Schlissel attends football practice

Submitted by dnak438 on

According to the Detroit Free Press. I will spare you the Freep link and send you instead to 247.

Rick Fitzgerald told Free Press reporter David Jesse that Schlissel attended to "show support for our student athletes".

This apparently almost never happens.

 

mikoyan

October 10th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^

For some reason that reminds me of a game I used to played called "Kremlin".  The object was to back the Premier that waved at the October Parade three times.  You could send people to Siberia and if you stressed your leaders too much, they would die.

Space Bat

October 10th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^

I wonder if he's going to attend a practice for every other Michigan athletic team too, because I wouldn't want those kids feelings to get hurt that their president only cares about and supports the football team. 

Sports

October 10th, 2014 at 1:32 PM ^

Regardless of what it means, it's nice to see a culture of support being fostered from the top down. I have no idea what Mary Sue did and I have no idea what Brandon does. I do know that it's wonderful to see the new president taking the time to reach out to the student athletes in an embattled program. Good for him. 

goblueva

October 10th, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^

If he had been president of the university for 5 years and this was his first time ever showing up, I would say it means something. He may make this a once per year thing for all we know.

CoverZero

October 10th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^

I know nothing about Schlissel, other than what I have read online.   With the caveat of not knowing much of his past, I cant really speculate on his intentions for the Michigan football program.

However... IF Schlissel's intention is to evaluate the current situation, dump Brandon, bring in Bates or another qualified candidate, which leads to a Harbaugh, or even a Miles hiring...than the guy is BRILLIANT.

If Schlissel is the man who "turns Michigan football around" he will be a legend for life.  He will gain respect both inside and outside of the university.  Now, he already has respect...but this is his chance to be a legend.  I bet there is some underlying motivation in him to accomplish this.  I know it would be for me in that position.

Tater

October 10th, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^

What if Schlissel's intention is to make DeBord the HC and keep David Brandon?  Or to make DeBord the AD and keep it "in house?"   I am afraid this would guarantee that Michigan remains in the 20th century on both sides of the ball.

This would suck all of the happiness out of what should be a great moment for the program.

Njia

October 10th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^

Make DeBord the interim or permanent AD to appease the faction loyal to Lloyd Carr and the Old Guard at Fort Schembechler. Get a new HC, probably somehow in the Bo lineage (but not - obviously - Les Miles) including perhaps a Harbaugh.

uncleFred

October 10th, 2014 at 9:37 PM ^

but from everything he''s said it is clear to me that academics are far more important to him than ANY sports program. If he wants "respect" he wants it for the academic successes that the University achieves under his leadership, not the restoration of the football progarm. 

That said, his "appearance" on Thursday makes it clear that he is looking for a solution to the travales of the football program, but until we see his ongoing involvement with it's resurrection we are well advised to view this as the actions of a president who wants to put this aside so he can focus on what he thinks is important.

M-Dog

October 10th, 2014 at 10:54 PM ^

^^^TIING!

He wants this shit to go away.

He wants calmness, stability, and no drama from the Athletics Dept.

This probably means that Brandon is gone.  But it also means that he's not going to break the bank for a rock-star high-drama football coach. 

He's smart enough to figure out by now that football matters here and he can't totally ignore it.  So he's not going to pull a University of Chicago circa 1936 on us, but he isn't going to chase drama queens for $10 million either.

Perkis-Size Me

October 10th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^

I'm sure it was nothing more than to just show his support. He may not be a sports guy, but he can see the writing on the the wall. This team is hurting and it needs support big time.


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DJMich23

October 10th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^

Most of you fans are so passionate about eliminating the coaches/Dave that you've failed to realize that these players feel isolated in a sense. Almost like an “us against them" mentality. Whether that was the intention or not, it's certainly seems to be the case. This team is clearly struggling and the last thing they need is isolation from the fans imo. 

jaydubya

October 10th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^

The very sad thing is that the "them" you refer to is Michigan fans, which is painfully ironic.  In some ways, our home field advantage is morphing into a home field disadvantage because of the players' disdain for the behavior of particular fans (as shown in Cleary's tweet from a few days ago).