Dave Brandon's Game Plan

DB know you are stealing shit from his desk?

We probably needed another thread about this.

I always thought that was Dwayne Johnson, I guess I can see how I was mistaken by the resemblance though.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492956/

This makes a little sense.  On the other hand if it gets out he's looking he looks like a douchebag.  Brandon has given no indication he is that.   

Brandon gets hired, has chance to bounce "bad seed" RR with allegations swirling. Chooses not to and gives him public support.

Brandon goes around talking up the" MGOBLOG decimated defense meme" to everyone all year long.

Brandon gets Michigan in high profile games to promote the brand at night in 2011 and against Alabama in 12.  I don't think he made these with the idea he'd have to fire RR and have a potential embarrassment with another transition.

Specifically says he won't fire RR until after bowl game.

All tea leaves point to retention.  Despite the rumors Brandon will not just hire the womanizing, brash, boozing Jimbo Harbaugh without vetting him fully and looking at all the other candidates available.

Glad to meet you Marc Shepherd from NY, NY

RR is not getting fired.

"I cannot recall the last time a college football coach was fired after his bowl game."

-In 2001, Ohio State fired John Cooper after a bowl loss to South Carolina that followed a two-game losing streak to Michigan. OSU had recovered from a losing season in 1999, but in 2000 lost a late lead to Big Ten champ Purdue and then gave up 38 points at home to Meeechigan. We know what happened after that.

-In 1998, Washington AD Barbara Hedges fired Jim Lambright after a non-competitive loss to Air Force in the Aloha Bowl.

JL had not sustained the top-five level of the program that Don James left him in the wake of resignation over the Billy Joe Hobert loan scandal, and his team had been beset by minor scandals and lack of discipline for years (the Huskies' starting WR missed the team plane to Hawai'i and had to pay for his own transportation to the bowl game.) Still, Lambright had done nothing seriously derelict and deserved a better shot than she gave him.

Hedges hired Rick Neuheisel, who brought a Rose Bowl win in 2000 but cheated and started the decay of the program that stays to this day. Interestingly, Rick coached Colorado against Oregon in the Hawai'i Bowl the day before Lambright's last game, and Colorado, AF and Oregon were all on the Huskies' schedule the next season. (Rick beat his old team for his first victory at UW.)

the longer DB waits to publicly announce anything, the higher the chances are that RR returns next year.

I cannot recall the last time a college football coach was fired after his bowl game.

Don't know the last time, but you don't have to go back that far or even go outside the Michigan-OSU rivalry to find one: How about John Cooper, who was fired after the 2000 Outback Bowl?

That seemed to work out OK for OSU.

So there's one recent example. And THAT turned out really well for the Gophers, didn't it?

In any event, a lot of us thought 7-5, maybe 8-4 if they caught a break, was reasonable at the beginning of the season. Hey, that's where we are. three of our losses are to 1-loss teams. Iowa had yet to free-fall when we lost to them. And Penn State, at their place, at night.... that's the closest to an unacceptable loss we have.

Now the way it's gone down is difficult to stomach, especially with the hot start, but the actual record is right where thoughtful people hoped it would be back in late August. Progress, a winning season, a bowl game, another year of experience for a young team.

That is a very good point.  DB has to know that the future of this program also rests with good recruiting and program stability will affect recruiting.  I think a decision will be made pretty soon.  If not, wash-rinse-repeat, 2008 here we come.

I thought RR's buyout went down on 12/1/10.  I'm now hearing that it goes down on 1/1/11.  If that's the case, that may explain Brandon's reticence to make any major announcements.  Or, it may simply be that Brandon's still thinking about things and wants to talk with Rodriguez without all the media swirl and alumni angst -- let's face it, at least for awhile, things will calm down in about a week.

RR is out and Harbaugh is in; we are not waiting for our bowl game,  but for Stanford's.  Unlike RR, Harbaugh probably wants to coach his team in its BCS game.  BOOK IT

This makes perfect sense. It's the only scenario that makes sense. 

People actually believe DB hasn't come to a decision yet? Are you kidding? The season is over (except for the Whatever Bowl). He has all the info. He's been there every step of the way. All this "I'll review this at the appropriate time" stuff is exactly what CEOs and public-officials say; it gives the appearance of due diligence, and  buy them time. If the man doesn't have a strong opinion by this point, he's an idiot. And he's not an idiot.

If he were sure about keeping RR, he'd say so already. There's absolutely no reason why he wouldn't or shouldn't; it would help everyone. Instead, he's leaving RR (and players, fans, recruits) flapping in the wind. This is bad for everyone. Destabilizing. Divisive. I'm sure he wants this over asap.

So why would he do this? Because, yes, he's testing the waters. Exploring options. Doing exactly what his predecessors as AD failed to do. Brandon is too smart to be seen as the guy who gets turned down. He's doing what presidents do with veep candidates. 

What isn't clear is whether he has decided to nix RR no matter what. Maybe he's just seeing what's out there, and will keep RR unless he lands a better fish. If he finds his guy, he'll say, "I planned to wait till January, but the opportunity presented itself, and I couldn't pass it up." Or he'll just delay announcing the change till after the bowls. 

He's not putting this off till January. This is the biggest decision he'll ever make as AD. I'm sure it's the only thing he's dealing with. He's known to be an incredibly thorough, prepared, and forward-thinking executive. A good CEO has to be. DB knows exactly what he wants.

It's pretty much Harbaugh or Bust...just like three years ago when it was Les Miles or Bust, when we were left scrambling to find a coach. Or Notre Dame in 2004, when they planned to get Urban Meyer and were left scrambling when he hopped to Florida.

If he's seriously considering a change, without a doubt DB has his people talking to Jim Harbaugh's people to find out what it would take to get him to AA. Plausibly deniable but still doing his diligence.

There's no way he waits until after the bowl game to make and announce his decision.  I know that he has said that, but he would be stupid not to say that.  My guess is that he's talking with Harbaugh today and we will know whether RR is staying or not later this week.  Probably Wednesday or Thursday.

Like the OP said, you cannot have a month of negative recruiting, and all of the media questioning everything.  It would hurt the program even more. Either cut bait now, or say RR is staying and let's move on.

It will happen this week.  Gauransheed!

maybe we should save the "he's damaging the michigan brand the longer this goes" talk until more than 24 hours have passed.

I clicked thinking it would maybe be a hilarious joke post or something even slightly different from everything else we've seen posted in the last two days.

It wasn't.

My thoughts on this are that RR is the coach for the 2011 season.  There will probably be a very clear cut list of goals to be achieved, which would probably be partially made public, ie; win the division or something to that effect. Miami did that to Coker a few years ago. I personally think that DB already has someone in his backpocket, only a fool thinks he has not been making phone calls already to test the waters.

This is not a pro or anti RR statement, just throwing out a few issues.

If RR were to go the whole staff is going also with the possible exception of Fred Jackson.  The later it happens the harder it would get to build a new staff.  Remember RR couldn't get Casteel to come and that cost him dearly.  If we bring in Harbaugh can he bring assistant coaches from Stanford?  I have no idea but someone better have a plan.

If RR goes be at least prepared for major defections from this recruiting class plus possible transfers.  The freshmen and sophomores we have will be more inclined to transfer than if they were upperclassmen.  Take a good look at the roster and consider what it could look like next September.

It isn't just a case of getting a new head coach like it might be in the NFL.  A lot of other names are going to change outside of your control.

He may resign next week and go back to WVU? Since Steward will be retiring.



DB has made his decision. Whatever decision it is, I will support. In DB I trust!