Harbaugh hires Wayne Lyons' mom

Submitted by ypsituckyboy on

Per Mark Snyder at The Paper That Shall Not Be Named, Gwendolyn Bush, who is the mother of Stanford CB Wayne Lyons, has been hired as the director of player development. On Twitter, she referred to the position as "team mom". I think we can safely assume Lyons is coming.

Harbaugh must've gotten to know her while recruiting Lyons. Also, apparently Lyons is a great student and really good kid, so I'd assume the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

EDIT: So, it sounds like she was also the "team mom" for the South Florida Elite 7-on-7 team that featured, among others, Amari Cooper, Geno Smith, and Teddy Bridgewater. All those guys apparently loved her.

cigol

February 6th, 2015 at 8:49 AM ^

To be fair, if this type of thing happened at any other college, we'd be crying foul and wondering how this isn't compensating a recruit. I'm sure UM did its homework and it's not against NCAA regulations, but this is worth more and has a greater direct impact on a recruit that some Lebron "procured" headphones.

Rhino77

February 6th, 2015 at 8:54 AM ^

Loving this as well. Harbaugh is not focused on building a winner down the road, he is creating one over night through experience. Hoke talked about it for years, Harbaugh is executing it.



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cobra14

February 6th, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^

Complain complain complain. You guys all whine that you want to win well guess what doing things like this is how you win in today's football. Start rooting for a MAC school if these type of hires are going to bother you. Its about time this program starts doing things like the other big programs in the nation. 

 

Thank goodness Harbaugh is he=re and understands what it takes to win!

cobra14

February 6th, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^

Complain complain complain. You guys all whine that you want to win well guess what doing things like this is how you win in today's football. Start rooting for a MAC school if these type of hires are going to bother you. Its about time this program starts doing things like the other big programs in the nation. 

 

Thank goodness Harbaugh is he=re and understands what it takes to win!

cobra14

February 6th, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^

Complain complain complain. You guys all whine that you want to win well guess what doing things like this is how you win in today's football. Start rooting for a MAC school if these type of hires are going to bother you. Its about time this program starts doing things like the other big programs in the nation. 

 

Thank goodness Harbaugh is he=re and understands what it takes to win!

EastCoast Esq.

February 6th, 2015 at 9:07 AM ^

I see no problem with this hire as long as two things are true:

1) The mother is objectively qualified.

2) The hiring is not a wink-nod agreement for Lyons to transfer here.

There is no way to know whether the latter is true, but I would hope that it is.

It also seems somewhat less shady considering that the kid can only be here for a maximum of one year. If it were a 5-star recruit, I would be a bit more concerned.

Aero01

February 6th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^

I mean, I think everyone would be ok with the hire if those two conditions are met. The concern is that it seems like an amazing coincidence that we're hiring the mother of a player who is considering transferring to play football for us.

I'm willing to give Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt, but it makes me uneasy. If another school did the exact same thing I would think it was shady.



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Ghost of Hoke

February 6th, 2015 at 9:10 AM ^

You all want to win so bad but then when we do what other programs have been doing for years, you start crying about morals and it being "shady". Do you want to be Northwestern or do you want to be Ohio State/Alabama? 

Ghost of Hoke

February 6th, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^

You can be elite at football and elite academically. Like where Stanford was headed under Jim Harbaugh. Freaking panises, let the man do his job without your constant bullshit. Longing for the glory days of Bo where everything was fair and right. 

sadeto

February 6th, 2015 at 9:47 AM ^

Exactly, but that wasn't among the choices I was responding to. And in response to the earlier reply to my post, it's not bullshit at all. I'd much rather be Northwestern than Ohio State/Alabama and it's an easy call to make. 

sadeto

February 6th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^

I wouldn't suspect Jim Harbaugh of doing anything to put the university's reputation in danger, he's a man of character with extremely high expectations of those who work and play for him. I mean, look at the number of Stanford football players arrested or otherwise involved in scandal while he was there or right after he left. It's exactly zero. Almost no Power 5 programs can say that over a 4-5 year period. 

white_pony_rocks

February 6th, 2015 at 9:31 AM ^

thats bullshit and you know it, as long as it isnt a scandal the scope of the unc one, then the reputation of the academics isnt ever affected. do people think usc is a lesser insitution because of reggie bush?  the public doesnt look at college football programs and the academic side of the institution as the same entity anymore.

 

west2

February 6th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^

Yes saw the unnamed newspaper article.  Time for those that want victory but "play by the rules" to get off their high horse, to use an old expression. There are no rules when it comes to acquiring talented players.  The NCAA punishes USC because Reggie Bush took money but doesn't punish Auburn and Cam Newton for doing the same thing.  I rest my case.  This is not a perfect world, there really are no rules when it comes to getting talent.  Harbaugh knows when there is a situation where you are crossing the line and this isn't it.  This kind of thing goes on in business all the time so get over it and let the staff do what needs to be done. 

814 East U

February 6th, 2015 at 9:25 AM ^

Yeah. Fuck it. We should have just paid Mike Weber's family straight cash. Bunch of babies. We should also Fire Beilein! Hire Caliparri!

Never question Michigan. Saban just signed a player with a potential felony looming. We should see is B. Cissoko has years left.

814 East U

February 6th, 2015 at 9:44 AM ^

I was just being over the top to counter the "We need to do what other programs have been doing" comment. I actually like this move. I just raised some points. Nothing more, nothing less. This was clearly an exaggeration. I want to win. I am for taking advantage of rules or lack of rules. However, I do see a slippery slope. That is just college sports these days which is sad. 

white_pony_rocks

February 6th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^

Yeah I agree, as long as it isnt over signing or paying players then do whatever it takes, there are no moral victories in football.  Just win, do you really think osu fans give 2 shits what other fans think of their program?  Of course not, they just won a national championship

Reader71

February 6th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^

Although there are no moral victories in football, there are moral victories in life. A college football coach is more than just a coach, he is like a father to most of the kids; the team is likewise a family; the program's moral code like that of the family's. What you're really saying is that you care more about winning games than molding kids, which is a perfectly reasonable take. But you shouldn't ignore the huge impact that the college football experience has on the players qua people. You and I disagree on how we weigh the relative importance of each aspect. But just because I want a clean program, I wont argue that wins dont matter. And I don't think you should argue that morals dont matter.

west2

February 6th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^

that is hard to equivocate.  Coaches of 18-22 year olds should be positive  role models.  The debate I make is that we had a clean coach that provided that positive role model for the most part.  He was dismissed for not winning.   So Michigan has a choice, much as in the real world, we can bend and adapt exploiting gray areas that don't cross obvious ethical lines such as outright payments to players or... not.  If not then realistically you are not going to win championships. You can only go so far with limited talent.   So which is it, what do we want?  Clean as a whistle or roll up our sleeves and get our fingernails dirty and do what needs to be done to win?   There isn't a middle ground here is there?

Reader71

February 6th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^

I think there is a middle ground of sorts. It looks like Lloyd Carr. Run a clean program that everyone can be proud of. Win a lot of games. When things really come together, you can win the big one. Its not an either/or, win-or-be-clean proposition. You can do both. But there come times when you are given the opportunity to do something a bit untoward in order to get a win or two. I'd rather we pass on those, is all.

Baughlieve

February 6th, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^

It's about damn time we started doing things that help the football program. People complain about ticket prices and money going towards rowing facilities, well it looks like Harbaugh is finally doing something about it.

massblue

February 6th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^

Excellent hire and it has nothing to do with his son. Gwendolyn has been involved with managing athletic teams for many years and comes from a football family. Her job will be to keep the kids out of trouble and in the class room. Kids will have plenty of male role models while here. They need a strong women as well to remind them of their mom.



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sheepman

February 6th, 2015 at 9:26 AM ^

I think this is great. I have a feeling Harbaugh is a hard man to impress and doesn't pull punches. Learners need to be nurtured at the same time they are getting the shit kicked out of them. I think he knows he is not good at nurturing. My thought is that he is creating a system where they can get trained effectively, but not crushed. A smart manager sets up systems people can flourish in.




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Indonacious

February 6th, 2015 at 9:16 AM ^

Some of you guys are never happy. If harbaugh is trying to make unethical hires...then why would he do it for a player who can only play a year who may not even start next year for Stanford. Seems like a questionable person to do that for. Not like he hired Iman Marshall's mom for example.

GoBluePhil

February 6th, 2015 at 9:19 AM ^

Is Lyon's a good DB or a great DB. It's not like we hired a family member to get the #1 corner in the country. Other than Lyon's is a smart young man because he is a student at Stanford, what kind of a football player is he. This may also take some pressure off Harbaugh's wife, who may not be ready for this recruiting aspect and taking care of the players thing that is expected of coaches wives.

turtleboy

February 6th, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^

Jeez, where's my Jump to Conclusions mat when I need it? Nice to see everybody automatically assumes the worst from our coach. There's no chance she might actually have a job to do. Harbaugh is just bribing her so her son (who isn't even a starter) will play for one year. Just like we only hired Wheatley to sign his son, right?