Hackett Staying Long Term? Comment Count

Brian

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[Eric Upchurch]

Bruce Feldman is reporting that interim AD Jim Hackett is close to dropping the interim title:

That's along the lines of what we'd been hearing from Sam and others—that Hackett is going to be around for X number of months where X > amount of time it'll take to fire and hire a new coach.

The chances that the best available athletic director is a retired CEO who hasn't worked in an AD ever are about 1%, but This Is Michigan. They don't care what the sensible thing seems to be. That's fine as long as you are good at doing things. Michigan hasn't been, and given the way the chips have fallen if Hackett doesn't lock down Jim Harbaugh the fanbase is going to have a fit.

But he's not Dave Brandon.

Comments

UMfan21

November 26th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^

How can they drop his interim title when the true search has not even started? Was it simply a lie that they were ever going to perform a search? Was the search committee totally incompetent?

JFW

November 26th, 2014 at 11:15 AM ^

Schlissel, the regents?



Great Googly moogly we've turned into a fine kleptocracy.



I'm sure Hackett has all sorts of fine skills, but I wouldn't want Brad Bates or Don Canham coming in to save my company either.



*sigh*



I used to think that Michigans size, resources, name recognition, huge alumni base, and facilities would argue that they would be back sooner rather than later.



That assumed that we wanted to be good enough to take the reasonable steps.



I'm beginning to think that the regents and president are somewhat blase, or maybe just arrogant about the whole thing. This could mean a long time of failure.

I Like Burgers

November 26th, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^

I think these are a lot of same "internal problems" we keep hearing about. Just general incompetence and shooting themselves in the foot despite all of the resources and advantages they have. Michigan appears to be broken from the inside and I really don't feel like they are competent enough to turn it around and become a premier program again. I think Nebraska is our ceiling when it comes to football. Which, considering they win 9-10 games a year, I'd take in a heartbeat right now.

worstever

November 26th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^

Why must we bungle every transition point? Has this organization never heard of succession planning? Or do they just work dogmatically down a bulletted list one item at a time...this is so frustrating.

4godkingandwol…

November 26th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

... and I don't get angry often.  If Carr had his way, Ron English would have been our coach.  Ron, fucking, English.  Strong organizations don't hire from within, they develop from within.  Hiring from within without developing puts you in a death spiral, like, oh I don't know, Michigan football.  

I'll put this link here and you can stop making idiotic points:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_English_(American_football) 

dragonchild

November 26th, 2014 at 11:24 AM ^

I don't really think they're doing anything dogmatically so much as for the regents and AD, running Michigan into the ground is a casual hobby.  They don't really think through these things because they just don't care.  I don't know if they're making much money off it but obviously they're sitting on Michigan's legacy like it's a comfy chair as opposed to determined to live up to the reputation for excellence it's built up.  I mean, the fans got Brandon fired (ahem, to resign) but that was only after he'd become a national embarrassment that kept Michigan in the news for all the wrong reasons.  That's hardly a bold move.

It's like a bunch of bratty trust fund babies took over the family business.  They're already where they want to be in their lives so Michigan is just a toy to them.  As such even 100,000 raging fans is really just a minor embarrassment to them, and only worthy of scorn.

Schlissel seems to be sane but if no one in the university knows how to run an athletic department he probably doesn't have anyone he can safely confide in.

JeepinBen

November 26th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^

But I'll say it again: This could very well be semantics. There was talk of a big window for Hackett anyway (18 months?) which might be too long for the interim tag to hang around. By all accounts Hackett did a great job at Steelcase and isn't a DB-hedge-fund-CEO type. He is supposed to be a very good manager and people person, capable of hiring and firing well.

With the interim tag his job was going to be to right the ship. Let Hoke go, hire a new coach, take stock of the department, how it treats fans & alumni, and fix some problems. Without the interim tag this job changes how?

Maybe Jeff Long and Brad Bates said "I don't want to deal with the mess Brandon made, call me in 2 years". Or that Long needs to have some sense of clarity with the CoFoPo.

Also, if you were a good coach, say Harbaugh, would you sign a 5 year contract with a temp boss? I think (even changing a word in a title leading to) stability will help the coaching search. Hackett played for Jack Harbaugh with Les Miles. Let's give him more than a month on the job before we say that the sky is falling.

Wendyk5

November 26th, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^

Against all evidence to the contrary, I'm going to follow your lead. My first reaction was, we're sunk; we need to hire a real AD, with AD experience, stat. But Hackett really hasn't done anything yet, either way, at least publicly. So the jury is still out on this guy. I'm willing to wait before I judge. 

MGoPatio

November 26th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^

Yeah, but isn't not doing anything an decision in itself? We need to determine a course of action and start taking real steps. Simply watching a wounded animal doesn't absolve you of responsibility for it's suffering.

Or, to put it in cinematic terms, "Get busy living or get busy dying."

Which one is the AD really doing?

AZ-Blue

November 26th, 2014 at 12:21 PM ^

as much as simply responding to the indicators we have at the present.  I'm willing to give Hackett the benefit of the doubt but he definitely didn't impress with his latest presser.  That was one giant pile of garbage-speak and many thoughtful commenters here pointed that out.  It was cringe worthy.  At this point, stuff like that doesn't help promote confidence in the masses and given what we've just been thru can you blame us?

charblue.

November 26th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^

in the hiring phase of his job, may be more significant than whatever tenure in the job he actually serves. No one seemed to have a problem with this when Bill Martin took over as AD on an interim basis and then continued to serve beyond the term anyone would imagine an interim would hold the job. 

In that time, he actually accomplished things, like hiring John Beilein. So, if what we hear from the outside and in connection with any process of guaranteeing a coaching candidate will take Michigan serious is if it has an AD that candidate is comfortable working for, then maybe this is the reason that Hackett has broached the idea of dropping the interim tag. 

Whether the guy is shortterm or not, he's the guy who will make the key decisions, it seems clear at this point. And Schissel, to his credit, got through the Brandon situation and sought cover with Hackett on the football program issue as an immediate project he couldn't simply deal with in the way he normally has dealt with other academic administration issues prior to coming to Michigan. 

Beyond that, he went to a guy that ticks all the boxes in terms of background at Michigan so that he could seem credible in the eyes of most going forward. There is another reason why Schissel may have wanted Hackett and that is because he is not tied to any particular faction at the school that we are aware of. So, he found a guy that he could both talk to and consult with in an area that while neither are strong in; at least they have the decision-making authority and understanding of what needs to be done in the timeframe that this process now demands. 

Of course, they were hoping that Hoke would salvage the season and make his evaluation a no-brainer. It still is, but now the future is on the line based on the next decision made. However, whether Hackett is connected to the school short or longterm as AD has little significance to the merits of what must be done ASAP, to worry about whether Michigan has the right AD for the job. They have the guy who will make the evaluation and recommendation on the next coach going forward. And for now, that's all we should really care about. 

 

indi_blue

November 26th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^

This is somewhat similar to Dick Cheney’s vice presidential search.  He was the chairman of VP search committee and presented himself as the best available candidate.

Mo Better Blues

November 26th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^

SCHLISSEL: I really know nothing about what it takes to run a successful, high-level collegiate athletics department or even exactly what it would take to hire a person who does. Do you?

HACKETT: Well, probably more than you do.

SCHLISSEL: Sounds legit. You're hired.