I think this kind of reporting is absolutely necessary. It doesn't help the program to have a condescending douchebag running things.
The most important part of Brandon's job is keeping the Big House full. And here's the AD going out of his way to insult season ticket holders and offering to pull their seats. He does not care one bit about fan retention.
This is the opposite of how Don Canham would have done things.
There is no benefit to "protecting" the program. Intense scrutiny is actual a huge benefit. It helps root out problems.
Good for him. Seriously. But it doesn't change the fact that he's not "serving" his school. He's a highly paid employee. He gets paid the big bucks to make big calls and take the criticism. He's not some charity worker building houses for Habitats for Humanity.
Too much of these interviews focus on his hurt and his feelings.
Right. Because wins would wash away the fact that Dave has alienated the students, pissed off season ticket holders and basically been terrible at handling any sort of turmoil.
Athletic Directors just can't disappear for 48 hours when their team is embroiled in a PR fiasco.
FSU is undefeated and returning national champs and no one's letting their athletic department or coach slide for how they enable Jameis Winston.
I love that Domino Dave used "tone deaf" in response to a question about how all this criticism is affecting him. "I'm not tone deaf. I can hear all ranges of sound including the constant calls for my head."
Not in Dave's mind. His over inflated ego tells him that if he wasn't "serving" his school and singlehandedly resurrecting the football program with the pure galvanizing force of his epic "leadership" he could be making a kajillion zillion bucks being CEO of all the companies.
At worst, he probably thinks he would be Governor of Michigan.
Not quite accurate. People are calling for Brady Hoke's job because the team has been awful.
People are calling for Dave Brandon's head because he is atrocious at his job. This Shane Morris incident and the resulting PR fiasco is the latest in a long string of tone deaf missteps and screwups.
Brandon has alienated his fan base, pissed off the students, and completely eroded anyone's faith in this athelic department.
He's been a good projects guy. Finishing up Bill Martin's reign of expansion and improving facilities, etc. But he's been a disaster at handling crisises, is awful at PR and fails at the most important part of his job - filling the Big House.
Yes. He comes off as an ass in these. Smarmy. Defensive. Prickly. Condescending. This was an awful PR move to have him in these one-on-one sitdowns. Because he's an arrogant prick.
Should have been a podium presser with a prepared statement and be done with it.
This whole load about having "better things to do" is ridiculous. He basically went on a pump up Dave's ego tour talking to all the student athletes he could find instead of facing the very real criticism that was waiting for him. Lame.
Uhhhh. You're on a Michigan sports blog suggesting that they everyone just ignore the massive Michigan Football PR nightmare that's unfolding in real time right in front of our horrified eyes?
There are plenty of places to discuss other things in sports. Go find them. The fact that you continue to haunt all the Dave Brandon threads and comment on them shows you're not all that ready to move on yourself.
Seems like you've got a little bit of Dave in you, blaming others for your own failings.
By the way. Expect the story to continue. It has major traction.
Uhhhh. How do you expect anyone to "move on" when the very athletic department at the center of this nightmare won't? This is day five since the Morris incident and it's the fifth day that the athletic department has continued it's campaign of shifting blame and obstuseness.
So far there's been three pressers by Hoke where he's had less than full information. Three press releases, of which two were awful (Brandon's) and one was acceptable (Pres. Schlissel). And now Domino Dave has decided to Expand The Brand by providing one-on-one's with every outlet in town.
Don Canham is fuming right now. Never turn a one day story into three.
This onslaught of one-on-ones is an absolute disaster. Brandon appears smug, arrogant and smarmy in all of them. Instead of providing one concise, calculated response in a presser, he's gone with the carpet bomb approach and it's going to backfire spectacularly. Each one is full of enough bad quotes to generate a dozen more irrate columns.
Good job. Good effort Dave.
Never turn a one day story into more. Somehow he's going to get a week or more out of it.
Goodbye Dave. These interviews prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're a smug, arrogant douche who will place blame on whoever's convenient at the time.
Can't believe this guy blamed the medical staff. WTF.
Domino Dave can be as hands-on top-down involved as he wants on the business side of the equation. You know, checking in on marketing or doing strolls around the stadium on Gameday. But the coaches need to be left alone to do their thing. Watching film crosses the line and cuts into the Head Coach's autonomy. Also creates the impression that everything is being micro-managed.
Good luck to Dave if he's in place to make the next hire (I just barfed in my mouth). Outside of the truly desperate, no real candidate wants to have an AD in his face on Sundays.
Brandon watching film has been out there as fact. Not much of a stretch to accept that he watches it without Hoke. Teams break down film as seperate units. I'm sure Mattison and Nussmeier get plenty of Dave Over Their Shoulder Time.
He strikes me as frustrated former athlete pining for glory. Wouldn't put any lame meddling past him.
No one should take "Three and Out" as gospel. John U Bacon is a terrific guy and a hella of a writer, but he was embedded with the Rodriguez family for the entire three years and the book is far too slanted and sympathetic towards them.
I took everything he wrote about Carr with a shaker of salt because, as far as I know, Lloyd did not cooperate with Bacon or sit down for any interviews.
I love Lloyd more than anyone, but he was not forced out. He wanted to retire. He also seriously lost interest in hiring decent coordinators and recruiting. His last few years were painful.
That Britney Spears microphone looks stupid and lame and it sucks. Football has traditions. Not looking like a clown on the sidelines is one of them. What's next? Google Glass? An iWatch? Big chunky headset is the only option.
Uhhhhh. Bruce Feldman might be the most credible CFB writer working today. Breaks loads of news. I would trust him over just about anyone else out there.
Because of his long form work (Meat Market and Swing Your Sword) he gets inside access that others don't. I've read pieces from him where he was inside A&M for a week, behind the scenes at Texas Tech. He's dialed in and gets places no one else does.
Stewart Mandel on the other hand is basically a column slash game report guy. I can't recall a single behind the scenes piece from him or him breaking any real stories.
Opens you up to all kinds of future accountability. Legal and otherwise. For instance, people will then expect apologies for how dreadfully awful this team has been.
It's entirely possible to be totally through with Hoke as a coach AND demand his firing for this incident and not have the two be related. Player safety takes precendence over everything.
This is just a game. No kid should be blasted the way Morris was and stay in there. Regardless of Hoke's situation right now, that is unacceptable player management.
It is major and massive and huge that they left them in for another play. It's been shown that some of the most damaging brain injuries occur after the initial trauma. Smaller secondary hits can be more devestating than the first one because of the brain's reaction.
I'm coping by watching lots of college football games and being insanely jealous whenever I see bordeline competence from an offense. "Whoa. Two first downs in a row. That NC State offense is on fire!!"
I don't care what the score is. What the team's record is. You cannot handle your players like that. Even in an imaginary world where the team is 5-0 and Brady Hoke is the toast of Ann Arbor this is absolutely atrocious player management.
The days of tough guy meathead play til your drop football are over. Even if Morris doesn't take that devestating shot from Cockran, there's no reason for him to be limping around like that. Not effective as a player. Doesn't help the team. Subjects him to further injury.
Some things are a little more important than winning a football game.
Saban didn't leave the Dolphins mid season. He left after year two. You're probably thinking of good old Bobby Petrino who abandoned the Falcons in like week 13.
The "handling" of Morris was atrocious. I've watched a lot of football and that was probably the worst handling of a QB I've seen. He was limping badly. Game was through. There was no reason for him to be in there.
He takes a massive kill shot. Has to be helped to his feet and can't stand. Take him out. Take his helmet. Putting him back in was incredibly stupid. Putting him back in and calling a pass play was just sickening.
What do you need to see before the guy gets pulled? A bone jutting out of his shin? Staggering around and vomitting?
Morris was limping for an entire series. Can barely stand. Then he gets absolutely blasted. Helmet drilled into his chin. And has to be helped up and supported by a teammate. Game over. Sit him down. Take his helmet.
This is just a game. No one needs to get CTE because Brady Hoke is asleep on the sidelines.
Nuss more than anyone should be aware of his QB's status. He should have yanked Shane when he was obviously limping. He should have pulled him off the field and taken his helmet when he was drilled. He's just as guilty for this atrocity.
Once the dust settles and all the scores of the day are recapped and the media moves into "looking back at the week" phase there will be serious blood in the water over this. This flagrant disregard for a player's safety will be dissected from every angle. And Hoke will be fired.
Oh snap. Reports are already coming out that this account is false and that Tuberville finished dinner. Said goodnight like a classy guy and departed as usual.
Guess this "scandal" is dead in the water. Unless the waiter wants to complain about the tip he left.
Tuberville has never been accused of or included in any major scandals.
Petrino hired his mistress for a position she wasn't qualified for. Lied to the police and the school about her involvement in the motorcyle accident. Major nonsense.
Coaching transitions are always awkward. What's he supposed to do? Stay there and pretend like he's going to coach these kids? Tell them the truth so they can put it on Twitter and Facebook and the players currently at Tech find out that way? It's a no win.
Jon Bacon spends the better part of his book ripping Lloyd Carr for offering to sign transfer papers for any of his players. I thought it was a classy move by a classy guy. Others painted this as treachery and backstabbing.
Perception is all how you spin it and whether or not you like a guy.
Here's my take on this. Everyone is disgusted by the addition of Maryland and Rutgers because it seems to be a shameless money grab. I tend to disagree, but that's beyond the point. The current consensus would be that $$$ is ruining college football.
Coaches salaries are skyrocketing. Everyone thinks that's nuts.
Bielema gets a raise of 600K. That's a lot of scratch. Approx 24% more than he makes now. 3 mil more over five years. Now people are criticizing Wisconsin for not just opening the wallet and paying him more*.
It's a double standard. Either you think $$$ is ruining college athletics and coaches salaries are nuts and good for Wisconsin for showing some fiscal responsibility. Or you don't care and they should pay whatever to keep him. Can't be both.
The problem is that this defection is seen as a Big Ten "loss" and that creates this defensive reflex in the fanbase.
SI.com actually ran a piece with a headline "SEC Beats Big Ten Again!" Ivan Maisel wrote a thing where he claimed the SEC were the Corleones and they were drinking the Big Ten's milkshake.
I'm trying to advocate for more reasonable and rationale thinking. Maybe it's not a case of a guy saying "SEC is better." Maybe Bielema was sick of living in Alvarez's shadow. There's a lot more to these things than what's portrayed here.
* Never mind the fact that they never got the chance to negotiate, but that's another thing.
Every account I've read (from verified sources and not guys on Twitter) has Bielema blindsiding Alvarez. No discussion. Read this interview with Bielema. Note how short the time frame is and how there's no talk of counter offer. Interviewed in NY. Accepted almost immediately. In Fayatteville the next day.
Arkansas is close to two major talent hotbeds. Louisiana and Texas. It's much easier to get a Florida kid to come to Arkansas than Wisconsin because a Florida kid has grown up in SEC country. He knows the teams, the rivalries.
2) Sixth best job.
These things are not written in stone. Everything is in flux. Before Spurrier Florida was a joke. Tennessee was a power. Now it's a joke. You can count on a couple of things. Vandy will struggle. Kentucky will always be a basketball school. LSU before Saban? Awful.
In just a couple of years, Petrino had Arkansas in the top 5. I've read this is the "second tier" SEC job all over the internet. I don't agree. Right coach, right recruiting can turn any of those big SEC West teams into juggernauts.
3) No counter.
Coaches and ADs are in NY for award season. Bielema walked up to Alvarez told him he was gone and that was it. No chance to counter. No discussion. Gone in 5 minutes.
4) 600K
There is a lot of double talk on this blog. Money drives expansion. Money is evil. But then it's a joke when Wisconsin won't reup Bielema for such a paltry sum. As if he took equivalent money to go to Arkansas. No matter how you slice it, 3mil is 3mil.
1) Arkansas as a dead end job. The 2011 team was 11 - 2 and ranked #5 in the country at the end of the year. Loaded with talent. Sure you have to beat Bama and LSU. But anyone who thinks Wisconsin is a better job must have never seen a map. Arkansas has instate talent. Closer to Texas and Florida.
2) Wisconsin was giving no chance to counter the offer. Bielema told Alvarez he was going. No chance to counter.
3) 600K is nothing to sneeze at. Works out to 3mil more over the life of the contract.
4) Bielema was gone and there was nothing to stop him. He sent Jeff Long a letter expressing interest in the post in September. He has aspirations of national titles that cannot be fulfilled at Wisconsin.
Recent Comments
Wishing you the best Mr. Hockey.
I think this kind of reporting is absolutely necessary. It doesn't help the program to have a condescending douchebag running things.
The most important part of Brandon's job is keeping the Big House full. And here's the AD going out of his way to insult season ticket holders and offering to pull their seats. He does not care one bit about fan retention.
This is the opposite of how Don Canham would have done things.
There is no benefit to "protecting" the program. Intense scrutiny is actual a huge benefit. It helps root out problems.
Please please please please let this be the final nail in the coffin.
I cannot take this never ending onslaught of PR nightmares.
Sonny Dykes isn't going anywhere. That program was a huge mess and he's got a lot of rope. Not that he needs it.
Also, the Bears are in first in Pac-12 North.
Breaston over Norfleet all day and forever.
Good for him. Seriously. But it doesn't change the fact that he's not "serving" his school. He's a highly paid employee. He gets paid the big bucks to make big calls and take the criticism. He's not some charity worker building houses for Habitats for Humanity.
Too much of these interviews focus on his hurt and his feelings.
Right. Because wins would wash away the fact that Dave has alienated the students, pissed off season ticket holders and basically been terrible at handling any sort of turmoil.
Athletic Directors just can't disappear for 48 hours when their team is embroiled in a PR fiasco.
FSU is undefeated and returning national champs and no one's letting their athletic department or coach slide for how they enable Jameis Winston.
I love that Domino Dave used "tone deaf" in response to a question about how all this criticism is affecting him. "I'm not tone deaf. I can hear all ranges of sound including the constant calls for my head."
Not in Dave's mind. His over inflated ego tells him that if he wasn't "serving" his school and singlehandedly resurrecting the football program with the pure galvanizing force of his epic "leadership" he could be making a kajillion zillion bucks being CEO of all the companies.
At worst, he probably thinks he would be Governor of Michigan.
Not quite accurate. People are calling for Brady Hoke's job because the team has been awful.
People are calling for Dave Brandon's head because he is atrocious at his job. This Shane Morris incident and the resulting PR fiasco is the latest in a long string of tone deaf missteps and screwups.
Brandon has alienated his fan base, pissed off the students, and completely eroded anyone's faith in this athelic department.
He's been a good projects guy. Finishing up Bill Martin's reign of expansion and improving facilities, etc. But he's been a disaster at handling crisises, is awful at PR and fails at the most important part of his job - filling the Big House.
Yes. He comes off as an ass in these. Smarmy. Defensive. Prickly. Condescending. This was an awful PR move to have him in these one-on-one sitdowns. Because he's an arrogant prick.
Should have been a podium presser with a prepared statement and be done with it.
This whole load about having "better things to do" is ridiculous. He basically went on a pump up Dave's ego tour talking to all the student athletes he could find instead of facing the very real criticism that was waiting for him. Lame.
Uhhhh. You're on a Michigan sports blog suggesting that they everyone just ignore the massive Michigan Football PR nightmare that's unfolding in real time right in front of our horrified eyes?
Not really into the whole pespective thing, huh?
There are plenty of places to discuss other things in sports. Go find them. The fact that you continue to haunt all the Dave Brandon threads and comment on them shows you're not all that ready to move on yourself.
Seems like you've got a little bit of Dave in you, blaming others for your own failings.
By the way. Expect the story to continue. It has major traction.
Uhhhh. How do you expect anyone to "move on" when the very athletic department at the center of this nightmare won't? This is day five since the Morris incident and it's the fifth day that the athletic department has continued it's campaign of shifting blame and obstuseness.
So far there's been three pressers by Hoke where he's had less than full information. Three press releases, of which two were awful (Brandon's) and one was acceptable (Pres. Schlissel). And now Domino Dave has decided to Expand The Brand by providing one-on-one's with every outlet in town.
Don Canham is fuming right now. Never turn a one day story into three.
This onslaught of one-on-ones is an absolute disaster. Brandon appears smug, arrogant and smarmy in all of them. Instead of providing one concise, calculated response in a presser, he's gone with the carpet bomb approach and it's going to backfire spectacularly. Each one is full of enough bad quotes to generate a dozen more irrate columns.
Good job. Good effort Dave.
Never turn a one day story into more. Somehow he's going to get a week or more out of it.
Goodbye Dave. These interviews prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're a smug, arrogant douche who will place blame on whoever's convenient at the time.
Can't believe this guy blamed the medical staff. WTF.
Domino Dave can be as hands-on top-down involved as he wants on the business side of the equation. You know, checking in on marketing or doing strolls around the stadium on Gameday. But the coaches need to be left alone to do their thing. Watching film crosses the line and cuts into the Head Coach's autonomy. Also creates the impression that everything is being micro-managed.
Good luck to Dave if he's in place to make the next hire (I just barfed in my mouth). Outside of the truly desperate, no real candidate wants to have an AD in his face on Sundays.
Brandon watching film has been out there as fact. Not much of a stretch to accept that he watches it without Hoke. Teams break down film as seperate units. I'm sure Mattison and Nussmeier get plenty of Dave Over Their Shoulder Time.
He strikes me as frustrated former athlete pining for glory. Wouldn't put any lame meddling past him.
What does Lloyd Carr have to do with today? It was eight years ago. Move on, man.
No one should take "Three and Out" as gospel. John U Bacon is a terrific guy and a hella of a writer, but he was embedded with the Rodriguez family for the entire three years and the book is far too slanted and sympathetic towards them.
I took everything he wrote about Carr with a shaker of salt because, as far as I know, Lloyd did not cooperate with Bacon or sit down for any interviews.
I love Lloyd more than anyone, but he was not forced out. He wanted to retire. He also seriously lost interest in hiring decent coordinators and recruiting. His last few years were painful.
That Britney Spears microphone looks stupid and lame and it sucks. Football has traditions. Not looking like a clown on the sidelines is one of them. What's next? Google Glass? An iWatch? Big chunky headset is the only option.
Uhhhhh. Bruce Feldman might be the most credible CFB writer working today. Breaks loads of news. I would trust him over just about anyone else out there.
Because of his long form work (Meat Market and Swing Your Sword) he gets inside access that others don't. I've read pieces from him where he was inside A&M for a week, behind the scenes at Texas Tech. He's dialed in and gets places no one else does.
Stewart Mandel on the other hand is basically a column slash game report guy. I can't recall a single behind the scenes piece from him or him breaking any real stories.
So full of yuck. Contradicts so many things said / lied / released before.
Thanks for this. Cuts right through the fog to the essence of crapitude that was Saturday.
I still think it's pretty impressive to be 2 - 3 before October 1st. Takes some seriously awful football.
Opens you up to all kinds of future accountability. Legal and otherwise. For instance, people will then expect apologies for how dreadfully awful this team has been.
Manages to be both. Taken straight from the Dave Brandon Damage Control 101 Press Releases To Further Damage Your Brand For Dummies.
Typical nonsense from the Dave Brandon Department Of Not My Fault Press Release Releasing. Utterly tone deaf and avoids the real issue.
It's entirely possible to be totally through with Hoke as a coach AND demand his firing for this incident and not have the two be related. Player safety takes precendence over everything.
This is just a game. No kid should be blasted the way Morris was and stay in there. Regardless of Hoke's situation right now, that is unacceptable player management.
It is major and massive and huge that they left them in for another play. It's been shown that some of the most damaging brain injuries occur after the initial trauma. Smaller secondary hits can be more devestating than the first one because of the brain's reaction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-impact_syndrome
I'm coping by watching lots of college football games and being insanely jealous whenever I see bordeline competence from an offense. "Whoa. Two first downs in a row. That NC State offense is on fire!!"
I don't care what the score is. What the team's record is. You cannot handle your players like that. Even in an imaginary world where the team is 5-0 and Brady Hoke is the toast of Ann Arbor this is absolutely atrocious player management.
The days of tough guy meathead play til your drop football are over. Even if Morris doesn't take that devestating shot from Cockran, there's no reason for him to be limping around like that. Not effective as a player. Doesn't help the team. Subjects him to further injury.
Some things are a little more important than winning a football game.
Saban didn't leave the Dolphins mid season. He left after year two. You're probably thinking of good old Bobby Petrino who abandoned the Falcons in like week 13.
Disgusted. Embarrassed. Enraged.
The "handling" of Morris was atrocious. I've watched a lot of football and that was probably the worst handling of a QB I've seen. He was limping badly. Game was through. There was no reason for him to be in there.
He takes a massive kill shot. Has to be helped to his feet and can't stand. Take him out. Take his helmet. Putting him back in was incredibly stupid. Putting him back in and calling a pass play was just sickening.
Hoke should be canned.
What do you need to see before the guy gets pulled? A bone jutting out of his shin? Staggering around and vomitting?
Morris was limping for an entire series. Can barely stand. Then he gets absolutely blasted. Helmet drilled into his chin. And has to be helped up and supported by a teammate. Game over. Sit him down. Take his helmet.
This is just a game. No one needs to get CTE because Brady Hoke is asleep on the sidelines.
Nuss more than anyone should be aware of his QB's status. He should have yanked Shane when he was obviously limping. He should have pulled him off the field and taken his helmet when he was drilled. He's just as guilty for this atrocity.
Once the dust settles and all the scores of the day are recapped and the media moves into "looking back at the week" phase there will be serious blood in the water over this. This flagrant disregard for a player's safety will be dissected from every angle. And Hoke will be fired.
RAGE. RAGE. RAGE.
Oh snap. Reports are already coming out that this account is false and that Tuberville finished dinner. Said goodnight like a classy guy and departed as usual.
Guess this "scandal" is dead in the water. Unless the waiter wants to complain about the tip he left.
Sorry. Just don't see the comparison.
Tuberville has never been accused of or included in any major scandals.
Petrino hired his mistress for a position she wasn't qualified for. Lied to the police and the school about her involvement in the motorcyle accident. Major nonsense.
Coaching transitions are always awkward. What's he supposed to do? Stay there and pretend like he's going to coach these kids? Tell them the truth so they can put it on Twitter and Facebook and the players currently at Tech find out that way? It's a no win.
Jon Bacon spends the better part of his book ripping Lloyd Carr for offering to sign transfer papers for any of his players. I thought it was a classy move by a classy guy. Others painted this as treachery and backstabbing.
Perception is all how you spin it and whether or not you like a guy.
Here's my take on this. Everyone is disgusted by the addition of Maryland and Rutgers because it seems to be a shameless money grab. I tend to disagree, but that's beyond the point. The current consensus would be that $$$ is ruining college football.
Coaches salaries are skyrocketing. Everyone thinks that's nuts.
Bielema gets a raise of 600K. That's a lot of scratch. Approx 24% more than he makes now. 3 mil more over five years. Now people are criticizing Wisconsin for not just opening the wallet and paying him more*.
It's a double standard. Either you think $$$ is ruining college athletics and coaches salaries are nuts and good for Wisconsin for showing some fiscal responsibility. Or you don't care and they should pay whatever to keep him. Can't be both.
The problem is that this defection is seen as a Big Ten "loss" and that creates this defensive reflex in the fanbase.
SI.com actually ran a piece with a headline "SEC Beats Big Ten Again!" Ivan Maisel wrote a thing where he claimed the SEC were the Corleones and they were drinking the Big Ten's milkshake.
I'm trying to advocate for more reasonable and rationale thinking. Maybe it's not a case of a guy saying "SEC is better." Maybe Bielema was sick of living in Alvarez's shadow. There's a lot more to these things than what's portrayed here.
* Never mind the fact that they never got the chance to negotiate, but that's another thing.
Every account I've read (from verified sources and not guys on Twitter) has Bielema blindsiding Alvarez. No discussion. Read this interview with Bielema. Note how short the time frame is and how there's no talk of counter offer. Interviewed in NY. Accepted almost immediately. In Fayatteville the next day.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/57422/qa-arkansas-coach-bret-biel…
1) Recruiting.
Arkansas is close to two major talent hotbeds. Louisiana and Texas. It's much easier to get a Florida kid to come to Arkansas than Wisconsin because a Florida kid has grown up in SEC country. He knows the teams, the rivalries.
2) Sixth best job.
These things are not written in stone. Everything is in flux. Before Spurrier Florida was a joke. Tennessee was a power. Now it's a joke. You can count on a couple of things. Vandy will struggle. Kentucky will always be a basketball school. LSU before Saban? Awful.
In just a couple of years, Petrino had Arkansas in the top 5. I've read this is the "second tier" SEC job all over the internet. I don't agree. Right coach, right recruiting can turn any of those big SEC West teams into juggernauts.
3) No counter.
Coaches and ADs are in NY for award season. Bielema walked up to Alvarez told him he was gone and that was it. No chance to counter. No discussion. Gone in 5 minutes.
4) 600K
There is a lot of double talk on this blog. Money drives expansion. Money is evil. But then it's a joke when Wisconsin won't reup Bielema for such a paltry sum. As if he took equivalent money to go to Arkansas. No matter how you slice it, 3mil is 3mil.
A couple things I disagree with here.
1) Arkansas as a dead end job. The 2011 team was 11 - 2 and ranked #5 in the country at the end of the year. Loaded with talent. Sure you have to beat Bama and LSU. But anyone who thinks Wisconsin is a better job must have never seen a map. Arkansas has instate talent. Closer to Texas and Florida.
2) Wisconsin was giving no chance to counter the offer. Bielema told Alvarez he was going. No chance to counter.
3) 600K is nothing to sneeze at. Works out to 3mil more over the life of the contract.
4) Bielema was gone and there was nothing to stop him. He sent Jeff Long a letter expressing interest in the post in September. He has aspirations of national titles that cannot be fulfilled at Wisconsin.
What does this have to do with realignment? Guys wants a better job, he's gonna take it. And Arkansas is a better job than Wisconsin.
I was wrong. His contract states that if he wins a National Championship he gets pulled to within $1000 of the top coach nationally.
I was assuming that he made Nick Saban $$$$ and how they hell would Arkansas justify paying him that.
Leroy Hoard and Jarrod Bunch. One of my fav Michigan backfields. Those two were MANBALL specimens. Just so ill.
IIRC Miles contract states he must get $1 than the next guy in the SEC. So he doesn't need to flirt with Arkansas to get a raise.