Hackett May be Permanent AD
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, 2014November 27th, 2014 at 1:05 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
That he really doesn't know how to hire a good football coach, and if Harbaugh won't come he will saddle us with someone like Schiano for 4 years.
November 26th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^
I love it how every fucking internet poster knows how to hire a good football coach, but Jim Hackett who played football at Michigan, ran a successful Fortune 500 company and was smart enough to be named interim AD at U of M doesn't.
Because he has never been an AD before, he's just going to hire some schmuck and call it a day? He's very smart and very dialed in. I think we'll be OK here.
November 26th, 2014 at 7:17 PM ^
He'd be a much better AD and assessor of HC material if he'd just spend all his free momements at MGoBlog. For all we know he does and he has. Since Tampa Bay's season was essentially over by the middle of October, maybe he's even now in negotiations with Jeff Tedford.
November 26th, 2014 at 8:35 PM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^
It's like the worst possible version of Jurassic Park only with internet comments instead of dinosaurs
November 26th, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^
If true, I don't like this at all. I'm not sure that I follow the logic of, "This is an important hire that we need to take our time to get right. So, you, guy who's never done this before, you hold the fort down for a couple of years - maybe permanently - and make a bunch of hugely consequential decisions while we think about who should be making these decisions."
November 26th, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
I don't understand how anyone can equate Hackett with Brandon just because they're both corporate guys. Isn't that a bit like saying all of us handle things exactly the same because we went to Michigan?
When someone turns up evidence of Hackett treating fans, alumni and students with no respect, then I'll worry about it. For now...relax!
November 26th, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^
There's reason to be skeptical without believing that Hackett is Brandon 2.0. This is a really important hire, and the other people being mentioned for this job seem much more qualified than Hackett for this particular job (Bates, Manuel, Long, Castiglione, Parker, etc.). It's possible than an outside-the-box candidate with no AD experience is the right move, but it's not like Hackett was hired after a long, careful process in which he was judged to be superior to more conventional candidates.
Hackett's very much an unknown, which is a legitimate reason to question whether it's wise to have him calling the shots during an extremely important period for UM athletics.
November 26th, 2014 at 10:35 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^
I mean, obviously it's better to judge him according to his job performance, but that's not possible at the time of hiring. By that logic, no one should say a word about our upcoming coaching search until several years from now, since no living person other than Moeller, Carr, Rodriguez, and Hoke has a track record coaching Michigan football that can be evaluated.
On a message board, it's fine to react to this kind of news, especially when those reactions are tied to the candidate's apparent qualifications for the job.
November 26th, 2014 at 12:02 PM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
after you've been hit in the head enough times you're liable to believe the sky is falling
November 26th, 2014 at 10:28 PM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:45 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
If it's a crucial time for UM football, it's a crucial time for UM athletics. If things continue to go extremely poorly for our football program (most importantly, a continued waning of fan interest), the financial consequences will be felt widely across our athletic department.
November 26th, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^
You know who else isn't Brandon? Me, you, and most other human beings on the planet. "I'm Not Dave Brandon" shouldn't be the best statement on the resume of the person hired to run one of the largest athletic departments in the country tasked with making a critical football coach hire. There are so many other options out there that have actual experience working in an athletic department - or even as Athletic Directors!!! - that also aren't Dave Brandon. Come on, we deserve better than to hire someone that's not DB and hope he works out. If this is true, it's like the Hoke hire. Lazy. Schlissel has told us that he'd rather do anything else other than worry about athletics, and he's proving that he's a man of his word with this.
November 26th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
I believe that in this thread we're discussing the implications of what Bruce Feldman and others have said is true - that Hackett is the permanent AD. I don't care if the search takes a long time and he's interim for awhile. But to just hand over the reins to him because he's already settled in the office and Schlissel doesn't want to deal with athletics is what bothers me (also a hypothetical, granted).
November 26th, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
Wasn't his "interim" period going to be up to 18 months anyway? 18 months is a long time for an interim tag, maybe he'll just remove that from his title, do his 18 months, and step down. Schlissel needs someone to right the ship, he chose Hackett.
Hackett has 18 months no matter his title. So far he's kept PSDs the same, there have been comments on the $8 water and ridiculous gameday "wow" atmosphere. Hackett has had 1 home game to work with and he's going to be setting the policy and hiring the new coach no matter what his title is.
November 26th, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:21 AM ^
Let's do a bit of a hypothetical. You're quite good at what you do - let's say you're top 50 in your field. Congrats! You're really good at your job (brewing beer?) Well, we have a job opening and we'd like to sign you to a big fat contract for about 5 years. We'll pay you well.
Oh, but the guy who interviews you and will be your boss? Yeah, he's probably done tuesday. But we still want you to sign for 5 years. Wanna come work for us?
/Stability will only help with the next coaching hire.
November 26th, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:30 AM ^
Unless it's after about 5 good beers.
November 26th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
Well, okay...most beer. However when consuming 'craft' beers, I find my limit is indeed in the 4-5 range before I cannot consume any more. The more 'American' style beers of Budweiser and the like are easier to drink when you want to party all day, to me anyways. I find those types more refreshing on a hot day or with food where I like the smaller batch type beers more satisfying when I know I'm just having a few, or maybe just a couple after a tough day at work.
November 26th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
Brews like All Day IPA or Bean Flicker with lower alcohol content are great for day drinking, and generally you can find decent ones in all styles. Hell I've even had a session stout, although only on tap
November 26th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
All day IPAs....they're really good. Around here in St Louis, 4 Hands, Schlafly and Urban Chesnut are my favorites. But, and I know I'll be made fun of for this, I do like Bud and Bud Select. Bud Light do not like. But some of the Shock Tops are good, and believe it or not the Busch Copper Lager is a decent beer.
November 26th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
Its what we do here.
November 26th, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
Maybe he will be the anti-brandon and take a less involved approach, allowing those underneath him to do their jobs and make most of the decisions while he evaluates.
At this point, I don't think there is enough evidence to say that this is a bad thing. We will know more in the coming weeks based on whether he fires Hoke and who he eventually hires to replace Hoke.
November 26th, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^
There's also no evidence to say that this is a GOOD thing. Just the virtue of not being Dave Brandon does not qualify someone to be athletic director. We should not have to hope and pray that it works out. Haven't we done enough of that recently?
November 26th, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
we know nothing.
November 26th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
We know that we don't have an athletic director with one lick of experience in an athletic department. That is the issue. There are many options with experience and instead, if you believe the tweets, we landed on a retiree with no direct experience. That's what we know, and it's frustrating when considering Michigan's resources and options.
November 26th, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
that considering the resources we have someone with little to no experience. BUT, my point was that the discussion you were having....we have no good or bad evidence one way or the other. Ultimately, it'll take some time to figure out what Michigan has here. And the first true test will reveal itself in the next few weeks with the coaching search. The fact that his last name isn't Brandon should be a very good start, and by very good I mean at least moving in a positive direction.
November 26th, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
There's one guy who has experience as an AD, experience with landing a big time head coach, with interest in the University of Michigan, and on the playoff committee: Jeff Long. He should've been choice number one. He should've been given whatever he wanted. He would've been a slam dunk hire for U of M.
November 26th, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
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November 26th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
November 26th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
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November 26th, 2014 at 10:44 AM ^
I think you're right. The potential problem with Hackett is that he may not be able to or know how to undo Brandon's mess. As bad as Brandon was, he was only one guy, there had to be others under him doing most of the work to execute and probably come up with all the bad decisions. Hackett, as a businessman first, may not be able to recognize the structural and staffing problems within the department.
Now, that's not to say that Hackett, being a smart guy, can't reach out to someone more knowledgable in the field to help him make some of the decisions that need to be made.
November 26th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
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November 26th, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^
Is it wishful thinking to believe this decision has been made to help with hiring a new football coach? An athletic department with a non-interim AD looks more stable than one with an interim one.
November 26th, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
No reason to panic about this. its speculation and its going to take some time before we know one way or the other. The Michigan football coach hire is obviously a thousand times more important.
November 26th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
So when he can't find a suitable replacement football coach does he just take over that position as well?