Would Ann Arbor accept Todd Graham?
With the rumors of the Brandon's impending removal starting to get downright frothy, the CC talk becomes even more likely.
One candidate that's getting a lot of attention is Todd Graham. He's got a great track record, though some question his loyalty after a one-year stint at Pitt. But my question has a lot more to do with culture...could a guy who sounds like Graham and says things like this in the locker room (following the hail mary win over USC):
The good Lord blessed us. Let me tell you something: Give the glory where it should be. There's no doubt in my mind.
A bad haircut, a thick southern accent, and giving the glory to God after a win...would Michigan embrace this man? I am not passing judgment on him--I'm in favor of Graham being considered. I'm just curious to read what the board thinks.
Video in comments.
October 16th, 2014 at 9:08 AM ^
hell no
October 15th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
Not interested
October 15th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
It always seemed to me that RR's accent and cultural background were held against him by many (we know they were by some). There were other reasons to question him too, of course.
I'm not concerned about this w/ respect to Graham, because he's pretty "meh" in my eyes. But I don't think even an excellent coach who had a southern or Appalachian accent would be accepted.
I ain't arguin' this is right, by the way.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
For a University body who takes pride in being open minded, I never understood this. Absolutely ridiculous and downright pathetic. Give me results and a relatively clean program, that is ALL I am asking for.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
I don't have an Appalachian accent or share RR's faith, but I'm happy to have a coach with both as long as he's winning and doing it the right way. I'm not sure I've ever disliked anyone in the Michigan fanbase more than when people criticized RR for using the word "ain't."
October 15th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
Not thing for a religious discussion here but honey question did this ever come up?
I don't ever recall hearing anything about RR and religion.
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October 15th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
But his taste in music certainly did...
October 15th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
RR was pretty open about his faith. So was Barwis - remember the "Glory to God" t-shirts Brock Mealer sported. This is common in sports - Hoke and Beilein are also devout Christians - although Michigan tends not to broadcast too much of that to the general public. The locker room video clips we see of Michigan basketball always cut out the team's postgame prayer, for instance.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:49 PM ^
October 15th, 2014 at 6:32 PM ^
I'm not sure I've ever disliked anyone in the Michigan fanbase more than when people criticized RR for using the word "ain't."When you say "people," how many are you talking about here? I don't remember this being an issue. I don't get this desire to trash our fanbase. Shit, after 113,000 of us showed up last Saturday, we're about the last fanbase people should be criticizing.
October 15th, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^
The southern person as "ignorant" is the last "acceptable" stereotype in the US. Believe it or not, people from the south become Rhodes Scholars, too.
October 15th, 2014 at 5:46 PM ^
Engineers are nerds. (As an engineer, I can make that joke.) In fact, there's a very popular sitcom based on this stereotype.
October 15th, 2014 at 7:20 PM ^
In my experience, people who try to popularize that "X is the last acceptable stereotype in our culture" meme (and there's quite a few of them) are generally just upset that the stereotypes they want to perpetuate aren't considered culturally acceptable any more.
October 15th, 2014 at 4:44 PM ^
but if RR won more games, I'm pretty sure his accent would've been forgiven.
October 15th, 2014 at 5:11 PM ^
why does an accent have to be "forgiven"? Many in the fanbase and administration made up their minds about RR after the first press conference. When the team struggled the first year it just confirmed the bias that was already there.
October 15th, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^
Still the 3-8 thing.
October 15th, 2014 at 6:04 PM ^
October 15th, 2014 at 6:36 PM ^
RichRod's accent was an issue here? Come on. Enough with all the red herrings. The guy went 6-18 in the B1G - that was the issue.
October 15th, 2014 at 5:22 PM ^
No it was definitely the losing thing. The student section chanted his damn name after beating Western Michigan of all teams.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
No.
But because of Rich Rod and how that went...I think people would because people realize the program needs support. So yes.
Not saying he wouldn't get moans and groans or lose support if we were losing in Year 3, but I think he'd get initial support even from the people who didn't want to give it, only because of Rich Rod.
He'd have to win though...if he was having a rough year in his 3rd year, we'd be right back here. If Harbaugh was having a rough year in year 3, people would be calling for one of his assistant coaches.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:47 PM ^
This is a lot different than 2007. People were optimistic about the direction of the program back then. Our program and our fanbase have been humbled this season. The arrogance may still be there, but it's mostly been put on a back burner. I think there's going to be less tolerance for those who make petty complaints about the new coach and his staff. Complaints about a lack of loyalty are another matter.
I'm assuming Graham gets hired only after it's clear we can't land one of the big names on our list. There would probably be a negative reaction to anyone not named Harbaugh if it looked like we didn't bother to try for one of them.
October 15th, 2014 at 4:30 PM ^
At this point...we all just want to win.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
If the fan base is dismissing a coach because of his accent and his faith, then we deserve an unending torrent of losing seasons.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^
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October 15th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^
Right, just hoping everyone learned their lesson the first time around.
October 15th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
The "Michigan turned on its own" story has become like a game of telephone, becoming more and more outlandish with each retelling.
Let's be clear: The vast majority of the Michigan fanbase did not do what you are suggesting. They were behind RR. For that matter, most ex-players were as well. There was a very vocal faction of ex-players that didn't like him, but they weren't as large a group as people think - and Bill Martin ignored them anyway.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
We won't. I mean, we celebrated Yost's West Virginia twang. Meeeechigan is a much more accepting and diverse place than some seem to think.
October 15th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
I think there have been a few changes in Ann Arbor since 1901. If you're referring to Ufer's broadcasts, that's not on point. It's easy to celebrate a guy whose record is 165-29-10 and who won 6 national titles.
I would also disagree with you on the "accepting and diverse" comment. The PC nonsense on the campus makes me ill.
October 15th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^
October 15th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^
I wholeheartedly agree.
The issue here, however, is not that he's religious, but that he's asking his players to join him in his faith. He tells them God blessed them, and tells them to give the glory to God.
Being religious is one thing. Telling your team they won because God blessed them is another.
October 15th, 2014 at 4:28 PM ^
It's really not. He's not going around the room forcing each one of them to kneel and give prayers of thanks. It happens. People talk about their faith. I'm not a Muslim, but if my boss was and he told our team that a project succeeded because Allah blessed us I'm not going to get worked up about it.
Also, I'll guarantee he didn't spend months of practice telling them that it doesn't really matter as long as they're praying.
October 15th, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^
The speech in this video is pretty much something you'll hear in many locker rooms across the country. Religion is often a big part of organized sports.
October 15th, 2014 at 5:48 PM ^
God hates USC.
October 16th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
Very true.
October 15th, 2014 at 7:29 PM ^
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October 16th, 2014 at 2:49 AM ^
Dude, do you not realize just how overtly religious most of these people are? Jocks for Jesus is a real, very major thing... I doubt there's a team in the P5 that doesn't say a pre/post game prayer, and that's all sports. Beilein does them, for example.
I'll just say this... most coaches in college sports would be much better cultural fits in a state like Mississippi than they'd ever be in a town like Ann Arbor.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:27 PM ^
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October 15th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
It probably wouldn't fly in Ann Arbor. But that is a great guy. And a great coach.
October 15th, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^
October 15th, 2014 at 4:49 PM ^
October 15th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^
yeah no....
October 15th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^
He is not an option. There are better coaches who are better fits. Most definitely not.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
Doubt it. Rich was never accepted here and Cooper was never accepted in Columbus.
Unfortunate, but it is what it is.
Plus I'm not that high on Graham to begin with.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
Better than Billy Graham.
October 15th, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^
Yes, Todd Graham is probably a better football coach than Billy Graham
October 15th, 2014 at 2:32 PM ^
Has nothing to do with his faith; track record shows he is a guy who keeps one eye on the program he is with and the other on his next dream job.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^
recently signed an extension and promtly donated a half a mill to some university project as a gesture of his loyalty to ASU. He's not going anywhere.
October 15th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
We should stop fantasizing about SEC and Pac12 coaches whose programs are in far better places than Michigan's.
We've been turned down by head coaches at Stanford and Rutgers and got WVU's coach only becuase he was having a fight with his AD. Our head coaches have come from San Diego State, N/A, Illinois, Miami.
There is no good reason for Graham to leave unless he wants to make life harder on himself.