Warde Speaks on UM-ND Renewal
Per Brendan Quinn's Twitter timeline, Warde Manuel was on The Michigan Insider this morning talking about the ND series renewal. I'm sure the audio will be available in Podcast form soon, but for now some highlights:
- Negotiations were underway shortly before he arrived, started by Harbaugh and Kelly
- Says he's "hopeful" they can change the imbalance of the MSU and OSU games
- Says ND should be "consistently on the schedule. Maybe not every year..."
The last point makes me the most hopeful after the news broke yesterday (officially).
I'm really excited about our future series against Texas, Oklahoma, UCLA, and others and would really hate to see any/all of them canceled for the sake of playing ND. I'm glad to see ND back on the schedule, but we need some variety when it comes to playing strong non-conference opponents. I know if we schedule ND in any given year that's likely to be the only interesting non-conference game we play that year with the move to 9 Big Ten games.
I would agree on that one point - of the four, I guess I am least sad about Arkansas being cut out although I really wanted to see an SEC team in Michigan Stadium, even if it is a middling one by comparison and even if their coach can consume an entire pot roast with only a toothpick and will power.
I would have been more disappointed if they had dropped Texas, Oklahoma or UCLA, although I have been there to see them play UCLA - that was about 20 years ago though. Actually, I think that might have been my freshman year if it was 1996 as I believe.
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I like that ND is back on the schedule, really like it. But I HATE the way it was implemented. I just don't see a viable reason to drop Arkansas and give up that home game for another road game. ND didn't make any concessions at all to get back in, none. And leaving three open weekends in Sept 2019, including a mutual open date for ND, to put them in the middle of the B1G schedule is just plain assinine.
I don't think Harbaugh cares either way. I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to play all games on the road, just to play them for competition sake. But Warde is responsible for the look and feel of Michigan athletics. And he failed in every way with this implementation. It looks bad for Michigan, it's bad for the fans thinking about season tickets in 2018, and it smacks of desperation. All the while making ND look like the good guys willing to throw UM a bone. None of which are a good look for a new AD.
And now we are left to hope State does us a favor, or we do another back to back away games.
I do surely hope there's more to this Warde isn't able to share with us at this time.
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Yeah, it does feel desperate. And we are not desperate.
If ND offered us all that stuff, I still wouldn't drop Oklahoma, UCLA, Texas for them. Maybe Arkansas, but certainly not if we have to play ND at their place twice in a row and in the middle of the B1G season.
We don't need to do that.
We didn't lose a home game. We lost one in 2018 and gained one in 2019.
Warde gave zero indication that there was anything more involved that he could not share now. I was expecting that there certainly would have been something more than we didn't hear yesterday - but that was not to be the case. This was the only way to get ND back on the schedule for now and he took it. I think it was a shitty deal for us but Warde's silver lining in this is the strong home schedule in 2019.
I miss Hackett already.
I'm slowly scrolling through the board, so this might already be touched on, but Warde's reason for dropping Arkansas involved assuring that there was a balance of 7 home games per season (otherwise it would have been 8 in 2018 and 6 in 2019).
This is another reason why despite the understanding that Warde also wants to re-balance the MSU/OSU games as far as home/away goes, I doubt it will occur by the 2018 season.
I really hope he can get MSU switched back.
LIkely won't happen. I sincerely doubt MSU will agree to playing in Ann Arbor back-to-back years.
is MSU. They will agree to whatever we and OSU tell them to agree to and then go back to playing with their Legos.
I mean, did UM "agree" to play consecutive years in East Lansing? Or did Delany & Co. just put their foot down knowing Brandon was too much of a fucktard to do anything about it?
it was a combination of both with a little more of choice B.
I remember driving in my car and hearing over the radio that we had two trips in a row to East Lansing all because Maryland and Rutgers joining the conference meant all the teams schedules had to be revamped and this was "the only" way it could be accomplished...which I found doubtful.
I thought it was a scheduling quirk that was out of our hands and nothing we ever "agreed" to. Why would we agree to that, anyway? But I never knew the specifics or if Brandon had any power to stop it.
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...the B1G going to a nine-game conference schedule is a quirk that can only be accomplished by Sparty making back-to-back trips to Ann Arbor, right?
Done & done.
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as long as Mark Hollis heads up the MSU Athletic Dept. But that's just my opinion.
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Consistent, yes...every year, no. That has been my belief for a long time. Every other year or every two years is a better idea, I think.
This.
I like playing Notre Dame. It's a rivalry - there are only two teams I'd rather beat.
At the same time, nine Big 10 games means we can't play Notre Dame and another top team outside of the conference, or else our schedules are gonna be just brutal. If the day ever comes that the playoff committee takes SOS very seriously and doesn't just use it as a tiebreaker between 11-1 teams (or something along those lines,) then it won't be as big of a deal. But playing - for example - Notre Dame and Oklahoma the same year, and still having to face OSU, MSU, Penn State, one or two from among Wisky, Iowa, Nebraska.... We'd better hope Harbaugh turns us into Alabama North if we expect to navigate that type of schedule, particularly in the years we're @ ND, MSU, OSU.
I've always thought ND 2 years on/2 years off was ideal. That way, every recruiting class gets to face them twice, but gets at least one other memorable non-con matchup vs Texas or whoever.
I'd also add that if we're heading into something like that - and based on Manuel's comments we might be - then that somewhat mitigates the "ARE YOU SERIOUS?! WE HAVE TO PLAY THEM ON THE ROAD FIRST?! THEY OWE US ONE!!!!" issue. If we're about to play them one away and one home, then take a couple years and do the same again, then at least we're not entering a situation where they can start and end at South Bend again. If we've got it set up so that the Ann Arbor trip is the final trip of a two or four game contract, I'm a little less annoyed about all of this.
A little.
So much for the narrative that the MSU or OSU game is going to be changed. Serious question - why in fuck are we everybody's bitch scheduling-wise? It pisses me off to no end that we seemingly bend over EVERY time and say "thank you sir may I have another" whenever there's a potential conflict in a schedule.
We're the fucking University of Michigan not Eastern Michigan. Why the fucking hell do our fucking leaders insist on ALWAYS being the one to make nice-nice and keep the other team happy when it comes to scheduling games?
Jesus this pisses me off.
Canham wouldn't have put up with this shit. We should have hired an AD with a deep love for Michigan and ice water in his veins.
I am not thrilled with 2018, but it is just one year of horrible scheduling.
We play them in late October in 2109, in the middle of the Big Ten part of our schedule. That sucks too.
Please keep Warde away from the signing pen for any games scheduled after that.
It won't matter. Cyborg Zombie Harbaugh will have us on our 70th consecutive national title by then.
Let me fix it:
We play them in late October in 2109, in the middle of the Big Twenty part of our schedule.
There, now it's correct.
I'm glad to have ND back on the schedule, but if it means cancelling series with UCLA, Oklahoma, Texas, and so on, then I don't want them back.
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Right, and my point is that I don't want ND to be that one good non-con. game we get every single year.
If every 2-3 years we play two G5 schools and a Texas, Oklahoma, or any other top-level P5 programs, I'm great with that and playing ND every year in between.
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To swap with State, so neither team gets two home games in a row, they should play at Ford Field one year and start it over the correct way the next year.
I don't want Michigan playing in NFL stadiums (bowl games are exceptions and even then I hate it). I hated playing the game against Alabama in Texas and will hate it when we play Florida there.
but I think an in-state nuetral site game would have a little bit more of intimate feel for the players and the fans. I think they could spin that into something kind of cool and solve a real problem for both teams at the same time.
that is actually brilliant. I can see why State would not want to agree to two at the Big House just on principle, but it seems like they would be hard pressed to say no this a nuetral site game at Ford Field if Michigan were to agree to it or even propose it. That would be cool for the city of Detroit as well.
Agree. And who wants to lose home game revenue for a split revenue stream from a smaller, non-affliated neutral site? I don't see this happening, either. Unless Warde capitulates again and says UM will give up the home game for a neutral site game. Wouldn't surprise me...
The ND series could take off 2020 and then resume in South Bend in 2021. But I'd rather see State play us in Ann Arbor two years in a row if only for all the bitching by Sparty fans that would produce.
Lol at hopeful about msu and osu, solid attempt at putting lipstick on a pig manuel. He knows the fanbase knows he fucked up so he just throws out this completely non commital answer about the only thing that would make this ok to keep the anger down. Unless msu playing in ann arbor two years in a row is already basically a done deal this would still be a massive fuckup and if it were that close we would know about it.