Dave Brandon: Bo's Lessons
Dave Brandon (apparently at last week's Canton Ecomonic Club appearance) discusses what he learned from Bo.
"...in every case I went back to things that Bo taught me. I mean, I went to the Bo Schembechler School of Leadership. And I got a degree." "...talent was alwys first and foremost...but equal to that was attitude. You had to come to Michigan to be a Michigan Man. You had to come to Michigan to want to be part of something special. You had to come to Michigan knowing that expectations were going to be higher than any other place you could go. You had to come to Michigan knowing that you were going to be in a fishbowl and you were going to held to a higher standard than any other kid on that campus."Brandon continues to impress.
I liked the part about practice going over 15 minutes to listen to Bo yell at an assistant.
He neglected to mention if those minutes were countable--circumventing the rules...AGAIN!!!
... is that David Brandon was willing to take a huge pay cut and eat rubber Chicken Marsala at events like this about 200 times per year.
I think he has the potential to be the best AD in the USA by a mile.
I guess it never occurred to me how much impact a good athletic director could have on a program.
There was nothing wrong with Bill Martin, but Brandon seems intent on being out in front of everything. Knowing he has faith in our coaches, wanting to upgrade our facilities, bringing night games to UM, and his unwavering confidence in the University's ability to be Awesome makes him supremely likable. His confidence is truly infectious...
Here's to hoping he has even better results at Michigan than he had at Dominoes.
Joe Castiglione is a good example and the job he has done at the University of Oklahoma.
April 11th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
We all knew Bill Martin wasn't/isn't a "people person," but I think these past few weeks we've learned just how important that piece of the puzzle was. It isn't Barnacle Bill inside his cabin in Fort Weidenbach anymore.
April 11th, 2010 at 11:02 PM ^
...they're executing a nice strategic communications plan.
Essentially Brandon is now the official embodiment of the Bo legacy and his role is to continue to talk about Michigan Tradition in public appearances. In the meantime, as RichRod's system begins to gain traction and we return to our winning ways, Brandon's treatment of the topic will begin to incorporate RichRod and his way as a worthy heir and safekeeper of the Michigan Tradition.
This is all contingent on a return to a winning record in 2010.
April 11th, 2010 at 11:22 PM ^
a LOT of sense.
I can definitely see Brandon trying to bring a little bit of Bo back to Michigan, infuse a little Michigan back into Michigan. And so far it seems to be working pretty well, he seems to be getting a really good response. Especially with Red, the last revenue sport Michigan Man left, retiring soon, we need the "new generation" of coaches to have that perception of being for Michigan, at Michigan's normal standards and in dome ways to BE little embodiments of Michigan, like our past legends.
*Certainly no offense intended to all the extremely capable, long-standing, great, successful non-revenue coaches we have that do fantastic jobs, it's just nobody cares as much, so the revenue coaches have to carry the torch
Also, obviously when coach Pearson takes over for Red, that's not a huge transition, but with the sky-is-falling mentality some people are taking, especially those not so knowledgeable about the hockey program, they could definitely see any change in that department as the last straw, if football and basketball continue to struggle on the field and in perception of "Michigan-ness".
Ohhhhhh PR/people in general... so complicated. This is why I'm a science major...
April 11th, 2010 at 11:38 PM ^
How could there be any outrage over Mel Pearson becoming the next hockey coach? Or any perceived notion that he isn't "Michigan" enough? Mel Pearson brings, essentially, zero change to the hockey program... There's no PR issue there in the slightest.
April 11th, 2010 at 11:46 PM ^
are too many people that don't know anything about Michigan Hockey, other than that they're really good and Red has coached them forever. I'm not saying there is outrage that Mel is coach, I'm saying they see another new coach in a revenue sport and automatically transfer their disapproval of RR/Beilein to him. Anybody that knows the program knows he's basically Red's Gary Moeller (hopefully minus certain future indiscretions), but too many people don't aren't familiar enough with the program. They see that so far new coaches haven't worked out, see another new name, don't bother looking up any information and give up on everything.
That's my assumption. I could be completely wrong. I'm a science major trying to analyze PR strategies and people... :-p
EDIT: This is also assuming continuing lack of expected success from football and basketball. When they succeed next year, this will become a moot point.
April 11th, 2010 at 11:49 PM ^
while Barnacle Bill (BB) was still the AD, he would mess up the Hockey coach hiring. I am not surprised that Red made the decision AFTER Brandon was hired and replaced BB.
If i have a problem with cash flow or need a new Building, BB is the first guy I would call; if I need to hire a new coach...
April 11th, 2010 at 11:52 PM ^
I don't think it mattered WHO the AD was. Red has had his succession in place for a long, long time, and by all accounts had earned his right to go out when he wanted to and set in place what happened afterwords. The year-by-year contract started under Martin. There's no way Martin would have opened a coaching search. It would have been, and will be, a one-press-conference deal with Red on one side of the podium and Mel Pearson on the other.
There's nothing to be worried about here.
April 12th, 2010 at 12:02 AM ^
Hammer, Nail, Head!