Henning: The decision should be made sooner rather than later
The latest from Henning. He argues that it would be in everyone's best interest if DB made the decision sooner rather than later. While he makes a fair point that it would be fairer to RR, the asst coaches and staff and the players / recruits to make the decision asap, I think that all of his arguments make sense only if you assume that RR is going to be fired. (Which Henning does).
He even goes so far as to say that it is unfair to Stanford to keep make them start their new coaching search in January, as opposed to December. Again, this 100% assumes that (1) DB has decided to fire RR, and (2) that Harbaugh would take the job and quit on his team on the even of a BCS Bowl or even Nat'l Championship game.
The article:
http://detnews.com/article/20101130/OPINION03/11300409/1131/sports0201/Waiting-to-decide-Rich-Rodriguez’s-fate-could-backfire-for-Michigan
Before anyone says "not another should we shouldn't we fire or keep RR and when post" that is not the purpose of my post. I am simply passing along the latest article from a member of the Michigan MSM. I am not trying to reiterate to death what has been repeated on this board a bazillion times today. Even Henning in this article does not get into the "should we shouldn't we" issue. And I am fairly certain that this has not yet been posted.
November 30th, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
Of course he thinks that. He thought Rodriguez was going to be fired 24 hours ago.
November 30th, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
Of course, the whole column is based on the premise that Harbaugh's a lock to come the moment RR is fired. RR is not doing so poorly that just any coach would be a suitable replacement. I'm pretty sure I'd rather have RR than Harbaugh, but I'm rock-solid sure I'd rather have RR than conduct a coaching search and throw it to the fates.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
and now... still an idiot.
I predict that my decision, next Monday, is that he'll still be an idiot.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:23 PM ^
This may be my grumpy old man side talking but what value is there in re-posting articles from detnews and freep on mgoblog? Why turn the forums into what amounts to a feed aggregator of content? I'm going out on a limb and saying that most fans that would care are already reading detnews or freep articles and get little to no value out of this apart from adding stupid images and "lolz" comments, which just turns it into clutter and frustration for everyone.
There, I said it. Buried under a bunch of comments on a post that will probably end up removed, but I said it nonetheless.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:36 PM ^
"most fans that would care are already reading detnews or freep articles," then thank goodness there is an MGoBlog, to exist as a public forum to rebut those articles.
December 1st, 2010 at 12:35 PM ^
And I heard you. Then I loled, j/k. I agree with you.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:29 PM ^
I have no idea why the possiblity that DB is fucking up here is dismissed so blithely. It's not as though the guy has a proven record as an AD.
If he's made up his mind that RR's coming back, a public vote of confidence should be given tomorrow.
If he's made up his mind that RR's not coming back, Harbaugh should be given the weekend to see if Stanford gets into the BCS final, and the deal should be struck.
Brandon's mind should be made up by now. There are no conceivable circumstances by which the bowl game should change a yes to a no, or a no to a yes.
Stability and certainty in a program helps in recruiting; instability hurts. Period.
November 30th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
I agree. All of the current players are sure to love their coach being fired before they practice for their first bowl game under said coach.
On a side note, how the fuck are you still here?
November 30th, 2010 at 6:34 PM ^
But what if Rich is retained? Are all of these media types heads going to explode?
<br>
<br>(And no, it wasn't meant as wishful thinking....However....)
November 30th, 2010 at 6:40 PM ^
If RR's contract were up, there'd be a "decision", to renew or not. DB may come to the conclusion it's time for a "change", or not. They are distinctly different.
Change should not be made hastily. People don't adapt well to change. There are always those who will hate it, whether good or bad. DB would be wise to take his time and make sure it's the best thing for all involved.
A decision, on the other hand, should be made decisively and with haste. When handled in such a manner, it can show confidence in leadership, and allow everyone to buy into where we're going. Since RR still IS under contract, there is no "decision" here.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:37 PM ^
I personally have no interest in the AD demanding changes to the coaching staff. That's far too pro, far too Illini for the Michigan football program. Selecting and managing coaches is the head coach's job. If the AD decides that the coach has not performed this part of the job well enough, the AD gets a new head coach.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:38 PM ^
Semantics. Brandon's said over and over that an evaluation will be done of the football program. That naturally implies a "decision."
November 30th, 2010 at 6:44 PM ^
Any good leader is going to evaluate their team on a regular basis. I would expect him to evaluate the program EVERY year at season's end, not just suddenly because he might be thinking we need a change. The review process is completely independent of any perceived change/decision.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:41 PM ^
Using the bowl game as a criterion gives you such masterpieces of management as Bill Stewart at WVU and Bobby Williams at Little Bro.
Thanks, but no thanks.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:46 PM ^
then there was this guy named tressel
November 30th, 2010 at 6:50 PM ^
And on the flip side of Bill Stewart and Bobby Williams, we have Minnesota wildly overreacting to a bowl game and flipping Glen Mason for Tim Brewster.
Again, thanks but no thanks.
November 30th, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^
...if Rich Rodriquez stays you've terminally hurt his recruiting for this period (almost everyone will have either decided or, at the very least, eliminated Michigan from consideration). And if you fire him you've hurt the new coaches recruiting *and* have the risk of the Henning-mentioned John L. Smith incident repeating itself.
Waiting this long is a lose-lose regardless of what you decide. Brandon needs to get over this god damn stubborness and realize what modern day college football demands. Waiting that long might have worked back when he played in the...I believe 60s (he was a Bump Elliot guy right?) but not today. Today that's about the worst thing you can do with a coaching decision (albeit, Martin tried his darndest to do worse).
November 30th, 2010 at 7:43 PM ^
Brandon played for Bo in the early '70s.
There is one rational explanation for this. It would be if Brandon and Harbaugh have privately reached an agreement, but that Harbaugh really wants to coach one more game with his Stanford team, to the point where he's okay with losing a month of recruiting. If Harbaugh's okay with it, Brandon obviously will be, since he stands to save $1.5M by waiting until 2011 to fire RR.
November 30th, 2010 at 7:19 PM ^
The day after the bowl game, at 7 pm, right after the network news and right before "The Office". Dave Brandon and Jim Brandstatter, in a makeshift studio at Cass Tech's gym with teenagers practicing basketball and volleyball in the background, announces "The Decision". All kids in background will receive a free large pepperoni pizza, with the winner's photo printed on the box.
The special will also include features on Denard Robinson, Henri the ennui otter, and the 1985 Michigan team.
GO BLUE!!!
November 30th, 2010 at 7:24 PM ^
OH noes, Henning thinks a change should be made to the coaching staff. I was waiting for this. I had something set aside especially for this occassion. Now where is it? Man, I hope I didn't...oh wait, here it is:
November 30th, 2010 at 7:47 PM ^
Jmblue's explanation is the only one that makes sense. Anything but that and this month delay is silly and counterproductive.
November 30th, 2010 at 8:00 PM ^
Ooooooo. Big, tough words.
Shout down and swear at people who disagree with you. That's quality.
November 30th, 2010 at 8:58 PM ^
because he cannot get DB to listen to him...
November 30th, 2010 at 9:07 PM ^
... why sports writers get to lobby for someone to be fired?
Think about political or business columnists doing this.
Hey, here's my take: the Freep and the News should fire all these motherfuckers and replace them with chimpanzees who will work for bananas and at least fling their shit with some semblance of panache.
November 30th, 2010 at 9:47 PM ^
I don't have any "inside" information and will not pretend to know the results of the biggest guessing game in college football today but i have one question for the members. Does anyone really think db needs more data points to make his decision?
Does he plan on watching the fifteen practices to assess the coaching staff. Will the bowl performance determine who coaches us next year? If he plans on having the prodigal son return from the west coast, he has to keep quiet until january, 2011. If he plans on keeping rr, why not say it now and make recruiting a lot easier?
His timetable suggests to me that our next coach will be a former quarterback.
November 30th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
Brandon does not need one more game to evaluate. He already knows Rodriguez's modus operadi. He has been evaluating Rodriguez since he was hired.
Personally, I think it is unfair to Rodriguez eitherway. He is being left hanging.
December 1st, 2010 at 4:24 PM ^
Why can't people at least consider the fact that DB may have already made up his mind. He is an astute business man. To lay out the fact RR is gonna be gone before he has a new HC in place would greatly damage recruiting and possibly the guy coming in (JH?).
That was part of the problem when LC retired. The period of time when Michigan was head coach-less was horrible on recruiting. But DB can't explain all this to all of us. He's doing his best just to reassure us that he's handling things just fine.
November 30th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
I kind of agree, in that Dave Brandon can help minimize Michigan's recruiting by just giving a definitive answer, which I hope is RR stays. Henning is an idiot though. He may be a nice guy, but he's an idiot.