Nebraska after 2007. I'm not too excited about Miles unless he brings Pellini with him (unlikely).
January 5th, 2011 at 8:36 PM ^
That will be the worst possible choice DB could make. We will know at that point that everything good that Michigan stood for will be thrown out the window. Miles and the SEC are a perfect match with their lack of values/morals.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^
That whole oversigning thing at LSU and in the SEC in general, I don't like it and I don't want him because of it. Can't find the link to the espn OTL video, it was on Angelique's twitter 2 days ago..
Most people here are disgusted with the practice of oversigning, please don't sacrifice your values just to get a Michigan Man as a coach!
January 6th, 2011 at 2:11 AM ^
While the practice of oversigning is despicable, it's the way things are done in the SEC. I don't blame Miles for following the practices common in his conference to stay competitive. If Miles were to come to Michigan, the administration wouldn't permit it so we dont' have to worry about it sullying Michigan.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^
I don't really know who I want as a coach at this point. So the hope is I won't be disappointed?
January 5th, 2011 at 7:50 PM ^
Can we get him to take our DC job? His defense's at Miami were always stout and he has good ties to the Miami area. With Harbaugh heading to San Fran, I wouldn't mind seeing a young coach such as Mizzou's current coach, but with the youth and troubles on D, bringing in someone like Shannan or Wandstat (sp.) makes sense.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^
on Jan 12th, 2010 and still pulled the Rivals #1 recruiting class. I don't expect to pull #1, but we are outside the top 25 before this whole debacle. So if we can get top 20 whoever is coach, it would be a huge success. GRF
January 5th, 2011 at 8:45 PM ^
It's like a force of nature. You have so many NFL cats (both current & former Trojans) swimming around that program helping out with everything. While people may not love Pete C. the man left one helluva pipeline and base for that program. Do you realize that they don't ever bad mouth that guy...he was running the program when they were violating the rules. Not a peep out of the media!
Lane was with Pete during the golden years and has a connect to every major H.S. football program in Cal + many more in other states. Remember, his Dad's been in the biz for years as well. Just say'in...it's a unique and comfortable position Lane stepped back into. He basically just stepped in and held Pete's class.
Our situation, O'Shite!
January 5th, 2011 at 7:58 PM ^
There's a thin line between hope and Hoke... let's hope that line stays intact.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^
I'm on the verge of losing it and dropping college sports (minus March Madness) from my viewing pleasure. I don't know if I can take a repeat of the last 3 years.
January 5th, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^
it's just sports.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:04 PM ^
Here: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/brandon/spec-rel/010511aaa.html SIAP; would post as new thread if I had level 18 psionic powers.
I want to reiterate what I stated back in March. One of my first objectives was to bring the University of Michigan athletic community together again. We need cohesion among our support group. We were divided, we are divided, and if we want to be successful as a football program and our athletic program and our entire university, we need to rally around the new coach. We can't find fault or make hasty judgments. We need to support the new coach and that is what I hope fans, our alums and our former players are ready to do.
We need to come together to help our football program be successful.
Go Blue!
January 5th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^
Why didn't he do this for the guy we had coaching the team? This smells more like "Get ready for the bag of shit I'm about to dump on you" than him saying "We all need to love each other or the team will lose."
January 5th, 2011 at 8:24 PM ^
But, I think the rift is so wide that nothing, except winning a ton of games, would have healed it. Brandon's choosing to spend his capital on starting new rather than trying to heal the wounds with RR. Press conference wasn't a great start, but I'll stay tuned.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:36 PM ^
But why put out this letter now? If outside criticism and hasty judgments by fans were the problem, maybe you should have spoken up and done something about it. If they weren't and you feel justified in firing Rodriguez, then shut up and move on. If you hire Jim Harbaugh there is no division. If you hire Les Miles things are almost entirely positive. If the fanbase was divided about Rodriguez then hire somebody that most agree is a good coach and be done with it.
The only reason to put this crap out there now is if you are going to hire Hoke or another unknown and want to avoid the extremely predictable backlash.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:58 PM ^
Note that there's a small but vocal contingent that doesn't want Harbaugh, for various reasons (including the DUI, the comments about U-M academics, or even his divorce -- though Carr also had a divorce). And the anti-Miles faction is bigger, as many of the Carr loyalists loathe Miles.
I interpret the letter as understanding that there's a lot of work to do, and he's going to do it. The thing that peeved me most about Bill Martin was he seemed to be clueless/unaware/unwilling to deal with the factionalism that was developing with the Rodriguez hire. A LOT more should have been done even before the 2008 season started, and I don't know if it was Rodriguez being stubborn (I doubt it) or Rodriguez going by his gut feel (more likely) but not getting any substantive or helpful advice from Martin.
January 6th, 2011 at 6:54 AM ^
January 5th, 2011 at 8:43 PM ^
Jesus, that sounds like a plea not to send him into Bolivian because he caved to negative press instead of logical thinking about hastily firing RR and presenting us with a sure fire shit log. Not to mention the ever ominous obligatory Go Blue statement to Febreeze the shitty handling of his situation so far. He better pull off the surprise of the century for Michigan football or he is going to end up in the same place RR is right now.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^
A bit more here, where he mentions his criteria but without sharing on which ones RR fell shortest. I am somewhat soothed by the brief appearance of the pimp hand in the line about "therapeutic emails".
I evaluated the program on the following measures:
- Performance in competition
- Recruiting and retention
- Academic Performance
- Leadership
- University image as it relates to our players
- University image as it relates to our coaches and the staff
There is no need to get into the factors of this discussion, but I want it known to all that this is the bottom line when it comes to hiring a new coach.
I know I have a lot of work to do; this is job number one. And while I want to do it as quickly as I can, I want this choice to be the best decision for Michigan football. This one decision is going to last a long time, and this decision rests on my shoulders.
I am not going to form a committee, but I will get advice from people I know who are out there, close to the program and whose advice I value. This is not going to be a popularity contest. My job is to get the right coach.
I need to engage in a process that affords me the ability to get that coach. Clearly it is a disruption; the faster we can bring in a new leader, the better. But I am not going to be motivated by those circumstances and those pressures; I need to get the right individual into this position that will be successful.
Former players, alumni and fans can write and/or e-mail me their thoughts if they think it is therapeutic but again, this will not be a popularity contest.
January 5th, 2011 at 9:03 PM ^
But it is still unnerving to think he fired RR from outside pressure when that was the whole reason he gave for not showing his cards early about a decision until a month from signing day and letting potential coaches to land elsewhere. I am hoping I am dead wrong about his handling and he has Super Coach waiting for RR to leave campus to avoid awkward moments. Also if we are throwing out names like dollar bills in a Las Vegas strip club, how about Jerry Moore, Appalachian State head coach. he is a little aged, but no doubt he knows how to win with a spread offense.
January 5th, 2011 at 9:46 PM ^
As I noted in an earlier post in this thread, even Brian agreed that RR had to go after the Gator Bowl. Keeping RR was no longer an option--if you don't accept that fact, you are living in an H.S. Thompson-esque fantasy world.
All the uncertainty right now stinks, but we were in a similar situation 3 years ago and Martin pulled RR out of his ass. Most of us--myself included--were very excited about that seemingly unlikely turn of events. I think Brandon will do something similar over the next 7-10 days--except this time the guy who accepts the job will have a much better idea of the institutional context he's walking into. The sky is not falling.
January 5th, 2011 at 10:09 PM ^
I prefer my fantasy world to reality at times. I wonder if he really had to go, or could we have been alright with a revamped defensive staff. No doubt something had to change after the third straight season of a underwhelming defense. It isn't so much I disagree with DB's decision to fire RR, but his apparent (for now) stubbornness to do it earlier and not wait a month out from signing day and putting potential recruits priorities in jeopardy with so little time with 18 year old attention spans leading them to look elsewhere because of the apparent clusterfuck we have. Also not having a replacement already in place, guessing that he didn't wait to the last game to decide RR was gone, also makes me a little hot under the collar. I hope you are right about the 7-10 day window, because if not, he gone fucked up badly.
January 5th, 2011 at 10:17 PM ^
Amen Mr. Hackney. Very well said.
January 5th, 2011 at 10:44 PM ^
Thank you for using Febreeze as a verb, proper caps intact...
January 5th, 2011 at 10:55 PM ^
I'm a verbsmith.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:51 PM ^
Whe doesn't he find a new coach to rally around before sending out that statement.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:56 PM ^
the commercial sound like his statement
January 5th, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^
Guess DB didn't like food.
January 5th, 2011 at 8:06 PM ^
I think at this point I'd welcome Miles. What the hell. You only live once. Let's go out big.
January 6th, 2011 at 3:39 AM ^
Forgive, Forget, Live, and let Live! Les come on down. (or up or back...)
Feels like we're gonna have to poach (snake oil) a coach from someone else. Either that or get someone from "The League".
Attention everyone, "All your Coaches belong to us!" Ha Ha...=] Maybe if Ross takes Harbaugh "we can has Tony".