Morning Drinking: Approved

You took the words out of my mouth...School is drop dead gorgeous with amazing academics and endowment that dwarfs Michigan's, is private and oh yeah...no winter.

What they don't have is Michigan Stadium.  Nobody does, but that, in and of itself, may not be enough.  

They also have a defense, something that we don't.

I sure hope Brandon has a plan B, or this is going to get ugly.

I grew up in Michigan.  I moved to Palo Alto at 16, and graduated from Paly, kitty-corner from Stanfurd Stadium.  I went to Cal from there, while my parents moved back to Michigan.  I didn't quite reach escape velocity, and ended up back in The Mitten, but I can tell you first hand, there are reasons why hanging out in the Bay Area has its advantages over dear old Southeast Michigan.  And, Stanfurd, despite not being Cal (or Michigan), isn't a half-bad place to be a demigod.  They've got plenty of loaded alumni who might be all too happy to sweeten the pot from time to time.  They've got a well-run and well-funded athletic department.  That his first wife---and the resulting kids---probably wouldn't come to the frozen tundra for a bigger football stadium doesn't hurt either.

I'm trying really hard to just wait and see what happens when it happens, and even if this is his state of mind this morning, it might change five times before he takes his evening constitutional.  But, nothing will surprise me, 'cause all of Mr. Harbaugh's options are good ones.  If he doesn't come here, it's because he has something else he'd rather do.  There's only so much Brandon can do to change his mind, 'cause the Big House ain't moving to the corner of Embarcadero and El Camino.

Who would he be saving from trouble? A bunch of guys on an internet message board? The MSM? In all reality nothing has happened. He is sticking to the timeline that he said he would from the beginning. Brandon is doing exactly what he said he was going to do. It's the rest of the world that is freaking out over this.

This is not 'nam!  There are rules.

I just hope if RR stays people get over it and we don't have "CC's" for a full year.  God Bless it.

Agreed.  I also thought the month-long "evaluation" strategy would be a fiasco unless DB had effectively already made a decision and had JH committed to coming hear (couldn't announce it because of JH's desire to coach final game and save money on buy-out).  Sadly, I can draw only two conclusions if JH doesn't end up coming here:

1.  DB is incompetent and truly believed this evaluation thing that put tremendous pressure on recruiting, the team, and the existing coaching staff without a locked up replacement (i.e. willing to start a hiring process after January 2nd) was a good idea.

2.  DB is a sucker and JH ran circles around him to have the Michigan job as a fall-back while he tested his true desire to go to the NFL (if the right NFL job wasn't available - see SF - JH could always fall back on Michigan) or use him as leverage to get a better deal at Stanford.

I think the answer is 2 but I am not sure if a gullible AD who got played by a HC prospect is much better than an incompetent one.  Maybe DB should take the pimp hand to pick some tomatos in California

If JH comes here I will repent before the mighty PH

The solution is simple.  Brandon just needs to throw $4,000,000 at Gary Patterson.  The guy can flat out coach.

Nah, let's go with Brady Hoke.  Because he once coached here under Lloyd and Jim Herrmann.

Assuming he was inclined to leave, do you think RR could get a better job



a) now, after a quite mediocre year

b) a year from now, after a possibly better year?

I agree with your sentiment, but RR is still under contract.  As unhappy as he may be, he can't walk without being in breach. 

Even if he did know a month and half ago, Jim could've changed his mind after realizing he's the new hot thing.

What if JH told BD, you goatta wait until the Orange Bowl is over, that really puts DB in a tight spot.  DB has a back-up plan, book it.

And he was under .500 for his first four years at Ball State, showing no real progress until a 5th season of (whoo hoo) 7-6, and then 12-1. How did he get to be highly regarded????