Congratulations to Former UM Linebacker James Ross III on his new coaching gig at Tulane.

Submitted by DMack on March 27th, 2023 at 11:04 AM

I just wanted to take a minute to acknowledge one of our own. It's being reported that James Ross III was hired as Linebackers Coach at Tulane. This entire situation is a testament to how rewarding the game of football can be. If you work hard, prepare, bring the right energy to whatever the challenge is, the universe will bring good things back. Congratulations James, you embody what it means to be "A Michigan Man". Good luck at your next stop on the coaching train and I hope you get the opportunity to come back home soon. Go Blue!!!!  

WestQuad

March 27th, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^

Short of billionaire, President of the US, or Aiden Hutchinson's dad/Surgeon, I don't think there is a better job for former players than as football coaches.  

tigerd

March 27th, 2023 at 7:05 PM ^

Actually Dave was not a failed CEO twice over. I worked with him at Valassis and he was a very demanding leader who took a small company and grew it exponentially. Of course he rewarded himself greatly in the process as most CEOs do. He was a marketing guy with a lot of ideas which often conflicted with the U of M fan base. His greatest failure was not getting Harbaugh in the fold and unfortunately sticking with Hoke. He actually probably would not have done bad if he had been able to get JH because I can just about guarantee that he would have been all over finding donors for NIL. Definitely a douche move on the house naming thing. I believe he had another mansion in Arizona with an equally cheesy name.

turtleboy

March 27th, 2023 at 7:31 PM ^

He was also a professional turnover ceo, taking struggling businesses and gutting the staff via quotas. When he took over the UM Athletics Department I was surprised he treated it the same way, like a failing business, announcing he would arbitrarily get rid of a substantial part of the established department staff to meet a target percentage, to its detriment.

MH20

March 27th, 2023 at 11:57 AM ^

That's quite the progression for James. Spent 2021 on the Hope College coaching staff, then jumped to Cincy, now at Tulane.

Congrats!!

drz1111

March 27th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^

It feels like a lot more former players are quickly advancing into good coaching jobs.  I generally think "culture" is BS - winning teams have great culture, not the other way around - but other teams wanting to bring in Michigan alums as leaders and teachers is a pretty good sign that JH is doing something right. 

WestQuad

March 27th, 2023 at 1:03 PM ^

I've worked at several places with toxic work culture.  I've worked at some with great culture.   It made a huge difference in my everyday life. There is something to that in sports too.

I also think you can have a bad culture and still win.  See 1980s Miami and their White House cocaine culture, or Urban Meyer's Circle of Trust at Florida.