“Recruit for Character,” from Bo’s Lasting Lessons

Submitted by jfox on
“I can’t tell you how many times we passed up hotshots for guys we thought were better people, and watched our guys do a lot better than the big names, not just in the classroom, but on the field—and, naturally, after they graduated, too. Again and again, the blue chips faded out, and our little up-and-comers clawed their way to all-conference and All-America teams.”
—Legendary football coach Bo Schembechler, “Recruit for Character,” from Bo’s Lasting Lessons

Do we want somebody whose heart is not in it but is the current "hotshot."

I think this would apply to coaches even more so than it does players.

The famous Michigan Man speech saw the exit of Frieder from mbb coach because he took a job elsewhere before the 1989 tournament. So Bo famously said "A Michigan man will coach Michigan" and Fisher finished coaching that season. Somebody who wants to coach Michigan and be loyal to Michigan is what the program deserves.

Geaux_Blue

January 7th, 2011 at 10:06 AM ^

but the overall coaching search in general

THIS ISN'T SOME SHITTY DISNEY MOVIE. THIS ISN'T "NATIONAL TREASURE 5: SEARCH FOR THE SPIRIT OF BO." HE DIDN'T LEAVE US 'LITTLE HINTS' IN HOW TO FIND THE NEXT SUCCESSFUL COACH BURIED IN BOOKS AND UNDERNEATH THE DIAG M AND UNDER THE RIGHT GOAL POST THERE'S OMG AN ARROW POINTING TO THE FORMER PRESS BOX AND OMG. JUST GET A DAMN COACH WHO'S A PROVEN WINNER. DONE.

Joined: 01/25/2009

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Ziff72

January 7th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^

LIKE RICH RODRIGUEZ THAT GUY WON WHEREVER HE WAS AT!!!!!!  Oh wait what?

We can't hire anyone because this arrogant inbred idiotic media/alum/fan base won't give them any time to fix it.

You have 2 options hire someone that can keep this team together and can run a spread and win 9-11 games next year and keep the maniacs at bay a little or hire Hoke or some other inbred Michigan guy will be given a lot of room because this roster/recruiting class can bolt if they don't win this team over and then it's another 4 year project.

 

 

Joined: 07/07/2008

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STW P. Brabbs

January 7th, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^

I'm not sure the OP totally deserved this rant ... but it was pretty goddamn funny.  I mean, I do think character is important, obviously, but there's a difference between character and Six Degrees of Bo.

At any rate this:

THIS ISN'T "NATIONAL TREASURE 5: SEARCH FOR THE SPIRIT OF BO."

... is pure gold.

Joined: 08/27/2008

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jfox

January 7th, 2011 at 10:06 AM ^

Bo's statement was an indictment on Frieder not an endorsement for Fisher, it's better to have an interim coach them somebody who wants to be somewhere else.
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<br>On another note: I think Jim Tressel who was an unpopular choice has been so successful because of his passion for OSU. I know he has the best state for recruiting outside of the south and big budgets and proved himself to be a good coach at other levels, but without his passion he he'd be like John Cooper. Cooper had great talent but lost meaningful games. OSU dominates the bigten because of their coaches passion has been adopted by their players.
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<br>I want to see Michigan match that internal passion for the team by the coaches and then the players. That will all depend on how passionate the next HC leads.

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nyc_wolverines

January 7th, 2011 at 10:25 AM ^

Agreed. A Michigan Man comes to Michigan by choice, not by negotiation. Over time, he adds to the tradition of the University. I don't care to hear about Harbaugh again. I want to hear about a good man who wants to be committed to the University, coaching good players, and restoring our tradition of excellence.

We came to Michigan by choice, we stayed with Michigan by choice. Greed, Negotiation, hah. The money will be there for excellence. DB needs to find that committment to excellence and I don't care what state it comes from.

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sierragold

January 7th, 2011 at 10:39 AM ^

Brady Hoke is the best option for Michigan.

We know that he is defensive minded, unless anyone has forgotten Michigan Football from 1995  - 2002 when Brady Hoke was our defensive line coach.

He has the heart for Michigan Football. He made it clear to San Diego State when he was hired that his dream job is Head Coach at the U of M.

Maybe he doesn't have a long coaching resume, but he bleeds Maize -N-Blue. His coaching resume is similar to Harbaugh with a little more on the defense side of the ball than Harbaugh has.

GO BLUE!!

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briangoblue

January 7th, 2011 at 1:09 PM ^

At least it would be nice to have somebody who truly appreciated the opportunity. You know he would kill himself to make it work, and if they surround him with a loaded staff (the true lesson that should've been learned under Rodriguez rather than this "Michigan Man" bs), he could make it work. I'd love to have Harbaugh, but if he took the job at this point I would be thinking more along the lines of "it's about damn time" than genuine excitement.

Joined: 08/03/2009

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STW P. Brabbs

January 7th, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^

I like Michigan arrogance, as long as we're winning.  My position is that we need to at least keep a tiny flame of arrogance alive even while things are at a low ebb, so long as said tiny flame doesn't lead us to deny the reality of our current situation and do shit like, say, undermine a new coach because he hasn't been Touched by the Hand of Bo. 

Once we're winning again, which will hopefully happen before I'm 50, let the arrogance flame on, I say.

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GWUWolverineFan

January 7th, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^

My main reason I want to have Hoke is that he wants to be here.
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<br>And also Glenn Steele, one of the greatest guys I have had the pleasure to know, endorses him. But that's because I still have a man crush on Steele and his O Line destruction abilities.

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Clayzer

January 7th, 2011 at 10:42 AM ^

Simply wanting to be somewhere doesn't lead to success.  Rich Rodriguez wanted to be here. Money may well end up being a major reason a coach picks us, but have no doubt that these coaches are all obsessed with success and will certainly give everything they have to the University

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Bando Calrissian

January 7th, 2011 at 11:25 AM ^

Rich Rodriguez wanted to be here more than he wanted to be in what he felt was a bad situation in West Virginia.  Let's not sit around and pretend RR extensively thought about coming to Michigan before his agent made a phone call.  To him, Michigan was a  big-name job, and an easy out of Morgantown.

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joeyb

January 7th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^

That's not entirely true. RR played and coached under Don Nehlen, then took over for Nehlen when he retired. Nehlen coached at Michigan under Bo before taking over at WVU and built that school up for RR. RR left his school out of frustration, but he thought he was coming into this magical place where coaches are treated well because that's what he had been told by Nehlen. Unforetunately, that mentality seemingly died with Bo and he walked into a snake pit.

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Wolverrrrrrroudy

January 7th, 2011 at 11:00 AM ^

who want to be here to have that be your primary reaosn for Hoke.  It sure did seem like the perfect storm for us to get Harbaugh (at one point he wanted to be here or so I thought).  I recall reading an article earlier in the year regarding Harbaugh, basically indicating he is a tireless worker.  He outworks everyone, up at the crack of dawn and last one home.  We need someone like this (never satisfied), a perfectionist.  What I don't want to do is pick up someone who will get fat and lazy which can happen when you throw a lot of money at someone.  Whoever we get, it can't be about the money but rather the drive to achieve and constantly improve and outwork every other coach in the nation.  Although, I also wouldn't mind if we saved a little money by picking up Hoke and had more money to throw at the upgrading the offensive and defensive coordinators. 

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Don

January 7th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^

With all due respect, horse puckey—Jim Tressel may love OSU like his own mother, but the reason he's successful is that he's a damn good coach in all phases of what the job entails, at least wrt to what happens on the field.

Do you really think that Nick Saban won NCs at LSU and Alabama because he had/has a true passion and love for those schools?

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Bb011

January 7th, 2011 at 11:10 AM ^

While very true, a good coach is the most important factor, but passion is definitely important. If a coach isn't 100% whole heartedly committed to his school it can affect many aspects of a team especially recruiting. People can tell when you love a school and when you don't, and that could definitely affect how players play for you and how recruiting goes.

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STW P. Brabbs

January 7th, 2011 at 12:02 PM ^

If everyone on this board still believes in the fucking PR Myth of Saint Jim than goddammit I guess I'm just going to remain frustrated.  Even after all the recent shit with Pryor and his buddies?  Really?   Tressel's also very successful because recruiting at OSU has certain built-in advantages. 

He's a good coach too, no doubt.  But he's a shady, two-faced little fucker.

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Clayzer

January 7th, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^

I'm reading this book right now, and it should be mandatory reading for whoever we hire. In fact, it should just be mandatory reading for everyone

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jfox

January 7th, 2011 at 11:22 AM ^

He was my favorite NFL qb growing up. I lived in Chicago while he was a Bear, I loved watching him as a Colt. I still think the Colts were robbed by that play Kordell Stewart was out of bounce and came back in to catch the AFC championship winning TD.

I wanted Harbaugh back in 07 when he had won a NC with San Diego.

The circus around Harbaugh this month is crazy. I am beginning to think of the other options after Harbaugh. Hoke is someone I think has the potential to overachieve and be a good coach at Michigan. Whoever the next HC is will have to deal with a lot of bs expectations and myths of bs expectations that the local media hold in too lofty idealistic standards.

EDIT: I also think the lambasting of Hoke on this board is terrible and could possibly make the job harder than it needs to be if he happens to be hired. We don't need the next coach having similar challenges that handicapped Rodriguez while he was here. It took the wind out of the sails of a good coach and I don't want to see a portion of the fanbase / media create unnecessary obstacles to overcome within the support system of Michigan football. 

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bighouseinmate

January 7th, 2011 at 1:52 PM ^

1. The "hired gun" type of coach does not always work out, either due to the school or the coach himself, or a combination of both.

2. When hiring a coach, particularly at a tradition-laden school like UM, one should be looking to hire someone who will be there for awhile and not someone who will see the opportunity as a stepping stone to other wishlist jobs.

3. Too much is being made of DB's timelines during this whole CC saga. Are we, as a society, to the point where we do not take anyone at their word anymore? DB publicly stated that he was taking the whole entire season, and previous accomplishments(or lack of them) into consideration for determining whether or not to keep RR. I, for one, do not believe in any ulterior motives of DB for when he finally decided to let RR go. I believe that he did EXACTLY what he said he was going to do.

4. We live in a society of people, mostly the young ones, who believe in getting what they want immediately as they decide they want it. No working for it, or "paying" of the dues. They want it now. What this means for the coaching search is that every big name is thrown out there as some kind of "saviour" for the UM football program and people are very passionate about getting the guy they want, even to the point of overlooking the reasons why that coach may not be a good fit, or the right fit for UM.

5. I said it during the middle of the season that I believed if RR were let go(even if it was the right move, which I'm thinking it might have been), that our fanbase would look eerily similar to ND's fanbase regarding coaches. The ND fanbase, upon a coach being let go, clammors for the latest, greatest, hottest names out there regardless of whether or not the coach might actually be the one to bring them back to national prominence.

6. "It isn't about the kids committing to the coach, but to the school". That has been bandied about here and elsewhere whenever coaching changes occur. Well, guess what? It applies to the coaches as well. It is about the school, and nothing else. The success a coach has at one school does not translate necessarily to another school. We, as UM football fans, just learned the hard way that that particular statement is true. Instead of looking at the success coaches have at their current schools, we should be looking at WHY(or why not) they would have success at UM.

7. Harbaugh in simple terms. Played at UM, is most definitely a good coach. Wants to end up in the NFL, as has been repeated by most news sites. Would not be at UM long term. Is generally perceived as a "saviour" for UM football, but that is appearance and not necessarily reality. To me, he straddles the line between "hired gun" and good/great fit for UM. I could accept him as coach, knowing that in a few years down the road given some success at UM, that he would be gone to the NFL.

8. Above all, I want a coach who truly wants to be here because it is UM and no where else. I want a coach who will run through brick walls if needed in order to take UM back to national prominence. I want a coach who truly understands that tOSU is an evil institution that must be defeated. I want a coach who truly understands that MSU shouldn't be mentioned anywhere in the same breath as UM when it comes to football. I want a coach that instills in his players, not respect for other teams, but the pure hatred of the rivals they face on that particular day of football, and inspires them to greatness in order to defeat them. I want a coach, who like Bo would do, will obliterate the opponents for perceived slights against his team and school.

No. 8 is full of a lot of wants, and as of now there are only three candidates out there who might fit the bill for it. Harbaugh(only if his heart is truly into it and he isn't just looking for the stepping stone to his ultimate goal of the NFL), Miles(crazy? absolutely, even though I like his win-at-all-costs gameday calls most of the time), and Hoke(of the three, is the only one I truly like right now.)

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