January 8th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
Personally, I'll be delighted if they both wind up elsewhere. For different reasons, of course ...
January 8th, 2011 at 10:25 AM ^
Midwest guy, similar offense, long body of work. He's older, so M could begin searching for a replacement before January next time.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:09 AM ^
It appears that we are getting to the heart of Bo's "Michigan Man" comments here. There has been so much talk about what a Michigan Man is exactly and I think we are seeing it here first hand. Brady Hoke WANTS to be the coach at Michigan...that is Bo's definition of a "Michigan Man." Dave Brandon stated in his presser that many people have called to express interest in the job over the year, yet he had to hire an outside firm to find viable candidates to the position? At this point, unless there is something that we do not know about, I say hire Brady Hoke. This nonsense about getting rejected by every prospect that is publicized may be the nail in the coffin for not just this recruiting class, but many more to come. IF no coach wants to take a job in AA, why in the world would top recruits want to come? Is it the spoiled Diva-esque fanbase? Is it the administration? Whatever the issue is, top coaches do not appear to want to come to Michigan, and we are ALREADY the butt of jokes everywhere in the College Football world around the nation. In a world where perception is reality...DOOM!!! I am very underwhelmed with David Brandon, he is no better than Martin...I hope he proves me very wrong. <exhale>
January 8th, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^
I think hiring the outside firm is pretty routine. They use similar firms for pretty much all medium-high profile jobs at the university, fwiw.
January 8th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
January 8th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
Les is going to come home! Three years late but he will come home and restore order ie smash mouth FB. Thats what I feel now that we lost out on Jim.
Sigh
January 8th, 2011 at 10:05 AM ^
"... restore order ie smash mouth FB ..."
Right -- SMASHMOUTH never fails. Look at how Wisconsin routed puny TCU. Also, did you see how many points Dantonio's SMASHMOUTH ran up on that small, speedy Alabama defense? Finally, look at that gimmicky offense of Oregon's. Never gets anything done ...
Maybe you're kidding. Maybe?
January 8th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
Alabama's defense might be speedy, but they are not small.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
When did Alabama get small? They just recruit superior talent compared to our little fellas
January 8th, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
also that alabama team that is unbeatable was beaten by les miles' LSU team... just sayin. i would much rather have les miles (proven) than brady hoke (relatively unproven)
January 8th, 2011 at 10:01 AM ^
WTF????? not sure that I would even want Peterson but wtf. He would not even return our calls, but he is willing to talk to Stanford. Did the world turn upside down, and I missed the memo.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^
Peterson has always made it clear that he and his family prefer to stay on or near the West coast, and all of his major recruiting ties are there. Stanford would appear to be the ideal long term destination for this very talented and classy coach. I would take him for the Wolverines in the proverbial heartbeat, but it ain't in the cards.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:41 AM ^
I don't think we know if he won't return our calls. We only know he seems to have been willing to take Stanford's call. Everyone remain calm.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
Not looking to good, guys. This is why I kept saying we should've kept Rich Rod for another year. It was clear that Harbaugh did not want to come here and there were no other A-list coaches out there that were both available/interested and with a better track record than Rod. Now, we'll probably end up settling for a B-List coach which will have to carry the tag of "savior" and will, unfortunately, not live up to our crazy fanbase's expectations which will then result in the merciless devouring of his life.
A bunch of you wanted RR gone... you got it. Now let's see what we end up with. I don't want to be the one to - yeah I do, "I told you so"
Hopefully something unexpected happens and a white knight emerges out of the misty night sky (getting poetic here). The more likely scenario, Hoke and Miles, both not very attractive choices. But hey, whoever it is, let's support him 100%. If history has taught us anything its that unrelentling harsh criticism proves detrimental to the environment our program needs to be succesful.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:12 AM ^
Ditto
January 8th, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^
We had a suddently b list coach getting us b list results the last 3 years. I am sorry but it is the truth. The man was in way over his head here. Make no mistake the mess he left in terms of size, athleticism and depth on both sides of the ball is definitely a problem in attracting a new coach.
Brandon made the right move though. We were digging a deeper hole as evidenced by our results against the good teams on our schedule.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:31 AM ^
for when the "anyone but Rodriguez" guy comes in and the hole gets still deeper . . .
January 8th, 2011 at 10:47 AM ^
B-list? Hardly. He turned down Alabama before he came to Michigan.
January 8th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
January 8th, 2011 at 11:05 AM ^
The end.
January 8th, 2011 at 1:44 PM ^
Hardly. You've got to be kidding yourself. And who was more proven at the time that Martin was willing to hire?
B List recruits? I guess Denard / Roundtree / Martin were B list recruits...right.
You've been on the agenda of change for quite sometime now, so I guess your comments don't surprise me. But B List, I think not.
Oh by the way, if i'm reading the quote in the bottom of your signature, I would assume you are 'Noise'....
January 8th, 2011 at 10:26 AM ^
Recruiting would have been crippled for another year, and does anyone think that the double digit losses to the good teams are going to turn into wins next year?
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<br>At the end of the day, coaching hires, like draft picks, are somewhat of a crapshoot unless you hire a huge name that is at a huge program - and how often does that happen?
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<br>A great coach in a weaker conference can turn into a mediocre coach in a strong league (RR, Hawkins).
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<br>And believe it or not, a guy who has mediocre results in a weak conference with weak talent can work wonders once he's in a place with a recruiting base and talent. It's just that identifying him can be tougher - thats where a guy like Brandon comes in.
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<br>Sure, you probably increase your chances of getting it right by hiring a guy with a good track record, but it's no sure thing.
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<br>There are qualities that may not be readily apparent to us that make a great head coach.
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<br>(this was a long way of saying "let's not freak out if we don't know much about the guy who is hired")
January 8th, 2011 at 10:32 AM ^
I would like not to freak out, but as a Michigan fan I can't help it.
January 8th, 2011 at 11:13 AM ^
Look, Rich Rodriguez is a great man and put up with a lot of crap here - I have a lot of respect for him and wish him the best in all of his future endeavors. The results didn't come quickly enough and he was a divisive figure among Michigan alumni and fans, so DB made the call to let him go.
Yep, he could go somewhere this season (probably next season) and build a great program again - but guess what, he's not coaching at Michigan. Everyone who laments Rich Rod's firing has a right to do so, but not letting go of the fact that he's not here is the exact opposite of "supporting [the next coach] 100%."
Go ahead and pat yourself on the back for supporting the head coach of Michigan - just remember it's not Rich Rodriguez anymore.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^
...U of M is no longer a desireable school to coach at and why this hire needs to be perfect (considering the list of coaches is severly short). And let's face it, all of the accolades about U of M and its history is now meaningless. U of M is now a 2nd rate football program.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^
With all the venom that has been spewed around this program and the lack of talent or depth on defense, why would one of these high profile guys want to leave their programs that are competing well? Especially after what just happened after a 3 year window for RR.....
January 8th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
I don't buy this....coaches are typically high ego guys and most believe they can turn it around. Using your logic, noone would ever take jobs for bad NFL franchises (Oakland, Tampa Bay before Dungy, etc.,). Take Larry Brown in the NBA for example, that was his thing. Coaches who think they need to ride someone else's coat tails are bound to fail. Most guys want a chance to come in and get their own recruits anyways. If the fan base, alumni, and administration give the coach enough space to allow the process to move forward we might be much better off. On the other hand, if large numbers of the fan base cry for a coaches job when he goes 9-3 or 8-4 (Carr), or only gives a coach 2-3 years to install a new system (RR); WHY would a coach want to come in? We are becoming ND because as a fanbase we are the spoiled brat Divas...we are Michigan...this isn't supposed to happen...blah, blah blah. You reep what you sow and we, as a fanbase, are experiencing the fruits of our labor.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:46 AM ^
It was more of a question than a statement. But the second half of your post is what I have been telling everyone around me. The only way coaches succeed right out of the box and win that fan support is walking into a team that has the depth and talent to work with and being able to adapt a system to what you have. Those two reason are why RR failed to get support at the start and what doomed him in the end. Tressel had talent when he got to OSU, they were just underacheving under Cooper. He had that to lean back on when he made his opening speech and called out Michigan, which won him instant cred with their fanbase since the were in there own losing streak against Michigan.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^
As we run out of alternatives?
January 8th, 2011 at 11:02 AM ^
January 8th, 2011 at 11:04 AM ^
January 8th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
Keep this in mind when you think about Stanford and Harbaugh:
- Harbaugh year #1 (2007) - 4-8
- Harbaugh year #2 (2008) - 5-7
- Harbaugh year #3 (2009) - 8-5
- Harbaugh year #4 (2010) - 12-1 (first year with a repeat starter at QB)
Now look at Rodriguez:
- RichRod year #1 (2008) - 3-9
- RichRod year #2 (2009) - 5-7
- RichRod year #3 (2010) - 7-6
- RichRod year #4 (2011) - N/A (would have been first year with repeat QB)
Obviously the big difference was that Harbaugh arrived after a 1-11 season and everyone was thrilled with annual progress. RIchRod arrived after an era of success and went backwards that first year. I still think that if Carr had retired a year earlier or a year later things would have been different. A year earlier and the next coach gets a ton of senior/junior talent. A year later and everyone watches Carr win 5-6 games in 2008 and realizes it is time to rebuild. In both cases the new coach would have a far better chance of success.
January 8th, 2011 at 11:34 AM ^
Yes. exactly.
January 8th, 2011 at 1:13 PM ^
How do you know for a fact Denard would start next year? He had no loyalty to Tate,. If Devin Gardner took advantage of this year and improved he could've just as easily benched Denard. You have no basis in fact for Denard to be next years starter.
January 8th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^
January 8th, 2011 at 11:58 AM ^
Does anyone else wonder what coaches think about the '11 and '12 schedules? We've got a fairly brutal schedule in '11 then you add Alabama in '12. I wonder how enthusiatic any coach would be to come into a situation where a team got mauled by all of it's tough opponents the year before and then has two brutal schedules up coming. Add to the fact that our fanbase/alumni doen't seem to be the most realistic folks in the world. I'm starting to wonder who the hell would set themselves up to fail like that.
January 8th, 2011 at 1:14 PM ^
Oh, if you listen to everyone around here, next year's schedule is freaking cake.
January 8th, 2011 at 2:53 PM ^
Not to mention this "Michigan Man" thing... any non-M related coach would have to be absolutely nuts to come here. So we are left with Miles or Hoke. Crazy/wins or Boring/mediocrity. M would be a career killer for Hoke. For Miles a swan song or retire...