REPOST: Bubba Paris Weighs In

(MODS: Please delete previous post. The Facebook link wasn't working.)

Bubba Paris just posted this on Facebook. Nothing earth-shattering, but an awesome manifesto on the current state of Michigan football.

A call to all who are Michigan Football
Those who come back will be champions
I’m William “Bubba” Paris, a Michigan man. I was an offensive tackle for Michigan from 1978 the 1982. I’m currently a motivational speaker, author and a minister. In 1978 I had the honor of being recruited by the University of Michigan to play football. Being highly recruited afforded me a lot of choices as to where I could attend college. I was looking for a University where I would receive the top notch education and a football program that would help me develop my football skills. The University of Michigan is an outstanding academic institution, and at the time it was an icon that represented college football at its very best. The athletic department was led by athletic director Don Cannon and legendary Coach Bo Schembechler was the head coach of the football program. 
Coach Schembechler made a proclamation to me on my recruiting trip to Michigan that left a profound an indelible impression on my mind. I could not get his words out of my head even when I was talking to coaches who obviously valued me as a player more than Michigan did at the time. He said, “If you come to Michigan and stay, you will be a champion.” These words permeated the entire Michigan football program, “Those who stay will be champions.” 
The mammoth gladiatorial arena, Michigan Stadium, was the gathering place, were roughly 105,000 people who had an unyielding love, passion and commitment, to Michigan football met to cheer on their family, the Michigan football team. There was rarely an empty seat, and season tickets were passed down from generation to generation. There were more cars in the city of Ann Arbor than the nonstudent population that lived in the city on game days. 
I can truly say that one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made was to attend the University of Michigan. I received one of the world’s finest educations. The athletic skills I developed while at Michigan benefited me my entire ten year NFL career. I stayed and I was a champion. While at Michigan, we won two Big Ten titles, a Rose and a Blue Bonnet Bowl championship and I earned All Big Ten and All-American honors. Even though I had an opportunity to win three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, I still consider my four years at Michigan the best years of my life. 
It is been difficult to bear what has transpired with the Michigan football program over the many years. Everywhere I go I tell people that Michigan is the greatest academic and athletic institution in the country, but the actions of the Michigan football program has made me out to be a liar. Especially considering that my wife’s mother, father, and many of her cousins are all graduates of Ohio State. 
It gives me hope and confidence that Michigan football will return to its place of honor and respect by the hiring of Jim Hackett as athletic director and Jim Harbaugh as head coach. These two men understand the heart and soul of Michigan football. They played for Bo Schembechler. They stood in the middle of Michigan Stadium and experienced what Michigan football means to so many people. They stayed, and they are champions. I believe that we are all on divine paths to our moment. That everything that we do in our lives prepares us to face our greatest challenge. I believe that this is true for these two great Michigan men.
Organizational Success starts with experienced, prepared, confident and effective leadership. First of all, Jim Hackett played for Bo Schembechler. I know he understands the value of the team. I know he understands the value of hard work. I know that he knows what is like to go into the world and proclaim with a sense of pride and reverence that Michigan is the greatest academic and athletic institution in America. I know that, because Michigan Men share the same heart and experience of Michigan football. This is true for the majority of us who played for Bo Schembechler. 
Jim Hackett has also demonstrated superior organizational leadership. He took his pure potential to a company, moved up the organizational chart until he became the leader. He occupied that leadership role for over 19 years. He was a visionary and made some difficult and sometimes unpopular choices that are required of leadership. But under his leadership he left his organization in a better place then when he received it.
Jim Harbaugh embodies the fighting spirit of Bo Schembechler. He manifested this spirit of controlled fanaticism as a player and as a coach. He played with every essence of his being, and he also coaches with every aspect of his being. As a coach he is a proven winner transforming programs everywhere that he is been. The 49ers headache will now become the Michigan football programs hope. 
The 49ers said that Jim Harbaugh wore out his welcome, and that his enthusiastic personality was too much to handle. What they didn’t understand is that Jim Harbaugh, at his core, is a Michigan Man. Michigan Men have a natural passion and enthusiasm for football. His father was a coach at Michigan. He grew up going to Michigan Stadium and watching Michigan football. He played at the University of Michigan for Bo Schembechler, a man who had a love, passion and loyalty to his calling as a coach. He played in front of loyal Michigan fans, who would brave any element to cheer on their team. He lived in the city and a state where Michigan football was weaved into the very fabric of their existence. Football to Jim Harbaugh was not a job, it was his passion, his calling and without it, he is incomplete.
I am glad that he is bringing his enthusiasm and passion for the game to the University of Michigan. I’m not entirely sure that a group of highly paid professional athletes and a billionaire team owner can appreciate the two jewels that he gave to the 49ers from his father. He would tell his players to “Approach this day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.” He would also say “Who has it better than us?” The response, nobody! These mottos embody core values that can transform your life. I will enthusiastically approach this day, as though it’s the last day of my life and I will make the maximum impact, leaving nothing in reserve. If you are dedicated to hard and enthusiastic work and have a sincere confidence in your pure potential, when faced with astronomical odds and obstacles, who, has it better then you? 
I wholeheartedly agree with the direction that the Michigan football program is now heading. The leadership necessary to build a successful organization is now in place. It is now up to the rank-and-file to help build our program back to the successful icon that it has historically been. I know that Rome was not built in a day. But, the seeds of success have been planted, and I will do all that I can to help cultivate the seeds. 
To all the disenchanted of Michigan football, I implore you to come back.
I know that there are alumni like myself who feel as though the Michigan football program no longer shares the one heart for Michigan football that we gave our blood, sweat and tears to honor and defend. It’s time to come back. 
To loyal Michigan fans, who have paid whatever the ticket prices, braved sub zero weather and have traveled from all over the country, to support Michigan football teams that are no longer leaders and best. It’s time to come back and not because of a soft drink ticket special.
To the students who have grown up hearing about the great Michigan football tradition and attended Michigan with the anticipation of experiencing the joy of that tradition, but have only experienced higher ticket prices, it’s time to come back.
To the young man who as a child pretended that your neighborhood sandlot field was Michigan Stadium. While on that sandlot field you pretended that you were a Michigan player playing against Ohio State. You would win the game, and pretended you had just won the Big Ten championship. Now that you are of recruiting age you no longer feel as though that childhood dream is possible. I want you to come back, because if you come to Michigan, you will become a champion.
To all the members of the current Michigan Wolverine football team, it is now time for you to take your rightful place as a Michigan Man. You are part of a fraternity that goes back to 1879. A fraternity of high school boys, who came to Ann Arbor, braved the elements, work harder than they thought they were able, developed a pride in what they were doing, set expectations to be the best and replaced the concept of “I” with the notion of “The Team.” When we left Ann Arbor, we left as men, Michigan Men.
Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” You must develop a new pride for the program and find a way to manifest that pride on the football field. Develop the mindset of Benjamin Mays, former Pres. of Morehouse University. He said, “Whatever you strive to do, do it so well that no one living, no one dead, no one yet to be born can do it any better. Come back to these principles, and you will be a champion.

William Bubba Paris
Class of 1982