Jim Hackett Just Saved This Football Program
Jim Hackett just saved this football program.
My first game at the Big House was The Horror, and since that day I had never felt truly good about Michigan football. Instead, what I felt was a potent mix of dread and apathy. During the Hoke experiment, things got even worse, and Michigan was truly in trouble. We were much closer to the precipice of Ivy League-esque football irrelevance than any of us care to admit.
Today, that feeling changed. And it changed because Jim Hackett had the brains to bring a great coach home and the balls to go out and get him.
I was cautious about the Harbaugh rumors, perhaps overly so. I knew Hackett was smart, but I never anticipated the true extent of his intelligence, finesse, and persuasiveness. How ironic that the man who ushered in the first steps in the forthcoming Michigan resurgence was not the brassy, penny-pinching Pizza Man but the understated businessman with a soul.
Jim^2 deserves a place in A^2 for years to come.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:26 PM ^
Hoke to Harbaugh
Redefined the Michigan Man nonsense
Ran a PERFECT coaching search
Got everyone on board
Turned a half-empty stadium into a full one overnight
Just a few starting points there for you...
December 30th, 2014 at 11:00 PM ^
/s
December 30th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
December 31st, 2014 at 12:35 AM ^
Hackett didn't "save the Michigan football program." As Jim Harbaugh said, it doesn't need to be saved. Hackett did a great job and got one of about two or three people I would consider to be the "right guy." He is to be applauded. But Michigan is more than the eight years of poo that started with The Horror.
Teams 127-135 were eight teams out of 135. Michigan is due for regression to the mean. Hackett had a large part in putting the team in position to take its rightful place on the football food chain. But he didn't "save" the program.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
Great. Another thread saying the exact same thing. Which isn't even accurate.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
You can say that again.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:45 PM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^
It is accurate. That attitude was exactly part of the problem - thinking that we deserve success just because we had been successful in the past. Resting on the laurels of tradtion and entitlement, rather than fighting to win games today.
Stick your head in the sand all you want, but the reality is we were pretty damn close to the edge.
December 30th, 2014 at 11:00 PM ^
You mean, for example, like thinking the program is "saved" by a AD who's been on the job for two months and coach who's been on the job for 12 hours?
At this point, the program is no more saved that it was destroyed. One guy came in and hired the guy most everyone thought he should hire. And nothing else, as near as I can tell, has been gained or lost. Or happened. Aside from Muppets. There were Muppets.
Today simply starts the clock to the first utterance of "Hackett screwed this up" or "Harbaugh needs to go". The former is likely and the latter is inevitable. Because there's a lot of wildly entitled Michigan fans out there. Not all of them, for sure, but a lot.
Let's give it a few, you know, games. Or better yet, seasons. Then let's reflect on the efficacy of Hackett's two months of work.
I'm as big a fan as the next person. Just perhaps less prone to hyperbole in both directions: I witnessed neither the falling of the sky nor the second coming in this year of Michigan football. Except maybe getting to watch my high school daughter march with the Michigan Marching Band at the Maryland game. That was something.
Go Blue!
December 30th, 2014 at 11:16 PM ^
In just the last few months we were on the national news because it appeared one of our players may have been seriously injured and then put back into the game at great risk by a more or less oblivious coach (not the fairest portrayal, perhaps, but pretty much how the story looked on the air). We had a series of controversies and clashes between the school administration, fans, and the athletic director (student seating, Coke giveaway, "NO" vote on fireworks, etc.) culminating in the publication of shitty emails the athletic director sent to disgruntled fans, the publication of which saw him fired under threat of a fan boycott and ongoing active protests in the stadium. Then we kept losing. Then fewer and fewer seats were filled at each game. Then the coach got fired.
Contrast that with hiring the hottest coaching candidate in all of football (for less money than the pros offered, after virtually every national media outlet implied there was zero chance of landing) and introducing him to a packed basketball arena full of screaming fans.
Maybe "saved" is too strong a word, but the difference in the situations before this hire and after it could not be more different.
December 30th, 2014 at 11:44 PM ^
As of right now the only thing that is different is that we have a head coach. We have no assistants, and no players have come or gone. All that other mess is as it was before: A mess in the past (all of which would have blown away in the slightest of breezes in the company of a successful season). Oh, and people are excited. Excitement though, is all about anticipation of what is expected in the future. And when those expectations are met there is some satisfaction in the land. But when they aren't, especially in Ann Arbor relating to college football? Yeah. Pitchforks and torches.
I'm glad to have Harbaugh as our coach. But I'll reserve any opinion about his greatness as our coach until he's done some, or more likely a lot, of coaching. One short speech that included "Everybody that's for us is for us!" doesn't graduate student athletes, beat ohio, or win Big 10 championships.
So who will be our starting QB on Sept 3 at Utah??
December 31st, 2014 at 12:06 AM ^
I'm simply pointing out that the gap between "excitement" (however little that means to you) and people wearing "Fire Dave Brandon" t-shirts in a stadium that gets less and less crowded every week is huge.
And that the excitement and the moratorium torches and pitchforks are far different for a Harbaugh hire than they are for any other candidate in the country. You will notice there is zero debate about whether or not it was a good choice or if it will work out eventually? Can you imagine that happening if anyone else gets the job?
There's value in that, especially after what went on this past season at Michigan.
December 31st, 2014 at 12:07 AM ^
... but you're right.
Harbaugh hasn't won ONE game AT MICHIGAN yet, and some are falling all over themselves.
Hackett has made a seemingly good hire, and he's saved the Athletic Depatment, the football program, or whatever.
And a lot of this nonsensical hyperbole from people who thought the world was coming to an end 6 weeks ago and considered not even renewing their season tickets without a home run hire.
Please...
December 30th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
Hackett should have crowdsurfed Crisler.
Love everything about him. I knew things were under control when he talked about getting rid of the "Michigan Man" term that has been taken and turned into something it was never supposed to become.
We should all chip in for a fruit basket and send it to his office.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:23 PM ^
I think we can do better than a fruit basket, unless the fruit is solid gold. Or a nice vacation package or something.
I don't know how much of it was Jim was going to come home and he got out of the way, or if Hackett was really involved in persuasion. Either way the approach worked and was far better than Martin or Brandon did in the past.
On the Eisen show today Hackett mentioned he had a couple other projects he was working on for the department before he and Schlissel would meet to discuss his future as a permanent AD. I hope he considers it...he seems like a genuinely intelligent yet warm, passionate and kind person to deal with the challenges of all the athletes and the department. He has really impressed me so far and I hope we can retain him as long as he wishes to serve.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:42 PM ^
One of those projects, I know for a fact, is the development of the Michigan Lacrosse stadium. The plans are already finalized. Obviously the announcement has taken a back seat to more important things as of late.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:51 PM ^
Where is it supposed to go in? Down on South campus?
December 30th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
Edwards Brothers site.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
He ran a perfect coaching search. Kept the national talking heads completely out of the loop and landed his top candidate at a bargain price. Best AD in the nation AFAIC.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
I, too, thought we were closer than many thought to the precipice of irrelevance. My brother said today, "I'm glad we got Harbaugh because I think Michigan football was causing you to lose touch with reality the last couple years". Good enough reason for me.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:22 PM ^
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December 30th, 2014 at 10:26 PM ^
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December 30th, 2014 at 10:50 PM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 10:47 PM ^
NOOOOOOBODY
December 30th, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^
This is a unique day indeed. I recall JH as QB when I was young, remember listening to the radio with AC catching that pass against Indiana with Ufer making the call. Witnessed countless games in person, both good and bad(worst being K Stewart throwing that F'n pass to win the game...ugh), the dominance and season ruining wins against Ohio State in the 90's, and ultimately the undefeated season in '97. Since then, I've felt nothing like what I do today with Harbaugh coming home!
This is an amazing day for UM!
December 31st, 2014 at 8:43 AM ^
Yup, this is one of the happiest days of my 40+ year Michigan fandom.
December 30th, 2014 at 10:36 PM ^
Funny how quickly things change.
http://mgoblog.com/content/press-conference-11-22-14-jim-hackett#commen…
December 31st, 2014 at 2:05 AM ^
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December 31st, 2014 at 6:01 AM ^
ONE MONTH AGO: Not another CEO-Type tool bag to run this AD...Will UM ever get this right? And he isn't going to hire an AD for this coaching search?! What the hell does he know about doing a coaching search?
Meanwhile....HARGBAUGH?!!
NOW: Hackett is a MF-ing genius. Everything he touches is gold...Long live JH!!!
December 30th, 2014 at 10:41 PM ^
I'm pretty confident in the long term (as we all should be), but this hire also solidifies the short-term better than any other possibly could. This team could very easily be mediocre to bad again the next year or two (we could improve, but we didn't go 5-7 because this is a national title contender in the making). If Dan Mullen or Mora or Schiano or maybe even Les Miles is the coach if/when that happens, people are going to dissent and doubt. If it is some no name coordinator or a lower level HC things would be much worse.
If this team isn't good right away, I don't think any UM fan is going to think that is Jim Harbaugh's fault. Nor will there be any real doubt about how good we'll still be in year 4+ when the program he wants to build is in place (just like what happened at Stanford).
Hackett bought the program a near complete moratorium on criticism and doubt from the fanbase and guaranteed ticket demand until at least the middle of the 2018 season. Considering where we were with Coke giveaways and Brandon's other horseshit and the concussion bufoonery, we've come a long way in a short time thanks to the two Jims.
December 30th, 2014 at 11:00 PM ^
I was skeptical that an interim AD could come in and almost immediately lead a successful search for a HC. But Hackett sure pulled it off flawlessly. He's quickly earned a shot at the permanent job if he wants it, and either way, has carved his own niche in Michigan lore.
December 30th, 2014 at 11:02 PM ^
Oh, he's staying. Didn't you hear his slip in the presser? "In a year, I will evaluate..."
Not the words of a man whose next task is to find his successor.
December 30th, 2014 at 11:10 PM ^
That was an interesting comment.
December 31st, 2014 at 12:58 AM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 11:08 PM ^
December 30th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
December 31st, 2014 at 12:11 AM ^
Who's got it better?
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December 31st, 2014 at 5:11 AM ^
December 31st, 2014 at 6:57 AM ^
I don't know how much of it was Jim was going to come home and he got out of the way, or if Hackett was really involved in persuasion. Either way the approach worked and was far better than Martin or Brandon did in the past.
On the Eisen show today Hackett mentioned he had a couple other projects he was working on for the department before he and Schlissel would meet to discuss his future as a permanent AD. I hope he considers i.???
December 31st, 2014 at 7:30 AM ^
Nice job Jim Hackett!
December 31st, 2014 at 8:29 AM ^