Hackett May be Permanent AD

Submitted by Moe on

Rumblings today indicate that Hackett will remain as the permanent AD for possibly up to a couple of years.  What could go wrong with a very successful CEO running an athletic department?  

 

Hearing from multiple sources that expect #Michigan's interim AD Jim Hackett to remain on as the #Wolverines AD.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 26, 2014

Wolverine 73

November 26th, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^

IIRC, Don Canham had no experience running an athletic department either.  That seemed to work out OK.  So let's not assume Hackett will be Brandon; hopefully, if he keeps the job, he can be Canham.  Hire a guy like Bo and people will priase his tenure forever.

Don

November 26th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^

But Don Canham had extensive and very successful experience as a coach prior to becoming AD, which gave him great insight into identifying and hiring coaches. Canham specifically stated at some point after he retired that an AD's most important responsibility is hiring coaches, and that you hire other people to be the bean counters.

Hackett might be good at the bean-counting, but he has zero experience in hiring coaches. And don't try to make the argument that recognizing coaching ability is the same as hiring underlings whose major job is to kiss your ass in staff meetings and shine your shoes the rest of the week.

If Hackett fires Hoke and brings in Harbaugh or another similarly well-qualified coach, then all this is basically moot. If he retains Hoke, he's facing disaster. If he fires Hoke but replaces him with another unqualified coach, he's also facing disaster.

I don't think it's automatically bad that Hackett is on the job for a year or two, and it might aid in hiring a new head coach. But he has to hit a home run, and we don't know yet whether he's up to the job. If we had a new AD in place who had already hired and fired coaches, we'd have a better idea of what to expect.

FWIW, I had a meeting yesterday with an alum player from Bo's era who was a teammate of Hackett and naturally also knows the Harbaughs. Not that this is really news, but he confirmed that Hackett has all the contact info he needs to talk to the Harbaughs to discuss a deal, and he strongly implied that JH would be interested enough to listen. So basically it's in Hackett's court, and there will be no excuses for not making the necessary phone calls.

Harlans Haze

November 26th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^

While Canham didn't have actual experience running an athletic department, he was a coach at Michigan, and had been around athletics all his life. If anybody knew the ins and outs of the Department is was a successful coach who had been at the school a dozen years. I want an AD who actually has a background in athletics, not someone who has spent the last 20 years in business and was an athlete 30 years ago. I know business is important in the Ath Dept, but it shouldn't be the number one priority. There are assistant ADs who can run the business. If you're that worried about it, hire 2 ADs, one to run sports and one to run the business. There's no rule against that. There have got to be dozens of high caliber candidates out there who have spent the last 20 years in athletics. I can think of 2 who even have a stellar UM background; Carol Hutchins and Bob Bowman. I guarantee they will have more of the background conducive to the job than whoever is hired the way this process is currently going.

michgoblue

November 26th, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^

I don't know why everyone seems to be against Hackett.  We had one business CEO as AD and he did terribly.  That does not remotely mean that every other former business CEO will also be a bad AD.  Brandon was not a bad AD because he was a former CEO - he was a bad AD because he was an asshole, who was hell bent on reshaping the Michigan football experience while at the same time milking the students and season ticket holders for every possible penny.

Both Schlissel and Hackett have stated that his job - interim or permanent - is the mend fences with the various "constituants" of Michigan football, and to balance progress and modern needs with preservation of traditions.  With than mandate, I expect that Hackett (or just about anyone with a functioning brain and a non-DB sized ego) will listen to the fans do a good job of undoing some of BRandon's damage.  It isn't hard, and it wouldn't cost much to, for example, (1) cut back on the amount of piped in music, (2) not have a giant noodle promotion at the Big House, (3) not do silly skywriting stunts, and (4) not petition for fireworks and drones at games.  As to the milking of students, I think before leaving, Brandon already intruduced a ticket price reduction plan, so that is somewhat addressed.

Also, many were concerned that having an interim AD would hurt out coaching search.  Well, if Hackett is permanent, that is no longer a concern. 

So, serious question:  what is the concern here?

Harlans Haze

November 26th, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^

No, the last 3 ADs (Goss, Martin, Brandon) came from an immediate business background instead of an athletic background. And, they all failed in different ways. Obviously, it's not guarantee, but I think it's crucial to hire an AD with an athletic background. There have got to be dozens of viable candidates out there. I recognize that business is an important part of running the AD, but it can't be the overriding factor. Why not be a leader and hire 2 ADs, one to run athletics and one to run the business? If there's a conflict of interest, have the President make the deciding ruling. The Univesity can't afford to blow this one.

Blue In NC

November 26th, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^

I am curious that you think Martin failed as an AD.  I think he did a good job.  You can criticize the football coaching search and hire but ending up with RR looked like a good result at the time (and moreso everyday) and he totally turned around the finances of the AD without pissing people off the way DB did.  Plus he made some other good coaching hires (including basketball which was a home run hire although the Amaker one was a dud).

JamieH

November 26th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^

People jump all over him for the sailboat incident, but he took a deptartment that was hemmoraging money from the Goss fiasco, put it back on solid financial ground, hired the best basketball coach that has been hired at Michigan in 40 years (Fisher was great too IMO but I don't count him because he was an accidental hire that was never supposed to happen and was hired more by Bill Frieder than by Bo), upgraded our facilities, oversaw a fantastic upgrade to the football stadium that for the most part looks great regardless of the current product, and hired what should have been our coach of the future in Rich Rod.

 

Bill Martin was a really good AD. 

Alton

November 26th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^

(1) When Bill Martin hired Mr. Rodriguez, he failed to prepare him for the...shall we say...unique aspects of the Michigan football culture.  Mr. Rodriguez was going to be unwelcome among a segment of the University community no matter what, but he was completely unprepared for what happened, starting with that opening press conference.  That's not on Rich Rodriguez, that's on Bill Martin.

(2) With the "stretchgate" thing (or whatever you want to call it), it was clear from the beginning that somebody inside the Athletic Department was passing damning information to somebody outside the Athletic Department.  The Detroit Free Press knew exactly what forms to FOIA.  The fact is that there was an Athletic Department employee who was happy to sabotage the football team, and Mr. Martin completely failed to figure out who it was or to punish that person immediately.

(3) It became clear during the 2008 season, and certainly the 2009 season, that there were large numbers of recent football alumni who were actively working against the football coaching staff.  That was their choice, of course, but Mr. Martin could have taken a more active role in both exposing the most "unpatriotic" (for lack of a better word) of the alumni and of declaring support for the current regime.  That would have certainly helped recruiting, if only a small amount, but it might have done more to sway the fanbase into being a little more patient.

Also, didn't Mary Sue Coleman have as much to do with hiring Mr. Rodriguez as Bill Martin did?  That seems to be the impression given in John Bacon's book.

UMFanstuckinOhio

November 26th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^

because I have said it before. The reason our football program is in shambles is because of Lloyd Carr. The man made major mistakes and was the leader in causing problems which has led to this mess of of a football program.

JamieH

November 26th, 2014 at 2:36 PM ^

Yeah, Bill Martin was a hands-off AD.  Rich Rodriguez was getting a billion dollars a year to coach here.  If he couldn't figure out how to swim on his own, well, that's really on him IMO.  You don't get hand-holding at this level.

 

2)  & 3)  are things that I'm not sure any AD could have really stopped.  ADs aren't superheros.  If people inside the program were intent on bringing things down, it was going to be hard for Martin to stop it.  He wasn't going to suddenly become some sort of dictator and start clearing out the department.  Could he have done mroe?  Probably.  But that wasn't the style he had ever used, nor was that the style that had been used at Michigan in like, forever.  Martin was not overly political.   He was caught as unaware of the enemy within as anyone else was, and to completely blame him for it is I think not really fair.  Sure, he deserves some blame for maybe being naive about how things were going to go down, but I don't think he realized how ugly it was going to be.

Alton

November 26th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^

With your points (2) and (3), I'm not sure we really disagree there.  Just leave it at this:  Mr. Martin was too hands-off, and wasn't as aware of the political situation within the department as he could have been.

With regard to your point (1), though, I think I disagree.  Somebody comes in from the outside to a "culture" like Michigan's that has been trained to be ridiculously distrustful of outsiders, it is certainly up to the person at the top to insulate his employees and to ease their transitions--even the employees who make more than he does.  I'm not even talking about a week-long transition plan with "hand-holding," I'm just talking about pulling him aside before the introductory press conference and telling him it wouldn't hurt to drop Don Nehlen's name about 10 times, and to mention Bo every other sentence.

bjk

November 26th, 2014 at 10:07 PM ^

Michigan's experience suggests that everyone does much better when the former coach newly appointed as an associate AD, for whatever reason, goes out of his way to help the new coach find his way around, such as when Elliot quietly intervened before Bo had a chance to carry out his threat to "get rid of those silly helmets." I don't know what Canham's role in this was.

When the outgoing head coach newly appointed as an associate AD decides, for whatever reason, to take a different tack, then the program can easily end up getting nuked for the next 7 years.

Call this "handholding" if you want, but I like it better Elliot's and Canham's way.

Harlans Haze

November 28th, 2014 at 2:02 PM ^

You are correct NC. Bill Matin was an amazing businessman. His stewardship of the financial aspect of the athletic dept was fantastic, and the program is still reaping those benefits today. But, that was his background. He earned his stripes in the business world. And, he made a great hire in John Beilein. But, the fact is, he botched the Carr firing and the r-rod hiring. No matter what you think of Carr (and what he did/didn't do behind the scenes), you have to remember he had a top 5 team in 2006. He did suffer the terrible losses to begin 2007, but it was a season filled with key injuries. There was a lot of talent coming back for 2008, including a potential star QB. To this day, I'm convinced Martin panicked at the loss to App St. He saw ohio state and illinois winning with spread offensive systems, and he was conviced that r-rod was the best choice for the job. This is speculation on my part, but I believe, that based on the input of the search commitee and alumni that he offered the job to Les Miles, but let it leak in order to stick with his decision to hire r-rod. This, despite the fact that it dragged UM into an ugly contractual fight between r-rod and wvu, despite the fact that the quality of recruits that he won with at wvu was not that great, and despite the fact that it meant overhauling UM's recruiting base (which took years to recover from). The most telling (and underrated) event of the hiring occured with the transfer of Justin Boren (a Michigan legacy) to osu upon the hiring of r-rod. If that didn't speak volumes as to what a bad hire it was, then nothing did. Is it a coincidence that players like Frank Clark, Taylor Lewan, Brendan Gibbons, Will Hagerup and others (all recruited by r-rod) got into trouble while at UM? r-rod is a great football coach. But, he was IN NO WAY ever meant for UM, and most informed people knew that. To this day, UM is still recovering from that hire. That's why UM needs an AD who is skilled in the athletic realm, not just business.

BlueLikeJazz

November 26th, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^

Is that they went to great pains, when announcing Hackett as interim AD, to say that he was temporary and they were going to form a search team for the new AD.  Now all that has just evaporated, without explanation (yet), and that seems really dodgy.

It's not so much against Hackett as it is against the stupid processes Michigan goes through in transitions.  Kinda like Brian said in his main page post, they can't just do things the sensible way.

Stringer Bell

November 26th, 2014 at 11:48 AM ^

How do you know they still aren't looking for a new AD?  Hackett dropping the interim title means he could be staying on several years or just several months.  There was always the possibility that Hackett stays on for a year or two to stabilize the Athletic Dept, doesn't mean they still don't have their sights set on hiring an experienced AD.

Coach Carr Camp

November 26th, 2014 at 12:02 PM ^

MY only "concern" is that Michigan offered the big name AD's and all gave a "Thanks, but no thanks". Which I guess hurts my Michigan fan ego? None of these guys thought coming to Ann Arbor was worth it? It obviously shouldn't though, AD's are not like coaches who know they live nomadic lives. Bates and Manuel could very well be living perfectly happy lives in Boston and Conneticut. 

True Blue Grit

November 26th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^

"against" hiring Hackett.  He seems like a great guy who is people-oriented and knows how to run large organizations.  I think the main risk area is that he has no experience in the hiring and firing of coaches, and in the general management of a modern-day athletic department.  So, people are more against the idea of hiring another AD with no experience running an athletic department.  

My guess is that Schlissel feels very comfortable with Hackett right now and believes he's on the same page with the direction he wants the department to go towards.  So, Hackett will need to mend fences as you put it before hiring a permanent AD.  Personally, I'd rather we find the new AD sooner rather than later.  But, if Hackett can find the right football coach, we can probably wait longer to make the AD hire.

Brodie

November 26th, 2014 at 7:21 PM ^

Yes, people bitches about petty stupid shit liked piped in music and for the most part everyone yawned and didn't care. He lost his job because Hoke flamed out, don't kid yourself. If we won 10 games every season, nobody would have questioned the cost of water bottles outside of this echo chamber

McSomething

November 27th, 2014 at 10:33 AM ^

Had he not left the last coach hanging in the wind for so long the way he did, been a money grubbing dick, and just all-around asshole to anyone that wasn't a big-money donor, on top of his numerous massive PR gaffes (starting with the whole Shane Morris concussion fiasco, and that is far from the only one) I'm betting his coach losing wouldn't have seen him pushed out the door the way he was. It's always been about more than simple wins and losses. That it isn't is a notion that needs to die a fiery death.

bjk

November 26th, 2014 at 10:23 PM ^

and 300,000 people who populated M's season-ticket wait list through and after 3-9 evaporated four years into the Brandon regime.

DB's job is to keep or hire a competent FB coach and to keep the fans who pay for the AD budget from bailing, and then there's "the rest."

He failed dismally in both of the most important aspects of his job. He killed, and was continuing to kill, M football.

There is no "the rest."

UMxWolverines

November 26th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^

I think you are overestimating the season ticket wait list....

I'm pretty sure it was something like 20,000 people before Rich Rod and 10,000 after Rich Rod. But the point still stands. 

edit: My mistake. The wait list for real was once 300,000? That almost seems unreal to me. But I found a couple sites claiming so as well. 

gwkrlghl

November 26th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^

I know Hackett is not necessarily equal to Dave Brandon, but this still makes me feel very uneasy. He's got no experience as an AD, right? And he's about to oversee possibly the most important coaching search in the history of Michigan football

txmichigan

November 26th, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^

Next coach needs to know who he will be working for.  By all accounts Hacket is an AD that top coaches would be happy to work with.  And he seems intelligent enough to have learned from Brandon's mistakes.  

Don

November 26th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^

So a guy who's been on the job for less than a month, who hasn't made a single verifiable decision of any consequence has already proven to "top coaches" that they'll be happy to work with him?

Exactly how has he demonstrated this? Which top coaches have been convinced of this? Whose "accounts" are you referring to?