Details UM Coaches Meet & Greet 6/13

Submitted by Michigantrumpet82 on

Only just got a chance to write down some details from the Boston coaches meeting. I'm going from memory, so any other MGoBloggers in attendance, feel free to correct/add your impressions.



Steve Grafton (pres. alumni assoc.) asked for no video/audiotapes so coaches would feel comfortable being candid.



Little boy asked Hoke what the best part was of coaching at Michigan. Answer: It's Michigan. (Nothing more. 'Nuff said.)



Hoke did his "good afternoon", "42", "132 championships", "Ohio" bit to get the crowd going. He was asked about BCS v. Playoffs. He doesn't like playoffs because can't say how fair they will be.



David Brandon did most of the talking. Very laudatory of MSC - says he voted for her as a Regent. She is deeply involved and understands the value of athletics.



DB was asked what teaching moments would come out of the events in Ohio. He said that any time anywhere someone gets into trouble, that becomes a teaching moment. He said the important thing was to recruit players of character. The coaches nodded emphatically.



DB doesn't read blogs, says they don't influence him. Underwear wearing basement dwellers. He says mostly they don't have all of the facts, he is in position to have all of the facts.



DB was asked about compensation for players. He pointed out that only a handful of college sports programs operate in the black. (Berenson interrupted to have DB point out how much a college athlete costs the University - hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition, housing, food, tutoring, medical, etc.). DB said there is no discussion of stipends or pay to play. There are some costs which are directly attributable to attending school which are not paid and should be. He used transport to and from home for a West Coast player as an example. This can be a burden on some families.



The coaches were asked about how much weight they give the various recruiting/rating services. Berenson said that some times it's like they are babysitters not recruiters. He pointed out that now they are recruiting down to Sophmores and that there are some East Coast schools recruiting Freshmen. Beilein said that they don't go by others' rankings, they go by their own. They trust their own and feel that some of the recruiting services base their rankings on a limited amount of time actually watching a player. Hoke and LAX coach, John Paul, agreed.



Beilein is very excited about the renovations for Crisler. Hopeful of bringing some BB alums back as part of the celebration over the new opening. He also spoke about Darius' departure to the NBA. He said that he had been getting calls from the NBA and started meeting with Darius and his family. he pointed out that Darius is a 3.5 gpa business major, bright guy and that he made the right decision for himself. confident he'll go first round. when I had a chance to speak with him directly, I commiserated over how tough the Wisconsin loss had been. He shared that his daughter, 9+ months pregnant was at the game, and went into labor a few hours later. That was quite a night!



Red was very inspirational and had some great interactions with some young boys in attendance. He was asked about the Big 10 tournament. It's still a while off, and still in negotiations. Looks like St. Paul will be a venue, which will give Wisconsin and Minnesota an advantage. Would like to see the venue rotating. When I spoke with him directly, we talked about the future of the CCHA. It's still sorting itself out and he thinks ND is shopping around for a good deal in picking a Conference. Michigan is still their biggest draw and they want to keep us on their schedule.



John Paul, new head coach for LAX was introduced. A2 native, dad works for UM, will be coming back to Northeast for both games and recruiting.



Finally, for all you MMB fans out there, I was able to speak with DB about the piped in music at the stadium. DB said that there was some resistance in the Big 10, but that they have been able to change the rule and now can mike the band. They expect this to make a big difference. He cautioned that they will keep some piped in music because the 'young people' like it, but is hoping for about 65% MMB and 35% recorded.



Everyone was very approachable, and signing things and posing for pictures. They had to rush off immediately after the Q & A for their flight to NYC.

Comments

jtmc33

June 15th, 2011 at 9:42 AM ^

This post has great content -- but change your title to UM Coaches Meet and Greet

I viewed it expecting some Celtics or Red Sox OT bit 

OldManUfer

June 15th, 2011 at 8:15 PM ^

I was there as well and that's an accurate description of his comment. I don't recall his exact choice of words, but he definitely invoked the old cliche about bloggers writing in their underwear from basements (all that was missing was "their moms'").

He said he doesn't read the blogs and doesn't really care what the authors think. The rest of his answer came off, to me anyway, as "I don't care what the rest of the fans think either." Most of the rest of his answers were pretty good, but I think he dropped the ball with at least that one.

goblue7612

June 15th, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^

I assume this meet & greet was last night. The Red comments regarding the Big Ten Hockey Tournament are very interesting. It was revealed late last week that the final four of the BTHC tournament would be hosted by the regular season champion. Is that no longer the case, or has Red just not been informed yet (which I find hard to believe)?

OldManUfer

June 15th, 2011 at 8:22 PM ^

It was two days ago, on Monday (hence 6/13). I had the same reaction to Red's comment. I tried to ask if the reports that the format had been decided were inaccurate, but I didn't get called on.

I can't believe that between the head hockey coach and athletic director no one would know about this. The reports said the schools voted on potential formats, so who represented Michigan?

GoBlueYork

June 15th, 2011 at 9:57 AM ^

Other future scheduling points include:

B-ball preseason NIT in 2012

Hockey vs. Cornell at MSG in 2012 or 2013

It looks like Football will not back out of the UConn contract and will play in Storrs in 2013.

Michigantrumpet82

June 15th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^

Had a chance to speak with DB directly on this.  He said that they were still hoping to negotiate a change of venue to either Foxborough or the Meadowlands.  The game will take place, though.  Seeing as UConn spent lots of $$$ n stadium, my sense is they'll want to keep it there to showcase it.  Ont he other hand, more $$$ if at a NFL site. 

wolverine77

June 15th, 2011 at 10:10 AM ^

with moving the game. They got all worked up when Uconn scheduled games with Notre Dame at the Patriots Stadium (Gillette) because they had poured a lot of money into Uconn's stadium (Rentschler Field) and expected Uconn to play big games there. Moving to an NFL stadium would make Uconn way more money, but it is harder for students and the legislature may go up in arms again.

Six Zero

June 15th, 2011 at 10:41 AM ^

If, by some horrible twist of fate, Hoke cannot actually coach a football team... I say we still keep him along as a ceremonial head of state like the House of Windsor or something.

Seriously though, as the public figurehead of the program he's doing everything right and it seems like he really carries himself the right way.  Plus I have a feeling that he actually CAN do some of this coaching stuff, too.

Hire feels better and better every day...

HAIL 2 VICTORS

June 15th, 2011 at 10:46 AM ^

Thank You for taking the time to post...

Hoke: "BCS v. Playoffs. He doesn't like playoffs because can't say how fair they will be."

Although I am not one that favors playoffs myself I would like to know what Coach Hoke is thinking here.  If anything the subjectivity of the polls that determine the BCS championship seems less fair then any Playoff system I could imagine. 

Hmmmmm

Slippery Rock …

June 15th, 2011 at 12:42 PM ^

That is the main argument that I have heard against a tournament, but it doesn't hold water as far as I'm concerned.  Selecting the "wrong" team for the 4th spot, or 8th spot is at least a much better alternative than selecting the wrong team to the 2nd spot to play for the national championship.  There will always be controversy, but it has less of an impact if you make a mistake letting a theoretically undeserving team in a tournament as opposed to a winner takes all game. 

maizenbluenc

June 15th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^

they didn't like that the DC Alumns posted video on MoGoBlog. But if they're not in their underwear in their basement checking out MGoBlog, how did they know so fast?