Opinions of Bill Martin?
I will preface this by saying that I am dying for football to start and I am looking for anything to talk about so I bring this up. I am just curious what people think of Bill Martin as an AD. It seems he has many critics, yet I am not sure why.
He is a very smart businessman and has the athletic department bringing in a lot of money. I believe the most recent figure is we are 3rd in the NCAA in revenue generated by the athletic department. He hired JB, who has our basketball team well on its way back from 10 years in purgatory. He hired RR, who I think will turn out to be a good hire. I will admit that I am of the opinion that you have to break down to build up. And, we are consistently in the top 5 as far as the Sears Cup is concerned.
So, why does he get so much flack? Would you rather have an ex-coach take over as head of the athletic department (see Wisconsin)? Or, would you rather have someone who manages the athletic department as a business? My vote is for the second.
I do understand that the Les Miles debacle will probably be brought up, but it seemed that people were not in favor even before the coaching change.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:07 AM ^
I am a huge Bill Martin fan. He runs one of the most successful ADs in the nation like a business and I am all for it. Nice guy too, I have met or run into him a couple times and he always will give you a smile and nod, handshake, or return your "Go Blue!"
Plus I love that all your coach is belong to us (probably misquoted that). JB was a fantastic hire, though I did think Tommy got one too many years to prove himself.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:18 AM ^
Close- "All your coach are belong to us"
"You have no chance to survive, make your time." I'm sure we could do something with that one too...
August 27th, 2009 at 1:43 AM ^
I feel Bill Martin has done a wonderful job as our AD. I wish we could've gotten rid of Amaker earlier although he more than made up for it with his hire of Beilein. I also wish we could've stayed with Nike but from what I understand adidas offered us way more than they did so financially it made sense.
The stadium upgrade looks fantastic and the new practice facility sounds great as well. I am excited that he has already planned a new basketball practice facility so we can compete with other programs in regards to facilities in both sports.
I feel Bill Martin has done a great job and has been unfairly criticized in the past. I hope he continues to be our AD for many years to come.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:24 AM ^
I think people will look back at him as the right person/approach for the time. Great businessman, good hires --process aside. He probably won't be fully appreciated until 10 years after he leaves.
That being said I hope his successor is more of a maniacal sports fanatic and will focus on Godzillatrons for the stadia, New Basketball Arena, and have the balls to make our student sections the inner ring of all of our venues, and further "destroy" tradition by scheduling a night game at Michigan Stadium.
That AD will be fired shortly after committing these atrocities against Michigan athletics and the pendulum can swing back to a solid business man like Martin.
Need that yin and yang....
August 27th, 2009 at 12:34 AM ^
We all know that college athletics is a business. We know it, the University knows it, and Bill Martin knows it. That's why I'd be in favor of hiring another Bill Martin type businessman. I'm very proud of our athletic department for being in the black. I'm also proud that they're not completely unaware of the economic climate around them as evidenced by the 1 year $5 ticket discount.
I think that BM has been a great hire. As others have mentioned, he's brought in top tier coaches. And what's more, our athletic department hasn't been pissing off everyone like Tennessee nor has it been staving off NCAA sanctions (when your basketball coach is on the ethics committee AND he gets you to the second round of the tournament, that's a keeper).
I think that it might be nice if the next AD was a little bit more bold, but looking back, Martin has been very bold. He changed the stadium which is tough in-and-of itself but he did it while meeting a lot of resistance from students and alumni. Yet I've heard very few dissenters since it's actually started to look nice. He's spent millions to get our football facilities up to date (heck, he spent millions on new equipment because Barwis/RichRod asked him to). He's going to get the basketball team new facilities. I believe he's going to renovate Crisler. He's been pretty bold.
To be honest, I think I want a Bill Martin clone for our next AD. The only real knock I have on him is that our football non-conference scheduling is pretty bad. At least in basketball we're doing well. And I think that RichRod will eventually get his way and have a better non-conference schedule which will give me everything I could ever really ask for out of my athletic department.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:25 AM ^
I think it's cyclical on the type of hire. Michigan really needed a guy like Bill Martin to come in when he did. Multiple sports were coming off sanctions including basketball and baseball. We needed someone outside the system to set up our current athletic department as a business as it split from the university into its own entity. EDIT: To finish that cycle, when things are good and appear to be consistent, you promote from within. That will almost inevitably end up causing drawbacks in the long run, but that also spurs change which is good for the evolution of a program. See: The end of the Bo era with Michigan fans' expectations vs results leading to a new rejuvenated program.
Martin has made more great hires than the average fan really notices. Coach Ryan of the women's soccer team is an ex-US national team coach. Maloney has been a god send for the baseball team. Then you have JB and RR at the marquee spots. Add in the revenue, the renovations, everything - it's just going so well.
If people base their opinions of him on the Les Miles incident, they are too focused on one issue. There is just too many other positives.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:40 AM ^
I don't know if this is true, but I have heard that Rodriguez is REALLY the guy Martin wanted from the start???
He didn't bungle the Mileshire. Miles was never gonnahappen from the get-go. Too much of a political hot potato. Miles seemed right to many (including me); it seemed like destiny. But somehow, and we lil guys will never know completely, it just didn't, and won't ever happen.
I agree with what you've said about Martin. He's an easy target, and maybe not the most PR savvy guy--in maybe not the most PR savvy athletic department overall--but business acumen is what UM needed and got. And all from a guy who I believe is doing it for FREE. That says a lot. Although, yeah, if I recall, some of UM's offices sit on ground he owns and leases or rents back to UM. Oh well.
You can't argue with operating on the positive side of the balance sheet, getting new facilties up (and good ones, not just doing it to do it). I DO wish he'd have had the university's support to do things larger, to have spent the 300 Mill on the Big House and other things. I mean, I know it's the economy and all, but I would want a great educational institution to be a leader out of this economic morass, to set a tone. But again, I don't pay the bills.
Martin is almost 70, and his pet projects are all nearing completion or have been completed. It will be interesting to see who replaces him. I hope it is someone transcendental like a Canham, someone who can work the media room, raise grillions of dollars, and find the time to mail me the keys to a luxury box just because he likes my contributions to MGoBlog.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:40 AM ^
they don't let RichRod replace him, then.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:27 PM ^
How old is Lloyd Carr? Think he might be interested?
Honest question.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:07 AM ^
Kevin Borseth, Women's basketball was awful here and I believe they had a winning season in his first year.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:22 AM ^
Didn't he hire Carol Hutchins as well? Borseth, Maloney, Beilein, Rodriguez, refurbished facilities, solid finishes in Sears Cup year-in, year-out. Why does this guy get criticized again?
August 27th, 2009 at 8:25 AM ^
He leaves games early. That is UNACCEPTABLE!
[/sarcasm]
August 27th, 2009 at 1:30 AM ^
Don't you mean E-pinion?
August 27th, 2009 at 2:03 AM ^
Bill Martin will go down as a legend.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:31 AM ^
He should have something named after him. Maybe the new Basketball practice facility!
August 27th, 2009 at 8:37 AM ^
Bill Martin will be forgotten, which is horrible. Do you think the AD from 50+ years ago is going to be remembered? People will remember the coach, some of the great players, but not the behind the scenes people that made it work.
I guess I shouldn't mention this isn't meant to be in absolutes. Of course some of us will be that old blue hair who knows of the guy, but in the long run, a majority of the population will just let it go.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:46 AM ^
Using your logic, why does anyone remember Don Canham? Martin has already been around for almost a decade and there is nothing to indicate he's stepping down any time soon... he's earned his place in the history books for hiring RichRod and that will make him forever notable.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:49 AM ^
I probably wouldn't if they hadn't named the natatorium after him. That said, I probably wouldn't know what a natatorium was if I hadn't gone to UM.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:53 PM ^
I'll reinforce my logic (albeit weakly): I've been to Canham and until you mentioned it, I didn't know who he was.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:56 AM ^
He strikes me as a guy that says "Im going to do this".....and then he goes out and actually does it.
There are very very few people like that in this world.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:36 AM ^
What gets lost in the shuffle with Martin is that he is a sports fanatic... he's the president of the United States Sailing Foundation and formerly served as the head of the U.S. Sailing Association. He's a member of the board of directors of the USOC. Those are some pretty eminent sporting qualifications, even if they aren't what the average person might consider "sports".
He's also self-made, multimillionaire alum who has taught at the university and has been one of the leading figures in Washtenaw County for decades. I'm not sure you could find a more perfect AD if you tried.
In dollars and cents, he's been a massive success and, as Formerly notes, has turned many sports around. We can all see the way he's turned the money made into extremely necessary projects like Newsterbaan and the soccer stadium. But he is ridiculed because his reputation is, wrongly, tethered to the football team that dwarfs everything else. Why was he so adamant about finding someone exactly like Carr at Lloyd's retirement press conference? Because he knew rocking the boat too much could ruin all of his hard work.
Ultimately, I think he's been far more successful than anyone could have hoped for. I'd hope he's honored with a building when he finally does retire... maybe the soccer stadium?
August 27th, 2009 at 7:34 AM ^
Bill Martin rented every construction crane, iron worker and masonry man in the state of Michigan. I love him.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:17 AM ^
those dreamy eyes! He gets my vote!
Supporting iron workers? Hell yes! Local 25!
August 27th, 2009 at 8:41 AM ^
He went outside the family for our head coach (takes stones), keeps the AD independant financially from the university. He embraces the traditions and history of excellence that is Michigan. Does he always take care of business smoothly? No. But we may never know the truth behind the Les Miles thing.
In general he's a good man, but needs better scoreboards and running tickers at the bottom with other game scores.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:43 AM ^
I too have liked Bill Martin as our AD. He did a great job getting the AD back in the black. The only beef I have with anything he has done was dump the M-Den (Ann Arbor based) as Michigan's official store and signed a contract with a texas based company to become the official store of Michigan. But I guess that is small in the grand scheme of things.
Hopefully when Bill Martin retires as AD we can find another person similar to him.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:45 AM ^
i think that lacoste might have been a better choice than adidas, but whatever.
and it's disappointing that none of the facility renovations borrowed more from a modern idiom. all that brick just seems to reinforce ann arbor & the university as a very conservative/provincial place. i would have loved to see something clad in ETFE like allianz stadium in munich.
but minor criticisms aside, i feel that, yes, bill martin has done an excellent job as steward of the athletic department.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:51 AM ^
Allianz Arena cost €550m.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:47 AM ^
At worst Bill Martin will go down as the 3rd greatest AD this college has had.
Arguably he will equal, if not top, Canham's successes. By how far he could surpass Canham will be determined as the careers of Rodriguez and Beilein develop. Canham's successes were the ability to market the "Block M" and merchandise the University, and obviously he had such outstanding coaching hires - Bo Schembechler, Red Berenson, Carol Hutchins, to name a few.
All things considered, the sports campus in Ann Arbor has undergone a renaissance in the last 10 years - baseball, softball, Schembechler Hall, the athletic student center, renovations to Yost, current football renovations, future basketball renovations. Have we seen such change and growth since the years of Yost?
On occasion some people try to use the term "businessman" to slightly downgrade his success and influence, to say, "oh, he's just a businessman, nothing more." In reality, crediting his successes because he is a "businessman" is the greatest compliment and the strongest reason why he will be one of the greatest Athletic Directors at the University of Michigan. Remember his two greatest predecessors - Yost and Canham - were great businessmen first.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:53 AM ^
I think that he has been a great AD. The hiring of John Beilen really saved the basketball team, and he has us going into the second round of the tournament in just his second year. He also has upgraded the facilities and has made other great hires as well.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:59 AM ^
Bill Martin is a terrific businessman and has really done a great job as Michigan's AD. He has raised tons of money and presided over amazing coaching hires--Beilein, RR, Borseth, women's soccer coach, etc. Not only that, but IIRC he has done this all while still holding a post at his bank (forgot which one), although it might just be a nominal title. Someone please fill in the details. I might be hazy on this too, but the Big House expansion is underway and the athletic dept still came out in the green.
I don't think he can top Don Canham, but DC was a pioneer in college sports marketing; it might not be the most fair comparison. Another thing is that as good as Martin is at managing the AD financially, it might be that he knows very little about the actual sports themselves. I don't know how true this is, but I once heard that someone else was the brains behind the Beilein hire. It's also possible that RR just fell into Michigan's lap. I don't know how true that is, plus it's kinda hard to doubt his hiring abilities when he's made so many good hires. I'm sure he knows what to do.