Long Dave Brandon Interview in Detroit News
"...the arguments going on inside it are dumb." I guess you lead by example.
Oh, the sweet, sweet irony of this post.
You are so blind. So, so, gloriously blind, it's just amazing. Does making these inane comments make you feel cool? You should really ask yourself, honestly, why do these things seem to annoy so many people? You are bearing witness to the program that you have devoted your life to, morph into some kind of chintzy, gimmicky - oh look, shiny thing!- ... what was I saying?
The sweet irony I was referring to was Bando's post of "don't click on it".
Even though he pissed and moaned about my equipment update thread the other day when he could have just used his own advice by not clicking on it.
You? I don't know why you're butting in. But you do quite frequently reply to my opinions that supposedly mean nothing to you, don't you dude?
I know what you were referring to, kiddo. You're not picking up what I'm laying down.
Just wait until they wear blue pants at home. It will happen sooner rather than later.
Great nickname.
For all the RR backers who said he needed more time. I will completely agree he had some good ideas(victors walk, BBQ) and never got anything really close to a fair shake. But, honestly do you all forget how shitty it was to be a fan during his tenure? There were definitely high moments like denard and when we played notre dame, but we were getting blasted off the field each fall. Especially because of denard and our offense I was hoping for a fourth year; until his last two games. To just go into playing Ohio state and realizing you don't have a snowballs chance in hell is a pretty bad feeling as a fan. And you all know what happened we lost by 30 points. Then the bowl game we lost by 38. His team had quit, whatever backers he once had were gone, and josh groban happened.
He provided us with 3 of the worst seasons in program history and people still somehow defend him. Hoke has his flaws and the jury is still definitely out on him, but he is by far better for this program than RR. 25-13 is far better than 15-22. Recruiting and lack of attrition has been far better. It was rich rods classes that are the reason we are hovering at 10 seniors per year. His highest ranked recruit didn't even make it on campus.
So I guess the point of the rant was even though the backers can and probably will
Ignore this. Just all I ask is you put yourself back into how you felt about him and this program November of 2010 compared to right now with hoke. If you honestly feel like we would be in better shape with rich rod then by all means carry on.
I think most of them would argue that RR would have been better judged if he had that fourth year. They see what Hoke did with mostly RR's players and mostly RR's system and they think "we didn't need to rebuild again, it was turning around." I personally don't know. The MisSU game was barely enough for me to say "ok, move on" but Hoke has don't little aside from that first year to make it seem like it was a slam dunk move.
There are a number of reasons why Rich Rod didn't succeed, so I think it's wrong of anyone to pin it on one particular thing.
But Rich Rod hadn't shown any real improvement in the B1G or late in the season.
So I think he could've been better, sure. But his teams consistently struggled in games that mattered.
---In his first year we won ONE game after October 1 (@ Minnesota with Feagin)
---In his second year we won ONE game after October 1 (vs. 1AA Deleware State)
---In his third year we won three games after October 1 (@ Indiana by 7, vs. Illinois in 3OT, @ Purdue)
In 3 years Rich Rod won 5 games after October and didn't beat anyone of note...in fact, the teams he beat were AWFUL. Minnesota finished 7th, Illinois finished 5th and Indiana was dead last.
It's weird how people forget these facts. I'm not placing blame on these folks, but I mean look at that data right there. That's a HUGE reason why he was fired. He had no quality wins other than ND. We were awful once the weather got cold and the B1G season began.
---In Hoke's first year we won SEVEN games after October 1!
---In Hoke's second year we won SIX games after October 1!
---In Hoke's third year we only won three games after October 1 :-(
Still Hoke's worst year in wins after October 1 matches Rich Rod's best year. Hoke doubled Rich Rod's best in both his first and second years. Hoke has also beaten 3 ranked teams in after Oct. 1 - and a win over unranked OSU in year 1 and unranked MSU in year 2.
Rich Rod would always start hot with the warm weather and an injury free team...but once the B1G started, he was toast. Yet people act like that stuff didn't happen. Again, I've always found that weird. But how can anyone, even Rich Rod himself dispute this?
running for his life at the beginning of the season against weak teams. Once the schedule toughened up and DR was beat up from the hits, the offense was stagnant. We did little offensively against most of the quality teams. There was no way things were gong to suddenly get better in year 4.
Win-loss record was not why Rodriguez was let go. How do I know this? Simple; if past record was the primary determining factor, Rodriguez would not have been around to coach the 2010 season. This requires no further explanation except to those that believe Dave Brandon in January 2010 and Dave Brandon in January 2011 are not the same person.
There is only one type of argument in either direction that mattered, and those involve future projections of how good Rodriguez's teams would be later, when Rodriguez is graduating players he recruited in a continuous system. Arguments for typically cite the awesome offense in 2010, showing how far it had come since 2008 and how much better it could have become given that the team had essentially zero seniors. Arguments against usually point towards the okay recruiting rankings, poor player retention, and the defense/special teams performance. In the end, the latter arguments won out according to Brandon, though I still don't know why he needed to wait til after the bowl game to decide.
This also means that Hoke's 11-2 season gives information to the large improvement in defensive performance, establishing the expectation that Hoke's staff can coach defense, and... nothing else. However, his recruiting and player retention have been very strong thus far, which bodes promising for the future.
What? Come on man, that made NO sense.
What coach is fired after 2 years, especially with the most exciting player in CFB on his team as a Freshman?
You're REALLY not going to wait around to see what that kid can do as a sophomore?
Unless Rich Rod had some type of scandal, you can't name 5 ADs in the COUNTRY that would've fired him after year 2.
That was a beyond ridiculous statement.
Rich Rod was given 3 full years and threw up the awful stats that you responded to. Beat OSU and Mississippi State and I bet you every MGoPoint I have Rich Rod is coaching in 2011.
And I even said, it's not based off of any ONE thing. Did you READ my post?
Even with that, win/loss was DEFINITELY a main factor. How can anyone deny or argue the stats that I threw out? The man was plan awful once the B1G hit, once the weather turned, once his QBs got banged up in his offense. 5 wins! 5 after October 1 in 3 seasons! That's soooooo bad.
His defense was 120 in the country! Hoke took the same players, hired Mattison and finished in the top 20, right?
I mean, we can argue about personality, or level of fan support, or a lot of things. But these are just numbers.
At the end of the day win/loss was a HUGE factor. So was the probation. So was the awful defense. So was the divided fan base. So was the fact that DB didn't hire Rich Rod. So was the awful recruiting. So was the problems Rich Rod had with Admissions. So was the traditions Rich Rod changed or didn't acknowledge (like captains).
All of this played a role and I'm sure we could think of 10 other factors. But don't honestly sit there and tell me win/loss didn't determine Rich Rod's face.
I'll blow your argument up in one question. If Rich Rod goes 12-0 in 2010...is he fired?
Boom. Win/loss was a factor and it always will be a factor in a non-scandal related firing. This is division 1 football, brother.
because I'd actually have a meaningful response to give it. Instead I'll leave you with a "You're missing the point," and hope to continue this discussion when you next decide to dance on Rich Rod's grave.
very bright future. I am confident in Hoke and staff, the quality of recruits, etc. All of this rabble will be in the rear view mirror within 1-2 years. Go Blue
A nicely staged interview for Brandon to try to push back against some very heavy criticism of his performance (and him personally), but it's simply a PR piece and full of garbage.
Brandon now says that the skywriting was "silly", but the AD initially lied about East Lansing even being a target. Brandon claimed to have influece over scheduling, failed to push back against a double roadie at State and now throws out a "conspiracy" strawman. There isn't a single person who thinks it was a conspiracy and Dave's just trying to cover for his failure to address the mistake. We should now all say "ok, cool" because he blamed it on a computer???
Finally, this doozy about recruits and uniformz, "that kid will look at me and say, ‘Mr. Brandon, will we ever be able to do what Oregon does?’'
The answer, Dave, is "Will we ever be able to do what Oregon does? Son, the question is will Oregon, or any other school in the nation be able to do what Michigan does. We might not change our uniforms every week, but we also don't change the fact that we're one of the premier universities in the world with the winningest football program of all time."
Brandon doesn't get it and never will...It's the programs without tradition that have to make it up.
Makes me want to throw up.
The guy isn't perfect, but some of you act like he literally DESTROYED Michigan Football.
I don't even like the guy, but I find myself defending him all the time because you all act like he moved the team or something. You sound like Sonics and old Browns fans. At least they have a legitimate gripe.
We still have our team, he hasn't done anything to the core of our tradition, he's just f-ed up with some corny/gimmicky stuff.
It's worth being upset over, but not Browns/Sonics chasing with the pitchfork upset.
When he changes the Block M to comic sans, gets rid of the winged helmet and puts random advertisements on our jerseys like a WNBA team...then I'll be right there with you. Hell, I'll lead the pack.
He's making money in a tough time with a football team that hasn't been even remotely good (by our standards) since 2007 except for one season.
It's no excuse for him, because I think even if we were 12-0 and selling out and he didn't have to make up revenue in "creative" ways, he'd still be doing some of this dumb shit. But again, we still have a team. As far as I know we still have the bulk of our tradition. We still play in the best stadium in the world, with the best uniform in the world (outside of our servicemen and servicewomen), with the best fight song, and best traditions.
I'm pretty neutral when it comes to Brandon, because everyone brings up fireworks and skywriting...but why don't those same people bring up the good he's done? UTL 1 and UTL 2? Don't they outweigh the fireworks blunder? If not, isn't at least a wash? What about all of the renovations? The addition of Men's LAX? The paying of assistant coaches so we can get coaches like Mattison and Nussmeier and keep coaches like Jordan and Alexander?
Why don't we compare the good with the bad and see where we fall? I don't think it's going to swing you too far one way or the other when you take it all into account.
Hopefully some Browns, Sonics, Baltimore Colts, etc. fans can chime in and provide some perspective.
If my comments make you want to "throw up" then your stomach is far too sensitive. I've consistenly stated that Brandon seems to have done a good job in areas other than event production. He has done a poor job in event production as his decision all reveal his desire to copy from anyone. I would include in event production the following:
1. Seating decisions (like the collosal student seating debacle)
2 Audio (including band placement/use, jock jamz, etc)
3. Uniformz
4. Fireworks (which were to be in game, post-touchdowns and over The Victors)
5. Scheduling
If Brandon stopped meddling in event production, he'd be doing a fine job. Rather than delegating, he's bragged about his micor-managing of events and that where I (and most here) have an issue with him.
No issues with ANY of those. I'm right next to you on each one. I'm an Associate AD for Facilities & Event Management. You really think I don't feel you on ALL of those?
If there's anyone in the world that understands those event-related blunders, it's me.
That said, that wasn't the tone of your post. It was the freakout, blame game.
And again, I'm not throwing my title out there...but I work in Athletics and understand that Brandon has done a TON of good as well. So I keep a level head when referring to him.
If there were AD rankings, IMO, Brandon is probably somewhere in the 30s for D1.
Obviously that's not great, especially for "THIS IS MICHIGAN." But it could be far worse. Hell, I've worked for far worse. Twice. Part of the reason I chose to work at a D1 non-football school is because I've worked for a couple awful ADs - neither who is employed at the institution I was at when I was there. Both fired.
Perspective. That's all I try to bring. Again, 30s isn't great. But it's better than the vast majority of schools around the country, just not necessarily better than the schools we (Michigan) compare ourselves against.
I hear you...I know it could be a lot worse, but that isn't what Michigan should aim for. We have an AD who screws up one of the most public parts of his job when he could simply hand off those responsibilities to someone who has the experience and good taste to handle them properly.
If Brandon continues to treat Michigan football like minor league hockey, it won't matter that he's done good things elsewhere in the AD.
He hasn't destroyed Michigan Football. That isn't the point. He's well on his way to his stated desire of providing "entertainment value" (the best value he could provide to me would be a simple Michigan Football game, nothing else), and creating a "mini Super Bowl". That is decidedly not what Michigan Football is, or has ever been about. It's a very, very slippery slope, and he seems to have zero awareness of what people actually want.
He's a mass marketing guy, I suppose we should all have seen this kind of thing coming. Lowest common denominator and all of that. The thing that I think is most detrimental is his ego, as I think that's where most of the tone-deafness comes from. I want the guy gone.
But do you realize that what you had before him was NO better.
Bill Martin was not a good AD at all. Our football program would be in no better shape. We wouldn't be able to afford or retain assistant coaches and the man had no real vision for most of his career.
So can we get better? Absolutely. Brandon is far from the best. But you can definitely get worse. In fact, the majority of schools have worse.
You're exactly right about the Marketing mind...I suppose I did see it coming. Especially with his coorperate background. It was obvious to me that we'd make money like crazy, but we'd become a lot more hollywood.
I lived with it because at the time EVERYONE was getting more 21st century EXCEPT for Michigan...so I welcomed Brandon. Now it's probably time to settle back in for another 20-30 years. But we were such an old, prehistoric athletics department before Brandon. Creativity and innovation was passing us and people forget back 05-08 when Oregon and other schools burst on the scene, we REALLY were upset with the athletics department. Not over uniforms, but renovations, facilities, and certain things recruits becoming attracted to.
Gene Smith was everywhere...he was building OSU into a powerhouse and Michigan was basically 100% Brady Hoke, chilling without using a headset or e-mail.
Brandon has caught us up, and it's probably time to find someone who can settle us in...but Brandon's done a ton for this University and it's athletics department.
I don't disagree that he has done good things as well as bad things. For me, the bad far outweigh the good (with the one exception of coaching salaries). I think arguing that he brought us all of the facility upgrades is a false pretense, as those were happening with or without DB. Martin started those wheels in motion, and once we made that jump, the money was bound to follow. Giving DB credit for the extra revenue generated is weak sauce. He is responsible for incrementally improving revenue, but again, revenue was going to increase after stadium upgrades anyhow.
The problems that DB has created are his, and his alone. He has been the driving force behind all of the things that people are up in arms about, and there's no way to deny that. It's for that reason that I want him out, and that reason alone. He has the potential to bring our whole culture down, and that frightens me more than I can say.
This is Michigan, fergodsakes.
It's pretty obvious that the Big Ten intends to have Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State play at either Rutgers or at Maryland in alternate seasons. This year, UM and PSU are paying RU while OSU and MSU are at MD, then it flip flops next season. The B1G clearly wants its biggest brands to regularly play on the East Coast.
Once you get past that objective, then you put together the rotation for the four remaining Eastern Division teams on Michigan's schedule. When Nebraska joined the conference and the new divisions were set up based on parity, the top three programs in each of them were Michigan-Nebraska-Michigan State and Ohio State-Penn State-Wisconsin. All this was based on who the teams did since 1993, i.e., when PSU joined the Big Ten.
Fast forward 3.5 years and we still see that the Big Ten thinks PSU > MSU, even with the sanctions against Penn State and Michigan State's recent success. That tells you a lot of what the B1G thinks about where the Spartans stand in the conference's larger hierarchy, not to mention their relative national and regional appeal. So if we're ranking the remaining Eastern Division teams 1 through 4, this is what you get:
1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. Michigan State
4. Indiana
So the Big Ten decides to put 1 & 3 in one home/away rotation and 2 & 4 in the other home/away rotation. That's why we're seeing Michigan State and Ohio State both home or away.
Michigan then gets a balanced schedule because the B1G also opted (starting in 2016) to pair up the Eastern Division teams with a Western counterpart that is roughly on par with them. In UM's case, from 2016 to 2019, that program is Wisconsin. The Badgers join PSU, Indiana and Maryland on the same schedule rotation opposite Ohio State, Michigan State and Rutgers for those four years. In 2020, if this practice holds, it'll likely be Nebraska replacing Wisconsin through 2023.
I'd like to make one more point. Brandon's "wow" comment about 2015 was having Oregon State, UNLV, Brigham Young (who replaced Notre Dame), Michigan State and Ohio State on the home schedule--he didn't confine his comment to just the non-conference portion (he also didn't mention the home games with Northwestern and Rutgers). If you step back from the "wow" comment and who made it, that assessment is right.
I wouldn't be shocked to read that Michigan has one of the top non-conference schedules in the country. There are two Pac 12 teams on it (Michigan opens the season at Utah) plus one of the two major independents (BYU). There may be some schools that have a very big matchup in one of their non-conference games, but in total, Michigan's overall OOC slate will probably be judged as one of the best in the Power 5.
One other comment on the schedule. It appears Brandon is moving Michigan away from playing MAC teams. The only one on the schedule after this year is Ball State in 2020--the team Hoke used to coach. The no return date home non-conference games are programs from the Mountain West (AIr Force, Hawaii, UNLV) and the American Athletic (Cincinnati, Fiesta Bowl winner UCF, SMU). Is that better than playing Akron, Toledo, Bowling Green or Miami (Ohio)? I certainly think so.
BYU isn't a historical powerhouse the likes of OSU, Michigan, and Oklahoma enjoy, but they are definitely a team which deserves respect on an annual basis. While it was some years ago, the first and only time BYU and Michigan met, Michigan was on the short end of the stick at the Holiday Bowl and BYU was voted the unanimous National Champion. Also not to be overlooked, while Michigan was posting losing records a few years ago, BYU was posting nine and ten win seasons.
Just to echo what so many have said in this thread: I do believe that Michigan has the talent to be very successful over the next 4-5 years. Hoke has definitely laid the groundwork on the recruiting trail to get this program back to where it needs to be. However, I won't sit here and say that I am convinced that Hoke is the right guy to lead them to the promised land.
Does that mean I think he is the wrong guy? No, not all all. I am still undecided. I think he has made all the right moves - recruiting, coaching changes, and reunited the fan base. I just want to see this team have some fight on the road; furthermore, I want to see them attack and not be tentative both offensively and defensively.
He needs to win every game at home this year. We complain about the home schedule which means one thing to me: we should start another home winning streak. There's no excuse in year four of the Hoke regime to lose to Appalachian State, Utah, Miami (OH), Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland, or Indiana. He also needs to take two out of the three big rivalry games. I'd obviously prefer MSU and OSU over Notre Dame but beggars cannot be choosers.
That puts you at 9-3 with games at Northwestern and Rutgers to snag win #10 or #11. What I fear is us sweeping the schedule and losing all three big rivarly games. That would be a major disappointment if you ask me. Michigan, in the weakest Big Ten in recent memory, has fallen short of expectations. Year number four is where we begin to get our mojo back. I can sense it.
Very thoughtout post. Great read.
Don't even have to agree with all of it (and I don't)...but excellent stuff. Rather than the irrational screaming, this actually made sense and was reasonable.
I'm right there with you in the boat of "Hoke's done a great job laying the foundation, but I don't know if he's the man to build the house...we'll see" boat.
I don't like saying he needs to win this game and all that, so I'm going to stay away from that. Because the moment you say he needs to win all of the rivalry games, he'll lose them all, win a tiebreaker, win the B1G and B1G Championship game and everyone will be happy.
My expectations are simply this...
We need to show improvement each week. I've said this countless times this summer. The team we see in November should beat the team we see vs. App St. by 2 touchdowns. Why do I say this? Because we've got a BUNCH of guys getting experience and jumping into major roles for the first time. Or we've got guys that got a taste last year that are going to be key contributors this year.
So I want to see improvement and development and I want to see promise for 2015.
I know that's painful to not even have this year in our belt and be looking for 2015, but 2015 we have a schedule that sets up and a team that, IMO, should be in the CFB playoff. I don't care if it's Hoke, Harbaugh, Miles, or the ghost of Yost coaching...that is the expectation next year.
I see this year being a year where we have some early struggles and hit our stride late and we all say "UGH! Why couldn't we have played like this all year?!" Kind of like the UF game in '08.
Win the OSU game, win the bowl game and hit next offseason with crazy hype and momentum. 2015 is make or break for me. We'll have talent, experience, depth, everything. A new QB is all we'll have and the new QB will likely be a highly rated junior with playing experience. I'll take it.
Agree generally. Hoke is no sure thing. He appears to be a CEO coach who requires great coordinators. Also it's not all about Hoke. Position coaching IMO is the most underrated part of CFB. I have a full confidence at this point in maybe 2 of the position coaches as anywhere near elite (and I am being generous on Manning as 1 of them due to his recruiting prowess). Outside of WRs and LBs the past few years I don't think any unit has reached anywhere near its potential and that is more on position coaches than the HC (granted Hoke was a DL position coach as well) All the work that happens between Sunday and Friday is what makes Saturday happen.
With all that said with the way Hoke is recruiting I am confidant this program will return to a Lloyd Carr type of era as its floor. Thay would be a lot of 3-4 loss seasons and some griping by the fan base of untouched potential. But aside from his age that was one of the reasons many wanted Carr to go - there seemed to be 1-2 losses almost every year that made you scratch your head and when you look at the NFL talent we did develop it seemed like the sum of the parts was less than the individual parts most years under Carr. So I think Hoke has recruited to the point we return to the Carr era starting in 2015 as a base. But what is the ceiling under Hoke? Can he be a Stoops level guy that gets us to a playoff game say once every 3 years? And "BCS type" bowls almost every year? Will he show us he can be elite and get us to 11-12 wins more years than not. I think that is the question from here. Especially with OSU running a machine and MSU now churning out 3 out of 4 seasons of 11 wins - it smacks of low expectations when people here are cool with 8-4 when our in state rival with worse facilities, finances, etc now has 10 wins as their expected floor.
2015 will tell me a lot about the state of the program - if there is "only" a 10 win season with how stacked the schedule is in our favor and all the talent returning, it tells me we are just back to where we were with Carr and we'd should expect a lot of 3-4 loss seasons rather than reaching the next rung up in the ladder when in any general year your team is viewed as a legit contender for top 5 in the country as OSU is now viewed. The schedule will be tough every even year so if Hoke cannot make hay with the off year schedules (esp 2015 which is the easiest we will have in a decade) and get to 11+ wins, we just have returned to where we started in this whole mess.
Please win so everyone can STFU and be normal...or as least "normal" as far as fans go.
This is all ridiculous. Hoke was left with CRAP, seriously, didn't anyone read Ace's threads on the Rich Rod recruiting classes? I believe it was 08, 09 and '10.
No coach is going to take what Hoke was given and have much more success.
Hoke has built a foundation and his judgement starts right now. Unfortunately he doesn't get another 3 years, but this year he'll have HIS guys all getting experience and next year he'll have HIS guys all WITH experience (and a schedule that sets up beautifully).
I didn't mention it right then, but I've always said Rich Rod was given shit to start with...especially when you look at his system.
But Rich Rod isn't the coach at Michigan so I didn't feel the need to comment on him. If I commented on him, then why not look at what every other Michigan coach has gotten?
Rich Rod was surely in a bad spot in terms of what Carr left him, but he blew it up from the beginning unlike Hoke who phased his style of players in with Rich Rod. Rich Rod blew it up and went with freshman and rolled. So it sort of sped up his timeline, because he had "his guys" sooner than Hoke did. Obviously this wasn't the biggest factor, but that's definitely a significant difference between the approach of each Coach.
Also, Carr left Rich Rod with BODIES. Rich Rod didn't even do that. Go back and look at the recruiting classes for 08, 09 and 10 and see who all the guys who never even played a down at Michigan.
That's why Hoke gets so much of a pass. He didn't even have enough scholarship OLmen. He didn't have enough LBs or DBs. He got Koger for a year (which I believe was a Carr player) and didn't have another TE.
Rich Rod took a bunch of guys who never even made it to campus or never made it past year 1 at Michigan. So Hoke was always put in an awful situation.
Unlike said, Rich Rod at Arizona or Meyer at OSU who had Braxton Miller fall in his lap.
I'm not sure anyone was going to have much more success than Hoke had, just based off of numbers. So now there aren't anymore excuses. We've got depth and bodies everywhere. It's time to gain experience this year and then "we're back" at least on paper.
Now I don't know if that was a product of the schedule or abysmal offensive line play. As you stated, the team in November should look considerably better than the team in September. I hope Hoke can pull this off.
Agree 100% - I am not that worried about the W/L this year due to the OL issues. But the team needs to look well coached and playing at a higher level in Nov then Sep even if that means losses due to the higher competition late in the year. You see that in basketball every year now - we never feel "cheated" in terms of thinking the bball team is playing near the top of their potential. You do feel that with the football program and that needs to change even if it means a 8-4 year.
So what you're saying is that Hoke should start doing a hybrid system instead of a drop back pass system like he's trying to implement? I mean with that hybrid system we won 11 games including a premier bowl game. Ever since then he's been trying to change the system to what he wants it to be and we're seeing the results.
That was pretty fun to watch though.
I don't think you were being serious, but I will say this.
I never had ANY issue with Borges' plays. I've always said I think he's a master play designer.
I think he's an AWFUL playcaller. I would've much preferred Heck or literally anyone else on the staff call the plays. Shit, I could've honestly done a better job of calling the plays.
But the plays he'd come up with were pretty damn good. If we kept the playbook, I wouldn't be upset. But he can't sit up in that booth and call plays for Michigan, it was, well...you know how it was.
the "wow" I want is Denard-like wow, or Desmond-like wow, or ...
Who needs "wow" like giant noodles.
The night games have been awesome productions. Every game doesn't need to be that way. Especially when the excitement starts happening on the field. Not to mention "wow" costs money and I'd bet people don't care to pay for "wow".
Want to beat the couch: increase game day excitement thru better play on the field (hopefully coming), use the scoreboards like the TV is used at home (detailed replays - score updates and highlights from around the B1G and the nation) and not for "have your wedding at the Big House" or "I can't hear you!" and fix cell phone and wifi coverage (reportedly coming), and reduce the hassle and price gouging at every turn.
Still, I have no major issues with Dave Brandon. It's actually a bit strange to read how much some people dislike him and his ideas. In forty years, if Russell Bellomy becomes the AD, I just can't imagine hating him, not over the things that most fans complain about anyway.
I'm also not a fan of the Hoke-hot-seat talk if the team doesn't win X amount of games. Another head coach change seems like the last thing the program needs (unless Harbaugh or similar is available). I like the current coaches and players, though, and I believe they can succeed.
their HTTV copy in the mail? I'm still waiting on mine.
Thought mine was just lost in the system someplace.
I've not received mine yet either.
Finally he's acknowledging the fan base's discontent over some of his policies. That's a good thing. He also acknowledges that the students hated the change in seating. Also good.
But he still insists that he needs to do thw "wow" stuff. So while he's listening to the criticism, it doesn't seem to affect his thinking. He's just too stubborn, and that's also reflected in his statements about Hoke.
I appreciate his fundraising skiills with donors. That's important. But everything else about this guy really disturbs me for some reason.
This doesn't come off to me as him "acknowledging" anything. He's very dismissive of all the criticism. This is just false lip service, orchestrated to make him look good. Nothing more.
I've never said this before, but I'm saying it now. Fire DB.
It's definitely not the end-all or the cure to everything. You're always going to have pissed off people though, you think Alabama and Stanford don't have pissed off people?
That's just the world we live in.
But if we win...I'd say 65% of this all goes away. 30% will still be people who fight because these are some legitimate reasons to be upset. And then you'll have 5% who want to bitch just to bitch and we can go 15-0 and show Kate Upton .gifs on the jumbotron after every touchdown and they'll still be upset.
So winning doesn't solve everything. But I'll say this...if you win, you can take the biggest chunk out of the poor approval ratings.
Winning will help more than any other thing Brandon could do. He can fix the tickets, the prices, the fireworks and event management, he could fix all of that...and it would help, but nothing is going to do more than winning football games.
How do I know? Because people put up with shit win you win.
We played a stupid fucking CHICKEN song after we won a game and people didn't nearly as bothered by it had we lost that game.
Have a Beyonce halftime show during an OSU win and see how many people complain...have the same show during an OSU loss and people will literally be buning MGoBlog and Michigan Stadium to the ground.
Winning shuts people up even if they are unhappy. High ticket prices? Oh well, we're winning, it's justified. Stupid in-game gimmicks? Oh well, we won, we're undefeated.
That's your majority.