SEARCHBITS XIII: A COMPETITOR FOR CHEESE
INSIDER BITS TODAY: MEH. Holding pattern time. I don't have anything specific to tell you that isn't out there already, just continued opinion that Harbaugh is very much in play and Michigan is still focused on him, with everyone else Plan B. I think we might see some movement over the weekend or early next week, especially if the 49ers are officially eliminated from the playoffs (a 49ers loss and Lions win will make it 100%).
Expect Michigan to start reaching out to potential replacements in earnest soon; that won't mean that Harbaugh's definitively out, it'll mean that he hasn't definitely said yes. Harbaugh won't have a truly clear picture of his options until the NFL season is over. He does not know what he wants to do now.
If Michigan doesn't get deeply involved with a short list over the next couple weeks that's a good sign.
WE THOUGHT THIS WAS ASHLEY MADISON DOT COM, NOT MADISON, WISCONSIN. SEEYA.
BARRY ALVAREZ MUST SMELL LIKE ROTEL THAT'S BEEN IN THE FRIDGE SINCE THE BIG TEN WAS RELEVANT. Oregon State's shock hire of Gary Andersen after just two years—two quite successful years—at Wisconsin moves a coaching opening much closer to Michigan in both geography and prestige. Well… probably, as far as the latter goes. Wisconsin's now had coaches bug out for the post-Petrino wasteland at Arkansas and the 10th best job in the Pac-12*. I can't see that happening at Michigan.
I don't buy most of the explanations out there for Andersen's departure. Wisconsin doesn't pay its assistants like a program with their success level would be expected to, but Oregon State doesn't either. Family reasons cited by Alvarez are transparent bunk. Everyone's talking about academic issues, which I guess could be jarring as you move from Utah State, but Wisconsin's done just fine with whatever standards they've had forever. It kind of looks like Alvarez is a Brandon-esque figure hovering over his coaches. In his defense, he was a really successful football coach instead of a guy who sold cardboard disks purporting to be pizza.
Will Wisconsin's search impact Michigan? It's doubtful but not outlandishly so. After getting burned by consecutive outsiders, Wisconsin may prefer a Wisconsin Man and go for Pitt HC Paul Chryst, NC State HC Dave Doeren or Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell. If they eschew those options they might promote DC Dave Aranda, who had very shiny stats before OSU bombed them, or go with a mid-level HC not currently on Michigan's radar. It's probable that Wisconsin finds a guy without pinging anyone Michigan would ask after.
Any impact would come if both teams end up hunting coordinators, and even then it seems like the teams would split the two obvious Big Ten candidates and be happy with it. Pat Narduzzi makes more sense than Tom Herman for the Badgers: Wisconsin knows what it is on offense and wouldn't want to change it. Herman makes more sense for M because they need offensive repairs desperately.
BUT SERIOUSLY. Wisconsin should hire Bo Pelini.
NO SERIOUSLY. I'm serious. This is not just for the epic trolling it would set up.
SERIOUSLY. Seriously.
*[Colorado and WSU are worse. Probably.]
ONE OTHER POSSIBLE EFFECT. Herman and Aranda were in fact teammates at Cal Lutheran back in the day. If M does end up going for Herman and Aranda is cut loose at Wisconsin that would be an obvious option for DC.
never not funny
HARBAUGH HARBAUGH HARBAUGH. Tim Kawakami had an interesting piece on parallels between the Harbaugh-49ers rift and that between Mark Jackson and the Golden State Warriors, a post that also roped in Chris Mullin. This bit is the most directly applicable to you:
Harbaugh will not talk about the strife. Not publicly or–I believe–privately.
He tried to deny that there were any true tensions this off-season, because that’s his usual tactic, but as the stories have piled up starting from the early weeks of the regular season, Harbaugh has just generally refused to comment on the meaning of all this–and he won’t deny the possibility that management is doing it, either.
He’s not doing this as a zen practice, Harbaugh is doing this because he’s hunkered down, fighting through every day, and if management wants to conduct a campaign against him, that’s only going to sharpen his wits for the next move (while staying silent about what it might be).
Another similarity: Mullin naturally took the quiet high road because he knew he’d succeed elsewhere. I guarantee you that’s what Harbaugh feels now. …
This is all–I firmly believe–coming from 49ers management.
We know Harbaugh is talking a bit privately, but even then he plays his cards very close to the vest. He gave Charles Woodson a press conference answer when they talked…
"I spoke to him briefly, just said 'what's up,' and I almost started to get into the conversation but he kind of game me the same line he gave everybody at his press conference," Woodson said Tuesday on The Rich Eisen Show. "The well-being of his team and the well-being of his family. That was about as far into it as we were going to get."
…(since that press conference answer made the press, that was a good move). Meanwhile he's refusing to mention anything other than the next game, and he was relatively circumspect with the former M players he watched the OSU game with. I've gotten reports that he is cagey with everyone, with small cracks that may let people in on his intentions. A few people who've known him forever get Harbaugh's unvarnished thoughts—and even they don't know what he'll do.
This would explain a great deal of the disconnect between NFL reporters and the Michigan guys. Everything the NFL guys get is coming from management types who have a vested interest in Harbaugh staying in the NFL, either because they want him or want to trade him. Guys who talk to him personally get a different take.
BUT NOT CHARLES. Woodson continued:
"The way it sounds to me there's not even that one in a million," he added. "It doesn't sound too good to me.
"I guess you do have a slight chance. But man. It ain't looking good."
This is still not the opinion of people who have spent a lot of time canvassing all available information. Yikes all the same.
ON ASSISTANT SALARIES. USA Today published a database of assistant salaries, which promises to be more useful than the head coach listings. Head coaches have erratic, large bonuses that cause big swings. Those kinds of things are much rarer with assistants.
Michigan was 9th in overall assistant compensation with a relatively unbalanced structure: both coordinators were 800k+, recruiting coordinator Jeff Hecklinski was just under 300k, and everyone else around 240k. LSU was #1 in overall compensation with both coordinators at 1.3 million and their lowest-paid dude at 310.
M is almost two million dollars behind LSU in annual compensation(!). They're right on par with OSU, FWIW. Mississippi State is a million dollars back of M, on par with Colorado, Maryland, Rutgers… and Wisconsin.
Upshot: unless there's a big shift Michigan is going to be able to pay on par with everyone else. There's enough money to pay a big time coordinator for the other side of the ball if M goes with a Narduzzi/Herman type.
PLAN B. Here's a weird-ass name I don't fully believe but know they're kicking around at some level inside the department: Marvin Lewis. The Bengals are currently at the top of the AFC North but Lewis has been on precarious ground for a while now—he got a one-year extension just before this season and would likely have to be extended again. The Bengals have been on the verge of a change there for a long time. Lewis comes with all the usual NFL hangups but at his age (57) he would likely be retiring at a hypothetical college job.
Wouldn't put too much into that since a boatload of names get kicked around, but if Cinci does fire the guy keep an eye on him.
Beyond that, I've heard that you shouldn't take reports that so-and-so college coach isn't interested at all seriously. That's a good general rule. It is a better one in this specific case. I know that people who have supposedly ruled themselves out have done no such thing and would welcome sincere post-Harbaugh interest from M.
Etc.: You could read all these posts or just this one EDSBS glossary, after which you know everything I do. Shemy says time to come home.
December 11th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
That Woodson quote is alarming.
December 11th, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
In one section it says Harbaugh gave Woodson the general press conference answer but then in the next section Woodson thinks there's almost no chance. Was there more to the conversation in the first section or was maybe Charles reading more into Harbaugh's answer (his body language and facial expressions)?
December 11th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
Woodson got the press conference answer then heard the much propogated bits from Rappaport and Schefter like everyone else.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:32 PM ^
My thought as well.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
Yeah, that was my take as well. It doesn't sound like Woodson and him have some deep relationship, so if all he got was a press-conference answer and then read stuff online like everyone else he'd probably be pessimistic too.
December 11th, 2014 at 12:53 PM ^
Indeed, if Harbaugh is not the one, there aren't enough psychiatrists in the world to treat the cases of depression that will ensue.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^
December 11th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
but I'd be more alarmed if Woodson and the rest of the Michigan Mafia were talking glowingly of the possibility. Saying "it ain't likely to happen" is the best way to keep pressure off negotiations.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
I doubt Woodson knows much more than anyone else. When would Harbaugh have spoken to him? And it doesn't sound like Harbugh has told anyone anything of note. Hell, I'm 99% convinced Harbaugh knows about as much as we do concerning his future plans. But we're all rightfully terrible at being patient. This needs to be the biggest hire since Bo.
December 11th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
Is it good or bad news that we haven't heard anything about what they're doing? Nuss, Mattison, etc? Does that bode any direction for anything?
December 11th, 2014 at 1:00 PM ^
Give me an effing break. It's been 23 years since Lewis coached in college, he has a career coaching record of just .524, and is 0-5 in playoff games. Sean Payton makes more sense as somebody UM is considering.
The only people who should be kicking around Marvin Lewis's name inside the department are the ones emptying the wastebaskets. If the decision-makers are giving him even 30 seconds of serious consideration, that's a very bad sign.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
IMHO, Lewis is a weak leader who tolerates bad behavior by his players and tremendous meddling by ownership, all because he will never be fired by said ownership. The Bengals are not the putrid, fraudulent corpse of an organization they once were, but they are still not at all an entity we want Michigan to borrow from.
Lewis is now at the top of the list of names I do not want considered.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:27 PM ^
Sounds like our offense; way too much talent to be playing that poorly...
December 11th, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^
Lewis thinks he can repair everyone's soul or something. It's kind of crazy how many therapy jobs he's taken on. With some success and failure.
On one hand I think that might translate to a place like Michigan because he would be more restricted in the type of kid he could bring in and more restricted in terms of what he could allow.
Then again he might be more inclined to push the limit on the type of kid he can sneak by admissions.
He's far from a home run hire but I don't think I see the impending doom that is being suggested.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
...wants to take on the reclamation projects, though maybe Lewis does too. But it's Lewis who let guys like Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson be knuckleheads in ways that distracted from the team - though I suppose Brown may have forced that on Lewis in a sense too.
In any event, Lewis has had a hard time getting guys to fall in line. And he seems comfortable letting Brown be involved in things for which he has no expertise in return for Lewis being - IMO - Bengals coach for life.
December 11th, 2014 at 4:49 PM ^
Thanks for the insight. That makes sense
December 11th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
I don't think I saw this in yesterday's Searchbit but Allen Trieu wrote a piece for Detnews on Tyree Kinnel's recruitment. Tyree spoke with Michigan yesterday and said this, "Today I was told that after Christmas they will have their new coach, no later than that."
December 11th, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^
What the hell does that even mean?
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December 11th, 2014 at 1:18 PM ^
is bringing Harbaugh!!!!!!!!!!!
;-)
December 11th, 2014 at 1:22 PM ^
after the recruiting 'dead period'
December 11th, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
No later than after December 25th. So anytime after December 25th
December 11th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^
So someone posted a rumor over at the MLive Michigan chat that during the Hacket/players meeting, he gave them a timeline for a new coach and also indicated that it wouldn't be a "spread coach."
Can anyone confirm this "spread coach" rumor is pure bunk?
December 11th, 2014 at 12:55 PM ^
Charles Woodson's quote about JH talking about the well-being of his family is worrisome.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^
I read comments like this and I nod along and then I realize (again) that we're losing all sense of proportion not to mention our freaking minds.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
Why? Please clarify.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:31 PM ^
Fair question. I guess because it feels a bit to me like our initial instinct is to hope the guy assigns a higher priority to Michigan football than he does to the well-being of his family. Don't get me wrong: I don't think anyone here would straight-facedly express that view. But the combination of our obsessive fandom and the continuation of this process appears at times to affect our ability to think with anything other than our lizard brains.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^
No, not at all. I would hope he puts his family first. But I also hope he comes here, so if the only reason he doesn't is because his wife wants to stay in California (he'd come otherwise), I'd be bummed because it will feel like it was a missed opportunity.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^
It's an extremely vague statement that doesn't mean anything. If Harbaugh wanted to say, "I don't want to go to Michigan because of the well-being of my family," he would probably just come out and say it. What he's saying now is a total stock answer necessary for getting through a press conference without actually saying anything noteworthy.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^
someone posted in a thread that they work out at the same gym as a former UM AD. Take if for what it's worth but they chatted about Harbaugh and the former AD said that the 'issues/stories' regarding Jim's wife are a valid concern.
December 11th, 2014 at 3:37 PM ^
divorces are very common these days . . .
I would take Herman if we can't get JH for so many reasons. Sure, he would be a risk, but whether he is at UM or somewhere else, he will be a winner big time before his coaching days are done. I do not want to see him on the other sideline.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
Roberson, Weidenbach and Goss - I would assume are largely out of the loop at this point. Forgive me if one or more to these gentlemen have passed on. I'm not trying to be funny.
Martin - Seems to take issue with Harbaugh's past and screwed up his coaching search in an epic fashion. Not a good source even if he's the guy.
Brandon - Pretty much same as Martin.
there are guys who know... Greise, Debord, Hackett...... those guys ain't talkin'. That's why we have a good chance at better than what Martin and Brandon gave us.
December 11th, 2014 at 4:51 PM ^
Take it for what it's worth. How much credence anyone wants to give what that person posted is up to them.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
I believe Harbaugh was simply saying that's his focus right now, just as he's said in press conferences (about the team, anyway).
December 11th, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
December 11th, 2014 at 2:02 PM ^
and you never rabble. +1 anyway.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
At the face of it, the family comment is standard issue. But because Woodson assigned it a negative meaning (negative by saying it doesn't look good for JH coming here attached to that comment), I took that as meaning the family might not want to make this move. Of course, they can be convinced, especially if, at the end of the season, no other offer looks as good.
December 11th, 2014 at 12:55 PM ^
I would sign the deal tommorrow.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
and I've believed this from the bginning, if you want to understand Harbaugh and how he deals with stuff, all you need do is check out the background reports on him over the years which are readily available online.
Brian has nailed this situation as it stands and where all the players are. Harbaugh is his own man, and family is important. He is the father of six with several grown children, and two families not excited about the prospect of having their dad leave the Bay Area for somewhere other than where they've mostly lived. This is a cncern for him regardless of the fact that he has an internal desire to coach at Michigan and take over the job that Bo held, with the Michigan universe calling him.
He makes his own choices, good or bad, he owns them. And his principal advisor, the one who means the most to him in giving advice, is his dad. Both John and Jim are alike in that regard. So, whether Jim talks openly to those who know him, including ex-teammates or friends, they will not get anything definitive. That is why I think worrying about what others say about his future has little credibility unless it comes directly from him. I don't think he's made up his mind.
I think he wants to get paid but money won't be an issue. I think he wants to coach Michigan but isn't sure he wants to be done with the NFL and/or have his family trailibg behid him. Moreover, I truly believe he wants to prove people wrong and win with the 49ers just to get back at his detrtactors in SF. That's his internal competitiveness which focuses everything for him professionally. When he says his future is his last concern, no doubt he's telling the truth.
Here's the other truth he has to face. Michigan is doing this search right with a very structured, reasonable and understanding guy leading it. Hackett proves to me how smart Schissel is, and vice versa. But here's the thing, the Michigan coaching carousel, like Brian has said, will turn this last time for Jim Harbaugh, and not again. The leverage for the job is just that, the prestige of taking over at Michigan and doing something Bo's coaching mentor did, turning his alma mater around and putting it back on its elite pedestal. That opportunity comes now, not later. The NFL will always be around and beckon. This job won't be.
And if he doesn't take it, well, Michigan will get some one good, just not Harbaughesque, which is what is really needed now. But until he says no, I think he's coming to Ann Arbor.
December 11th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
The catch with Harbaugh's family not wanting to leave the Bay Area as well as the fact that his family from his previous marriage is in the Bay Area - there doesn't appear to be a lot of options for Jim to coach football next year and stay on the west coast.
The Pac-12 is the only Power 5 conference anywhere near the west coast and with Oregon State's recent hiring there aren't any coaching vacancies in the Pac-12.
If the Niners and Harbaugh part ways after the season, there's really only one possible opening for him - the Raiders. The Niners control the rights to Harbaugh in 2015 and I seriously doubt they'd want to trade him to their cross town rivals.
If the Niners fire Harbaugh, then he's free to coach anywhere he can get a job. The question he'll have to ask himself though is - do I want to take the job with one of the worst organizations in pro sports (Raiders)?
It's like you said, there will always be opportunities to go back to the NFL and probably better opportunities then what the Raiders can offer next year.
December 11th, 2014 at 7:27 PM ^
December 11th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
The MGopodcast is one of my favorite things in this world. Given the unique time we're in, I'd love to hear a CC episode where John U Bacon joins yourself and Ace as a special guest.
Is something like that a possibility?
(Ace mentioned on Twitter that he may be up for podcasting this weekend. Stay strong Ace. Love ya buddy.)
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December 11th, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
December 11th, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^
I remember listening to Bo give a speech once at one of their football camps. It was the first year of Mo. Closest I got to him personally, but man, after that speech we were all pumped. To me, the guy dripped Charisma.
December 11th, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
December 11th, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
Has Bronco Mendenhall been discussed anywhere on here?
December 11th, 2014 at 1:02 PM ^
He and Whittingham are both Mormoms. While both are good coaches, I'm not sure how much interest either has in leaving Utah to live somewhere else.
December 11th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
I lost a ton of money on that bozo and Andy Dalton in last years' playoffs.
Help!!!!!
December 11th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
Betting on the Bengals in the playoffs or on primetime is not a good idea...
December 11th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
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