This is Dave Brandon’s fault.
I can’t fault Bill Martin for bringing RR to Ann Arbor bc he was the next best thing and Lloyd Carr essentially destroyed any chance of Les Miles returning home but I definitely can blame Dave Brandon for intentionally ignoring Harbaugh when he was an upcoming star (unlike when Carr hired Loeffler as QB coach over Jim) and hiring Brady Fucking Hoke instead all due to his massive ego.
This essentially robbed us of 4 years of Harbaugh’s prime.
Fuck Dave Brandon
September 24th, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
While we shouldn't support these types of posts, in this case, it is an interesting thought experiment for what might have happened had Harbaugh gone from Stanford straight to UofM.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:28 PM ^
I don’t think he would of left Stanford for Michigan at that time. Remember his dad coached at Stanford and he spent a lot of time there.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:37 PM ^
I'm not even saying he would have. Just interesting to think what happens if he takes over for RR and starts off with Denard and Luke Fickell too.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:26 PM ^
I feel strongly 2011 would play out exactly the same and 2012 would probably be the same, too.
2013 is where things might have been different.
September 24th, 2019 at 10:04 PM ^
There is no way Harbaugh comes here and works for Dave Brandon. You people are hilarious, I remember when this board negged Harbaugh for his negative and accurate comments about UM while at Stanford. If it wasnt for Hoke and Brandon, Michigan fans would still have a grudge against Harbaugh. This board has lost its mind.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
His dad was at Michigan longer than he was at Stanford - and obviously Jim played here.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:24 PM ^
He did leave Stanford at that time. Perhaps he really wanted to go to the NFL though, as Dave Brandon said. Not unreasonable.
Do not mistake this for me having anything but hate for Dave Brandon.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:40 PM ^
What are the odds Harbaugh returns to Stanford? Interesting...
I actually blame Lloyd Carr for all of this. He was probably 2-3 years past retirement during his last season as coach, so the writing was on the wall for an impending transition. Yet he failed to groom or recruit an heir apparent to the coaching throne. Then proceeded to let everyone out of their commitments.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:42 AM ^
Two or three years past retirement would make his 2006 season a year he should have been retired? Guess we should be looking for a retired coach then, cause 11-2 and being able to compete with Ohio State sounds pretty darn good.
if Bacon is to be believed, he did want to retire after that season, not letting that happen is in my mind the biggest mistake that was made by a Michigan AD.
September 25th, 2019 at 1:26 PM ^
Completely agree with this. It is fairly well known that he stayed one year longer than he wanted to.
Also, why was it his job to hire and groom his successor? Hiring the successor is the job of the AD, not the head coach.
September 25th, 2019 at 8:32 PM ^
He would have
September 24th, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^
Probably would have landed his choice of QB right out of the gate.
September 24th, 2019 at 10:34 PM ^
His choice qb would already be on the roster in Ryan Mallett
September 24th, 2019 at 10:56 PM ^
Mallet would have stayed. Les would have raised the bar from Lloyd.
The program would have never dipped. Dantonio would be consider mid tier and have a losing record vs Michigan.
September 24th, 2019 at 11:08 PM ^
Mallett wouldn't have stayed even if Les Miles or Jim Harbaugh came to Michigan to be the HC. He was going to transfer no matter what. He was not well liked by anyone in the football program
September 25th, 2019 at 10:49 AM ^
I had heard he’s was pretty selfish and immature. He could sling the rock though and maybe would have harnessed him some.
September 25th, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
Get in the alternate universe machine!
TBH we would have had Harbaugh make us good and then he would have left for the NFL. Although perhaps that leaves us better off in 2019.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
Even if this is a shitpost it’s terrible.
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September 24th, 2019 at 8:21 PM ^
The Cube - getting angry on a Tuesday night!
September 24th, 2019 at 8:22 PM ^
I’m angry bc nobody is spinning me due to construction in Regents plaza in front of the Union.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:33 PM ^
Some drunk kid will come by later to take a leak on you.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:54 PM ^
My outer coating is water proof.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
Keep telling yourself that makes a difference.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:24 PM ^
No - Bill Martin should have put more effort into the search. Covered reasonably well in Three & Out.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Exactly, he was on a goddamn yacht instead.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:36 PM ^
He had no intention of hiring Les Miles.
He did not miss the Les Miles call, he made sure Les Miles couldn't call.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:11 PM ^
Which, by itself, is ok. He didn't NEED to hire Miles. The problem is that Martin had no one else vetted and lined up. The whole RR deal was rather last minute (relatively speaking) and not well planned.
September 25th, 2019 at 12:15 AM ^
RR was forced to build an entire program from scratch, something he should have never had to do at a place that had the pieces in place to have been successful for the prior 40 years..
September 24th, 2019 at 8:24 PM ^
Harbaugh is only 55 years old...he should STILL be at his peak. Dave is still a douche though.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:58 PM ^
Was waiting for someone to blame Brandon. He was a colossal failure as an AD but he's been gone for 6 years. C'mon people, this mess is on Harbaugh.
September 24th, 2019 at 10:18 PM ^
Is Harbaugh’s recruiting Dave’s fault? Can’t blame everyone else. Look how many DTs are in the recruiting class.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:28 PM ^
Have to blame somebody. Dude, give it up.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:34 PM ^
I . . . I . . . I got nothing.
I'm just procrastinating, but this thread made me immediately see the error of my ways.
So thanks for that.
September 24th, 2019 at 11:41 PM ^
Get back to work M-dog. You’re not getting paid to believe in the power of your dreams.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:39 PM ^
Hakuna Matata. Beat rutgers.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:45 PM ^
I'm masturbating a lot more
September 24th, 2019 at 8:46 PM ^
I still blame Martin and his goddamn sailboat. Hiring Les in 08 would have saved us an infinite amount of grief, and if it didn't work out we still could likely have gotten Harbaugh when the NFL shit all over him.
Hell, Lloyd wanted Ferentz to replace him and that would have been better than the Rich Rod and Hoke Show.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:08 PM ^
Lloyd wanted Ferentz to replace him and that would have been better than the Rich Rod and Hoke Show.
Ferentz with Michigan's brand and resources might be better than current Harbaugh.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
Eh I doubt it. Some guys just can't handle the expectation of winning Big 10 titles every year and competing for national titles. I don't think Ferentz would have been able to cut it.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:52 PM ^
On the flip side, I don't think we give enough thanks to Aaron Bailey and to the 1993 Houston Oilers. If the Oilers don't blow a 35-3 lead to Frank Reich, AND Aaron Bailey had caught that hail mary to send the Harbaugh-led Colts to the Super Bowl in 1995, JH would've surely left a few years ago to coach the Colts.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:14 PM ^
Trivia: Aaron Bailey and Harbaugh both attended Ann Arbor Pioneer HS.
September 24th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
Bill Martin was unavailable on his yacht during the coaching search, IIRC. And you are giving him a pass for settling on RRod? And for not having a succession plan in place when he knew Carr was leaving? And for giving Carr veto power over the choice of coach, assuming that to be true? And for hiring a guy who was a bad cultural fit, not to mention who ran an offense we didn’t have the players to run? And a weird defense that didn’t work against Big Ten teams? Come on, Martin bears a lot of the blame for where we are today.
September 24th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^
Carr was just too lazy to groom a coach to take over for him. Bo groomed Mo, Mo groomed Carr and Carr left us with nothing. He vetoed Miles, so may be that story of Miles hitting on Carr's wife was true. I still think Harbaugh was the best hire from outside of the program since Bo. I think people are spazzing out too much over Harbaugh's potential down season. I think he will stick with Gattis this season and see if his offense can improve. I hope it does, since we really need a modern offense to have any chance competing with the elite teams. I'm afraid Don Brown needs to retire or be fired. B1G coaches have figured out his defense and we may not have the DL to run it here.
September 24th, 2019 at 9:01 PM ^
What if RR had went to Alabama and they didn't up the powerhouse they are now?
September 24th, 2019 at 9:09 PM ^
What if Saban turned MSU into modern Alabama?
September 24th, 2019 at 9:12 PM ^
Would there have been no Mike Hart, A Train, Chris Perry at UM...or would Saban have looked right past them?
September 24th, 2019 at 9:36 PM ^
First of all, all those guys were out of state. Not sure if Saban was recruiting so national at the time. Someone else can fill me in.
A-Train came to UM while Saban was at MSU. I sort of assume Perry's recruitment to UM happened while Saban was at MSU as well. Hart was a 3 star out of Syracuse.
The question is just what would life be like if Saban never left MSU. I think the answer is that it would have looked like 1999 every year, or peak Dantonio every year.
He couldn't turn it into Bama (or LSU), though. That's why he left.
September 24th, 2019 at 10:13 PM ^
This is starting to feel like an episode of Rick & Morty