BILL MARTIN TO RETIRE IN 2010
http://www.detnews.com/article/20091021/SPORTS0201/910210401/Michigan-a…
From the article:
Coleman said she will oversee the search for the next athletic director with the help of a small advisory group.
"We expect this process will take a number of months," Coleman said. "With this advance notice, we have the opportunity to make a thoughtful and deliberate choice and to manage a smooth transition."
Alright everyone, start throwing out names.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:51 PM ^
Mary Sue might not hire Condi Rice, but if political affiliations influenced hiring, she never would have hired Bill Martin.
Edit: Lee Bollinger hired Martin-same applies. They're from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:38 PM ^
There are quite a few larger problems with hiring condi than anything relating to her politics.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:31 AM ^
I find it very amusing that Mr. Martin's last day on the job is September 4, 2010, the day that the new stadium renovations officially open and the day we play Connecticut at the Big House. I guess you can choose how you want to go out when you're retiring.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:35 AM ^
Bill Martin has done an awesome job. Dammit, just stay a while longer--he's only been here ~10 years. I know that this is based on a conspiracy theory, but I hate the idea of an enemy of Martin's getting what he wants.
Good call on Bates, but I would love if UM got another guy with Bill Martin's business acumen. Then again, Bill Martin oversaw the Big House renovations and now that everything is probably going according to plan, he doesn't need to be around. It seems like Bates would be a prime candidate for a replacement. Getting a guy from MU--pretty old school.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:36 AM ^
Come on. You know it would be awesome. And a good time.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:38 AM ^
of Warde Manuel. Solid guy who has gone on to do quite well at Buffalo, which is a tough place to win. Also maybe Jim Boccher lol
October 21st, 2009 at 11:43 AM ^
That'll directly affect the future of the Michigan football program for years to come. Whomever gets the job, I can only hope that he and RichRod hit it off from the get-go.
And that they understand the place of football (i.e. the throne) in the pecking order of sports on campus.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:49 AM ^
It wont matter. Once RR puts the finishing touches on this eventual 10-2 campaign, the new AD's first job will be the wash and wax the Rodriguez family truckster.
Of course, if we wheeze to 7-5, then, uh, yeah, your point stands!
October 21st, 2009 at 11:48 AM ^
We don't realize how lucky we are to have one of the most efficiently run athletic departments in the nation. As a student, I witness how Bill Martin's sound fiscal management has grown our athletic budget by tens of millions of dollars over the past decade, keeping it independent of our academic pool of cash.
Bill Martin has brought UM athletics back into the black while laying the foundation for some of the most significant (and important) facility upgrades in years. The stadium renovation, expansion of our basketball facilities, the construction of Alumni Field, and "New"sterbaan are just the iceberg of Martin's athletic machine he built here.
Just by switching to Adidas, Michigan generates a few million more dollars annually, which is significant when you consider the entire athletic budget to be around $100m each fiscal year.
While other universities look to sell out to in-stadium advertising, Bill was able to create all this revenue without compromising our core principles.
Best wishes to Bill Martin in his retirement, and I hope we can find as competent a successor as he was.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^
Former UM student. Successful businesswoman. Her S&M skills could help with major donors.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^
So that hire would make Bill Martin a pre-madonna correct?
October 21st, 2009 at 12:52 PM ^
Hell yes. This comment wins the thread.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
It already looks like she trains with Barwis.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:52 AM ^
Does anyone who suggests Lloyd Carr really think there is even a remote possibility of that?
Does Lloyd want to spend his first months on the job being asked about Rodriguez and/or this so called Anti Rodriguez Conspiracy?
I don't think there will be a modicum of interest either way.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^
Well, actually I was told that Lloyd will replace him, or is at the very least at the top of the list.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:09 PM ^
Source? Even some vague source if necessary.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^
Lets just say my source is through BHCC or Barton Hills Country Club. Among other places.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:17 PM ^
Thanks - I trust you as a poster, you have been well-informed and spot-on in the past. I just hope you are wrong this time.
[and that's not be negging you]
October 21st, 2009 at 12:55 PM ^
you claim to email les miles and know that he was coming here during the great coaching search bullshit storm?
October 21st, 2009 at 4:21 PM ^
No, I talked to Les through email but he told me that Michigan officials did not talk to him. Only people behind the scenes.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^
That was the common thought when Lloyd took the assistant AD position after he retired. Kind of like an apprenticeship.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:04 PM ^
I know his name has been scattered all around. I got to the topic late. I think if we go the route of career Athletic Department guy, he is the man. He was associate AD at Vandy while I was there and I keep in good touch with him to this day. He has Ph. D. and has served his time learning under great AD's like Todd Turner. If they go the business route (which is a great theory for a big time school like UofM) I think Brandon or similar would be quite smart. The business man can hire enough sports people to opearate the teams and such. What is key is making sound business decisions (which Martin did well with) and interacting witht he big time donors.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:05 PM ^
I told Brian this over 2 weeks ago. The word I got is that Lloyd is going to be the new AD.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^
I think Lloyd is a great guy, but I just don't see him as the AD type. He would be great with donors, but I feel as if he would be more of a figure head AD than a get your hand's dirty AD. You can't compare him to Barry Alvarez for example. They are two totally different personalities.
I don't believe Lloyd has been that involved in the AD since he left coaching. He is there and will help out as necesary, but if he was the guy, I feel as though he would be really part of the AD and seeing how the numbers and figures work.
I just don't see it. He is retired and enojoying retirement. Maybe 10 years ago, but not now.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:16 PM ^
I don't want Lloyd as AD at all, don't get me wrong. I have a bunch of sources throughout the football program and athletic department, I usually just tell Brian first and let it shake out. This particular source is through Barton Hills CC. If you do not know, Bill Martin and his wife are members there.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:31 PM ^
I pray that your sources are badly mistaken. LC would be on the list of worst possible hires.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:18 PM ^
Whoever is negging me are idiots. You're right, I've never come on this site before and given credible insider info. Actually, every time I do say some inside info it gets confirmed later on.
October 21st, 2009 at 5:55 PM ^
Weren't you claiming we'd wear white pants at Iowa?
October 21st, 2009 at 6:57 PM ^
What? Absolutely not
October 21st, 2009 at 12:31 PM ^
You're a pretty trusted poster in my book so holy crap did you just make me nervous. I hope you're wrong on this one
October 21st, 2009 at 12:37 PM ^
Believe me it makes me nervous as well. Since everybody is negging me my source is through a pro-shop worker at Barton who had a conversation with Mrs. Martin. She told her that Bill was going to retire and that Lloyd was the top candidate for the job.
I emailed this to Brian about 2 weeks ago and decided not to mention it because I thought it was a ridiculous rumor. Since the first part of the "rumor" turned out to be true, I fear the second part will become true as well.
Anyways, neg away...
October 21st, 2009 at 1:06 PM ^
Did you get your inside sources while caddying for Judge Smail's group at BHCC?
October 21st, 2009 at 1:12 PM ^
Seriously, a pro-shop worker?
I know you have been pretty accurate in the past, but their is a difference between "Carlos Brown has a concussion" and "some pro-shop worker is in the know on Michigan's next AD."
You might be right in the end, but I doubt that the selection is close to being made.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:27 PM ^
Well, I'd have rather not out myself and tell you I'm a member at Barton as well.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:37 PM ^
This does not make the Barton pro-shop worker more reliable.
Seriously, it's like if they were picking a new pope and you were like "It's Callixtus IV, the Vatican gift shop owner told me. Oh, and I'd rather not out myself, but I am Catholic, so..."
October 21st, 2009 at 5:21 PM ^
Fair enough, I understand. I'm not even saying that this part of the "rumor" will absolutely come true. I just felt I should pass it along to the MGoCommunity.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:13 PM ^
Ok Michigan Student. You are scaring me -- especially in light of Leach's comments against Lloyd last week. It makes me wonder if Leach heard what you heard and whether he was trying to head it off before it happens. My goodness, I just can't believe MSC would be dumnb enough to put such a divisive figure at AD who clearly has a different agenda than RR. It would be, in a word, insane.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:18 PM ^
Tout va Bien
October 21st, 2009 at 12:13 PM ^
According to a former player under Bo that I know, there was a significant amount of support for Miles amongst that generation of alumni players, and Brandon is regarded, accurately or not, as one of the insiders who actively worked to scuttle any possibility of Miles coming here. I think putting anybody from the list of current or very recent Michigan employees in that seat—Carr, Brandon, or whomever— will inevitably keep the blood churning among the alumni, players and non-players. IMHO the next AD should be somebody who is currently at another institution who has a proven track record of hiring good coaches. That would seem to be a big black mark against Bates. Yes, Martin was not without problems in that area, but he also brought in Beilein, RR, and Maloney.
Seyferth has always been well-regarded, but I don't know if he's ever had AD responsibilities himself.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^
I would agree with hiring coaches is crucial, but the only sport that you can point to is Football and I think it is a totally different approach at a small school. Hell, people here wanted English as a potential candidate. I am not saying he won't be good but he is 0 for at Eastern so far. There is a lot more risk in a hire at a MAC school as you are usually going after coordinators who have not proven themselves. Miami's hoops coach has been there forever. With a smaller AD, you need to look at a lot more than coaching hires. Do they know the business. Have their kids graduated? Have they raised money and built buidlings?
Miami has a great hockey arena, great pool, great new addition to football stadium. All things which have happened under Bates.
I am not saying he is the answer, but you need to look to a lot more than the most recent football coach he hired.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:42 PM ^
and the next AD will have to work hard to fill the suites, especially in this economy. If a candidate is a current AD somewhere else, then the health of that school's football program should absolutely be scrutinized.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:21 PM ^
I wanted to give Bates credit for hiring Enrico Blasi but apparently he did not (and admittedly, getting a guy to come back and coach at his alma mater is not usually a difficult task.)
But we need to be cognizant of the fact that the next major coach Michigan will need to replace will come in hockey (this pains me to type as I want Red there forever, but reality is reality.) and I think we want an AD who knows something about college hockey as well as football, basketball, etc. It's one of the things that makes running the Michigan Athletic Department a little big different than other major schools.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:01 PM ^
I assume you were implying this, but Bates fits the requirements you just laid out for a knowledge of hockey. I would say Miami (NTM) has a good program. A choke last two minutes away from a NC.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:15 PM ^
Yes, sorry I did not explicitly finish the thought, but getting a AD from a school with a CCHA level hockey program might be seen as a plus, at least it would be by me, like that matters.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:00 PM ^
...and I don't think he's ever worked at another school (although I could be wrong about that); but Fritz has huge experience with Michigan's Athletic Department. Many, many years as Assistant AD. He was, no doubt, groomed for the job at some point. I have to believe that career people within the Department would really be happy with Fritz, whom they all know.
The history of the Michigan AD job has been almost exclusively with inside-U of M and Ann Arbor candidates:
Yost from coach to AD.
Crisler from coach to AD.
Canham from track coach (and local businessman) to AD.
Bo to AD.
Jack Weidenbach, who did a good job, came right out of the Department.
Joe Roberson, who had a kind of troubled five years including his firing of Gary Moeller, came out of President Lee Bollinger's (ack!) Administration.
Tom Goss (eeeeyikes!) from letterman-to-businessman-to-AD.
Bill Martin from local developer and banker to AD.
Old Michigan Daily article, detailing Fritz Seyferth's finalist status in 1993:
http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/aug/08-13-97/news/news1.html
October 21st, 2009 at 5:09 PM ^
I just noticed who was one of the Michigan Daily co-authors of the story I linked above: it was our old buddy, Mark Snyder. Back when, as a student-reporter, a Michigan AD would actually talk to him.
October 21st, 2009 at 3:04 PM ^
You would be wrong if you believe that. I don't know of a single person in the department who would like to see Fritz in that job. ...and I did not get that info from a pro-shop worker.
Michigan needs to hire someone who can do the job. Period. The job is keeping a good thing going without screwing it up, keeping a lot of competitive people happy enough to do their jobs effectively, keeping the budget in the black, and most of all - fielding a winning football team.
Hopefully MSC and the committee will think outside the box when they build their candidate list. Not that they should necessarily hire from outside, but it won't hurt to get some different perspectives. Tradition doesn't run a business.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:25 PM ^
Coner
October 21st, 2009 at 12:29 PM ^
Hiring Lloyd Carr as AD would send the program into the dark ages. Carr is a dinosaur, and he stubbornly refuses to evolve, thinking his thick skin is enough to protect him from the evolution of the rest of the football planet. We all know how that eventually works out.
Carr would find an excuse to fire RR that would be even more flimsy than the excuse for firing Gary Moeller. Then, not only would we be stuck with a Carr protege like Ron English or Mike DeBord, but we would also have to watch the team readjust its personnel to look like Wisky again. Carr would have made a decent AD at UM: about twenty years ago. His window of competence, though, is now a distant speck in the rear-view mirror.
I hope they find someone with actual experience this time. Martin did OK with RR and JB, but watching him learn on the job was extremely frustrating. The Amaker hire, though it looked great at the time to me, kept the basketball program mired in the muck of the scandal for an extra five years.
Also, I think Martin held onto Carr too long. I'm not saying he should have fired Carr; that would have been a PR disaster before 2007. Instead, Martin should have used the time-honored technique of micromanaging him until he got pissed and quit. This really should have been done while Urban Meyer was still available.
Martin, though, did manage to either learn on the job or become a blind squirrel that found two acorns in JB and RR. I don't think we'll ever know if he just got lucky or if he suddenly became savvy, but I'm happy with the results. I just wish we didn't have to suffer through so much mediocrity through most of his tenure.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:56 PM ^
tin foil hats are bad for the skin