Dave Brandon Interview EDIT[ More TV Interviews]

Submitted by winterblue75 on

Somehow WDIV channel 4 in Detroit is interviewing Brandon tomorrow and Smilovitz will have the interview tomorrow on the 5pm newscast. Guess DB figures no one watches the local news sports segments so that's where he decided to speak out. Enjoy.

 

EDIT [ He is now going to be interviewed and be on WJBK Fox 2 in Detroit today as well. WXYZ channel 7 can't be far behind. I'd say by this interview tour it looks like he is going to be safe, you don't send out a dead man walking into a controlled environment to propagate the Universities stance]

MGoBoard

Wolverine Devotee

October 1st, 2014 at 11:59 PM ^

Uh oh.

 

Wonder why Dave visited 4 different sports today to tell them how much they mean to him? Swan song?

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 31528

mjv

October 2nd, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^

I would love to see the financial model that the AD used to pay for all of the new facilities. How much debt was taken on?  what does that imply for the minimum season ticket prices and quantities going forward?  

I'm concerned that the AD has painted the department into a financial corner where they have so much debt from the construction boom that any downturn in profits from football will sink the entire department.

And then does some dillweed MBA think that we forced to pay discount prices for the next HC? (BTW -- I'm some dillweed MBA as well, I'm just not that short sighted)

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MGoPoints: 3656

Vice President…

October 2nd, 2014 at 1:03 AM ^

They need to be thanking the football players (and to a lesser extent basketball players too). Any dope with that fat budget and donor base could pay someone to build the facilities Michigan is building now. That's the AD's job.

In fact, outside of paying coaches and building facilities (and hiring more MBAs) there is literally nothing Brandon can do with the money. 

It's the football/basketball players that are "creating the future" though. The non-revenue athletes should all be sending thank yous to Denard and Trey, not Dave.

Joined: 05/30/2013

MGoPoints: 176

justingoblue

October 2nd, 2014 at 12:33 AM ^

The vast, vast majority of people inside an athletic department are going to view things differently than fans do. Football players seem to love their coach that Brandon hired. Every athlete has DB catering to them, because it's his job, with sparkling new facilities and their academics/life being a concern, because it's his job and because he's probably a fairly normal human being.

Brandon needs to go because he's out of touch and mismanages every semi-tough issue that his core base cares about. There is zero confidence that his reputation will enable him to hire a first rate football coach and less confidence that he'd know one if that coach slapped him in the face.

That doesn't change the fact that most of the softball players remember huddling in a tornado shelter in Oklahoma with him and his wife while deadly tornados circled or mean that he's some monster that hasn't ever contributed anything positive to athletes at Michigan.

Joined: 11/16/2010

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Mmmm Hmmm

October 2nd, 2014 at 8:21 AM ^

Exactly...I'm sure, for instance, football players are at worst indifferent to GA seating, dynamic pricing for games, issues with the Victors Club and ticket wait list, uniformz, and (hi Brian) Special K. I'm sure that if you asked players, students should show up in droves and on time, and season ticket holders should support the program. I don't want to make the players sound insensitive, but they have very little interaction with (non-Special K) fan experience issues.

In contrast, players have tons of experience with new or updated facilities and effects of increasing team budgets. I'm guessing they like both.


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M-Dog

October 2nd, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^

This is all true.

But you can't just ignore the fanbase like they don't count.  If that's how you want to operate, then just make everything a club sport and go play in the open fields across the railraod tracks.

The fan base matters.  It's really disingenuous (and dangerous for the future of Michigan athletics) to pit the fans against the athletes, which you know Brandon is actively doing.

The passionate (for now) fanbase keeps Michigan from being Eastern Michigan.  EMU would kill for the pain-in-the-ass Michigan fanbase

We all need each other.  You can't think you are going to sacrifice one for the other.

Joined: 07/06/2008

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Mmmm Hmmm

October 2nd, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^

For the record, I 100% agree--there is no massive football program and all that comes with it without a rabid fan base that is willing to part with many many hard earned dollars to watch and support the program. I also know nothing about the opinions of any individual players on Michigan's football team, but it would be fair to say that sometimes athletes feel entitled to support that they probably should not take for granted.

My only point was that it is not strange that athletes (whether the SAAC or individual players) would like Brandon even with fan discontent. This is because fan discontent is about fan things that only indirectly affect athletes--especially a college player who is only playing for the program for 5 years tops (give or take an Evan Eshmeyer)


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mich_engineer

October 2nd, 2014 at 9:13 AM ^

"There is zero confidence that his reputation will enable him to hire a first rate football coach and less confidence that he'd know one if that coach slapped him in the face."

 

Sadly, I am less confident than you are that Dave Brandon will be doing any hiring of any football coaches.  Given the amount of push-back over the last week, it is my opinion that we are in for at least another year of Brady Hoke.  It appears that Hoke has influential supporters, and any amount of blogger or general fan outrage is more than cancelled out by former players, former colleagues from his first stint at UM, major donors, and otherwise influential people such as James Stapleton.

Joined: 11/30/2010

MGoPoints: 561

Jon06

October 2nd, 2014 at 1:11 AM ^

Hot take: Brandon is abusing the enthusiasm of these kids to fight a PR battle for his job. This is unseemly, and if I'm President Schlissel, I don't like it. Of course, if Brandon had enough class to realize this was ridiculous in the first place, the department wouldn't be such a clownshow to begin with. 

IMO the serious and insuperable problem for Brandon is that he learned to lead in a world where his stakeholders were a bunch of overworked hourly employees who lacked the time and energy to pick through his disingenuous PR efforts. But the stakeholders at Michigan are thousands of lawyers, thousands of PR professionals, thousands of doctors, and tens of thousands of other intelligent and successful people with the time, energy, and commitment to Michigan to look past the lapel pin on this particular empty suit.

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Mr Miggle

October 2nd, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^

even though I'm not sure it's fair. People that support Brandon are going to speak out in response to the rally, they don't need any prompting from him. If he is suddenly showing up at practices counter to his usual practice, then it's unseemly. If that's routine for him, it's not.

Your second paragraph doesn't make sense. Dominos' primary stakeholders are the franchise owners and their customers, not hourly workers.

Joined: 10/07/2010

MGoPoints: 47584

aratman

October 2nd, 2014 at 10:36 AM ^

If the people putting your product out to the customers, the people who interface with the customers and are the face of your pizza aren't stake holders you are in trouble.  This attitude is why there is such crappy service everywhere.  Labor that is only viewed as an expense will strangle an orginizations.  Quality people who deliver pizza will not tell you about improvements or worse no one will listen.  Ever try to get help at Walmart?  Now try to get help at Costco.  You will see the difference.     

Joined: 10/02/2010

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Mocha Cub

October 2nd, 2014 at 2:24 AM ^

Damage control 101. Go to the areas where you're going to receive support, aka the non-income sports where he's actually done a pretty good job (makes me sick to give him a compliment). Next is a controlled interview tomorrow. I don't really think there's much of anything he can do at this point that will change the public's perception of him though. The point of no return was passed after Sunday came and went with no statement and no explanation. I wonder if this is the first time he's even visited some of these sports at all.

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Sione's Flow

October 2nd, 2014 at 12:24 AM ^

Now he just seems desperate. The veil has been pulled back. He did a half assed coaching search, which has blown up in his face. He threw his pick under the bus and now wants people to think he's not the problem. Look in the mirror Dave, you're the f'n problem.

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alum96

October 2nd, 2014 at 12:02 AM ^

The next time Bernie asks a tough question in his life will be the first time.  Bernie is to sports journalism what Jimmy Fallon is to late night.

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