Let's Have An "Endzone" User Q&A
Now that many of you have had time to read Endzone, I asked John Bacon if he'd answer whatever questions you have about it or the events that transpired therein. And hell, if you've got questions for me about the relatively minor role I play in said book fire away.
Now, Bacon can't answer questions like "whyyyyyyy" or "how did this even I don't even what is going on." Also, some things he left out of the book are things he can't go on the record about—that's why they're not in the book. There were many cuts for reasons other than an inability to confirm or get someone on the record, though, so if there are holes you wonder about there's a decent chance he can fill in the gaps.
We'll collect the questions left in the comments, pick the ones that Bacon can actually answer, and then have them answered. That's the way a Q&A works. You've seen it before. You know the drill. You may even perceive that I'm just typing until the text is of sufficient length to get past the image. That's the Michigan Difference.
September 7th, 2015 at 7:09 PM ^
Did JUB reach out to Mike Hart to see if he would retract or alter or take back his comments on Jim Harbaugh being a Michigan Man? Seems to me that Mike (and I'm the same age as Mike and wrongly thought similar things) would maybe regret those comments.
September 7th, 2015 at 7:11 PM ^
September 7th, 2015 at 7:21 PM ^
What really surprised me about Endzone was the suggestion that Harbaugh only made his decision - or at least only made it clear to Hackett - on December 27. That seems much later than I'd have thought, given that in the days before, we were getting lots of confident rumblings from insiders, such as Sam Webb adding 5% to his chances every day and this site calling it a "99%" certainly the day before.
Was the media jumping the gun? Was there a real chance that Michigan would end up with egg on its face as late as the 27th?
September 7th, 2015 at 7:21 PM ^
Why does Hagerup feature so prominently in the book? Was it just availability or do you think his specific story is key to understanding the period of time covered by your book?
September 8th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
Read the book. It's pretty clear why Hagerup is included so prominently.
September 7th, 2015 at 7:22 PM ^
The last line of your preface is "This is the story of how Michigan fixed itself." What should we be looking for during this season and beyond to show that Michigan is indeed "fixed"?
September 7th, 2015 at 7:31 PM ^
What has been the AD staff turnover since Hackett's arrival? Have the Brandon hires left? Have former people returned?
September 7th, 2015 at 7:50 PM ^
non-blog media in this journey? It seems as though so many gaffes occured and yet so little of it was reported on, did Dave Brandon influence the local papers and how so? Are the journalists for sports reporting just this poor at doing their jobs?
September 8th, 2015 at 3:46 AM ^
The overall reporting in Michigan from the Detroit papers is absoloutely terrible.
I mean, the one paper actually had an article saying Duke's Cutliffe turns down the Michigan Job - when it was never even close to being offered to him.
This is the same media that still has played a part in the coverup of the Payne and Appling rape case, when the Feds have investigated and confirmed the case was mishandled.
September 7th, 2015 at 8:08 PM ^
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September 7th, 2015 at 9:07 PM ^
Did you read the end of the first part of the book? Bill Martin was the guy that started the fence mending with Harbaugh. He did the stadium renovations. He stablized the department financially. He hired Beilein. He was an great to excellent AD - the one black eye is, of course, the sailing/coaching search incident. And I'm at the point where I don't think he should be roasted for that situation as much as he was. LSU made the powerplay and we ended up with what was regarded as an absolute slam dunk of a hire at the time RR was announced.
September 7th, 2015 at 11:34 PM ^
One of the things that's well-chronicled in the book is Brandon's bad relationship with the lettermen. Why did he have such an adversarial relationship with the lettermen, especially considering he is one? Was his own disappointment in his playing career a contributing factor?
September 8th, 2015 at 3:48 AM ^
I bet him never getting to play had something to do with it. An "I'll show you" (jackass) type attitude.
September 7th, 2015 at 8:55 PM ^
You left it uncertain in the book, so here and now between us pals: do you think Brady would have succeeded without the influence of Dave Brandon in the locker room and the film room? Brian, what do you think?
Before reading Endzone, I would have said no way, Brady was always doomed because he wasn't accomplished enough. But after reading, I got a much different picture of Hoke as a coach and leader, and now I'm not so sure it was always doomed to go that way for him.
September 7th, 2015 at 8:54 PM ^
September 8th, 2015 at 5:38 AM ^
The AD gives out benefits disproportionately to its own donors. There is no possible justification for it, and the development people on the University's side don't like it.
September 8th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
I heard that what really soured the relationship between Brandon's AD and the academic development offices was that, when Brandon began his Olympic sport/lacrosse development campaign, his development officers began calling academic donors (the implication being that they had somehow gotten the donor lists) and asked them to direct a higher percentage of their giving to the athletic department.
September 7th, 2015 at 9:10 PM ^
You write a bit about Hackett's decision to get involved with Michigan athletics, but I'd like to know more about who advised Schlissel to give him a call. Did Schlissel reach out to other notable alums for counsel when tshtf?
September 8th, 2015 at 4:53 AM ^
Doesn't exactly answer the question, but here's a Schlissel quote from one of the excerpts:
“I then assembled a lengthy list of people who might be willing to help. Jim was on that list. He has advised multiple Michigan presidents, and been an adviser to deans and other University leaders. He’s been generous with his time, on the advisory board of the Ford School, and on the board of the Life Sciences Institute, almost since its founding in 1999. He’s a wise, experienced alumnus—and that was pointed out to me by many others."
September 7th, 2015 at 9:27 PM ^
Has Hackett gone about re-creating the "old" Michigan Athletic Department by re-hiring personnel that was forced out, reducing the number of jobs in the Department and other things or has he left it as Brandon had set it up? The most obvious example is with getting rid of Hunter Lochmann and eliminating the Chief Marketing Officer position, but are there other examples of something similar happening?
September 7th, 2015 at 10:53 PM ^
In Bacon's opinion, if Brian hadn't posted the email story, would Brandon have stayed as AD?
Dumb question: with the massive increase in AD staff, where did those people work?
Finally, was Rodriguez eating his Spaghettios right out of the can?
September 7th, 2015 at 11:23 PM ^
I haven't read the book, so forgive me if this is a stupid question.
My big question for both of the last two regimes has been the dynamic among the coaching staff and in this case with Brandon's involvement. While I don't think Hoke and his coaches were among the best in their profession, they have been around a long time and had at least some individual success. How did thier interaction, strategy, and relationships evolve during the Brandon/Hoke era as things went from amazing (2011) to disaster (2014)?
Was Hoke an active participant in offensive strategy meetings?
How much was this totally on Borges?
What was Brandon's role in strategy and personnel decisions?
September 7th, 2015 at 11:33 PM ^
How exactly *did* Brandon manage to both resign (rather than be fired) and keep his buyout? Was that just Michigan being gracious?
September 8th, 2015 at 3:50 AM ^
Maybe it was Michigan saying just shut up and take your money and ending a story after 1 day like Canham used to say.
September 7th, 2015 at 11:47 PM ^
How much influence did Dave Brandon have in the firing of Al Borges? In the book, a great amount of time is spent detailing the hirings and firings of Dave Brandon, as well as his micromanaging style. This seems to fall squarely within that rhelm, yet there was little mentioned about this in the book. Are there any details about this that you are at liberty to share?
September 8th, 2015 at 12:01 AM ^
1. Echoing the question posed by several others about the future of the athletic department going forward and what is done about all the "yes men" hired by Brandon?
2. I know they wanted the book out in time for the start of football season, but couldn't it have been run past the copy editors one more time? Multiple typos.
To quote from pg 120-121 "You let even a simple typo get past you," he told me,"you'll hear it from alumni: 'This typo is unacceptable!' They don't care if it's hard to catch every single piece of punctuation-and they shouldn't. This is Michigan. They take it personally."
3.Similar to the athletic department question, does Michigan see fallout over the next several years in other sports from all of the coach turnover?
Loved the book, looking forward to the next one.
September 8th, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^
I considered including that pp 120-121 quote as an ironic comment on the book's numerous typos and syntax hiccups. Maybe the most egregious example appears on page 13, in Fielding Yost's quote: "an enthusiasm that makes it second nature for Michingan Men to spread the gospel . . " The same misspelling appears further down the page when Fritz Crisler said "But remember that you're Michingan Men --- none of the extras."
I dunno --- maybe St. Martin's Press can't afford copy editors, but their word processing software should still contain a spellcheck; periodically through the book I thought I was reading a late draft rather than the final version.
September 8th, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^
I noticed every single instance of the misspelled "Michingan Man" was contained within a direct quote from someone.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:41 AM ^
John, can you read aloud all of the material that was cut for space? Thanks!
September 8th, 2015 at 6:43 AM ^
September 8th, 2015 at 7:36 AM ^
September 8th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
How is "Mike Burger" doing? Was he able to get the help he needed and rejoin the team?
September 8th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
1) Why were York and Baalke so eager to get rid of Harbaugh? Didn't they appreciate three straight NFC title games? Did they really think Tomsula could do as good a job? Seriously, what were those guys thinking?
2) What was the atmosphere like in the 49ers organization after York and Baalke began trying actively to undermine JH? Did he confront them about it? Did anyone else? Did JH even realize it was them? How does he feel about what happened now?
3) When did JH begin assembling his Michigan coaching staff? It's obvious he had Durkin lined up before JH-to-M was official; were there any other coaches he had pre-recruited? Were there any other concrete actions JH took to get started on his functions as M's coach before he was actually hired? When did he start contacting high school prospects? When did he start reviewing M game film?
September 8th, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^
These are not earth-shaking points, but hey:
P.16: " . . Canham packed the stadium by selling two-dollar tickets to students [I don't know when this was, but our season tickets were included in the tuition price. After paying your tuition, you went to Yost and picked up your season ticket book] "inviting Boy Scout troops and Little League football players in uniform free of charge" [the Boy Scouts in uniform --- of which I was one --- were supposed to be ushers and help people find their seats. Of course we spent most of the time watching the game. Once Bo arrived and ticket sales skyrocketed, Canham dropped the Boy Scouts, the Little Leaguers, and High School Band Day].
P.77: " . . that MIchigan's traditional rivalries and seasonal rythms [sic] don't count for much, could be easily refuted by anyone who knew about Michigan's failed attempt to create instant rivalries after leaving the Big Ten in 1907, . ." The Big Ten Web site says when Michigan left in 1908, the conference was known as the (9-member) “Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association.” Ohio State joined in 1912, and when Michigan rejoined in 1917, bringing the membership to 10 schools for the first time, the media began referring to the conference as the "Big Ten." Not until 1987 did "Big Ten" become the conference's official name.
The book's best narrative: the Chapters 63-65 blow-by-blow account of the playout of Shane Morris's onfield concussion, including the marathon CYA press-release writing session while Brady confronted the media and twisted in the wind. The book's best (and most relevant) quote: P.18: "Never turn a one-day story into a two-day story." How universally true, and how woefully true that this was yet another lesson Dave Brandon never learned.
Thanks, John
September 8th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
Loved the book, it reads almost as a "what not to do" from a leadership standpoint.
Questions: Was there no recourse for unhappy AD employees? It seems that Brandon was pretty autonomous, but where could one have gone with complaints? MSC? Would she have listened?
What's being done to recreate the department culture?
Has AD overhead been reduced? How?
What's the plan for facilities moving forward?
September 8th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
I'd like to know the story behind John Bacon's press pass being revoked. What reason was given and what issues did Brandon have with Three and Out to justify such a decision? Everything in his book was factually accurate and didn't really portray Brandon in a negative light.
Also, how was it OK to take Bacon's press pass but not Mark Snyder and Mike Rosenberg's? Snyder is still on the Michigan beat like nothing happened and Rosenberg still had access when he was working with the Free Press. I would think after what they pulled the athletic department would have been justified in refusing them access and telling the Freep to send different reporters.
I also heard that Brandon visited the MDen he didn't want to see any copies of Three and Out in the open. I thought this was an absurd interent rumor at the time and no way could he be that petty, but after reading Endzone, I'm not so sure.
September 8th, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail
September 8th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^
What, if anything, is being done to purge all of the questionably-qualified and overpaid staffers brought in? Is there an efford to rehabilitate them? Have they reached out to bring any former staffers back into the fold in any capacity?
September 8th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
Throughout Endzone, you allude to the ways that corporate culture is infiltrating athletic departments across the country. I wonder if you could talk more about whether you think that Michigan's experiences with Dave Brandon were reflective of broad national trends and challenges facing big time athletic programs versus more specific variables, either involving Brandon's leadership style or the culture at Michigan. Serious questions about how and where to prioritize facility upgrades, managing connections to various stakeholders, neutralizing infighting among different stakeholders, dealing with low student attendance at games, balancing increasingly complicated budgets involving revenue and non-revenue sports, etc., seem fairly universal. But other components of the story you tell - problems with both internal and external communication, the importance of the lettermen and the role that they can play in stabilizing or destabilizing the program, general student/faculty/community sense of shared values and activism in the face of perceived problems, Brandon's surprise elevation as AD (and his tone deaf leadership style on the job) - seem more idiosyncratic and also reflective of some of the institutional problems that you outlined earlier in Three and Out.
In the bigger picture, I guess I'm trying to map out the "Michigan difference" in all of this. For a program that hasn't had anything approaching a major scandal during the past decade, Michigan's struggles to recenter post-Carr seem to be incredibly tortuous and public. Admittedly, that may be a problem of perception, which I'd be interested in hearing from you about as well.
September 8th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^
My question is about the "Dave Brandon Emails": Brian has mentioned that he had heard that the department regularly deleted Dave's inbox specifically to avoid responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA requests). This never came up in the book, so I was curious:
1) Did Bacon hear of this or other similar practices to try to avoid accountability and culpability from the athletic department? Were FOIA requests returned promptly relating to Dave and if not, why not?
2) If the inbox was being deleted, who was doing the purging?
3) Topic-wise, were they only deleting Dave Brandon's ridiculing emails to fans or was there other topics that he insisted be un-traceable to the press?
4) Since deleting emails for this purpose would appear to be against the law for a public employee, is there still some legal repurcussion that Brandon could face?
September 8th, 2015 at 7:41 PM ^
This book is incredible. I couldn't put it down. As someone who met Dave Brandon for very short periods a few times during political events, I was surprised at how tone-deaf he was as Athletic Director. The book was enlightening. I still have one of those footballs that Bo signed and handed out. I talked to Bo and Brandon at the 1998 Michigan GOP convention. Bo was as big a booster of Brandon as any person could be.
On another note, my question is about the fabricated attendance numbers and does every stadium in the university do the same thing we do. In one section, it seems like someone from the department just throws out a random number and everyone goes along with it. Is there any uniformity to the NCAA attendance numbers? And is anyone in the university annoyed that the the attendance practices were made public? I always second-guessed the attendance numbers, but it was like when Vince McMahon finally admitted pro-wrestling is fake.
September 8th, 2015 at 7:41 PM ^
This book is incredible. I couldn't put it down. As someone who met Dave Brandon for very short periods a few times during political events, I was surprised at how tone-deaf he was as Athletic Director. The book was enlightening. I still have one of those footballs that Bo signed and handed out. I talked to Bo and Brandon at the 1998 Michigan GOP convention. Bo was as big a booster of Brandon as any person could be.
On another note, my question is about the fabricated attendance numbers and does every stadium in the university do the same thing we do. In one section, it seems like someone from the department just throws out a random number and everyone goes along with it. Is there any uniformity to the NCAA attendance numbers? And is anyone in the university annoyed that the the attendance practices were made public? I always second-guessed the attendance numbers, but it was like when Vince McMahon finally admitted pro-wrestling is fake.
September 8th, 2015 at 8:19 PM ^
I post with this username on several message boards and other posters often ask if this is you posting on various Michigan sites. I am not one to say no to many things, so I often satisfy their curiosity and just say that I am. They ask what the numbers stand for and I tell them that 14 stands for how many PBRs you can chug in one minute and 31 represents the number of people you have slept with. Is there anything else you would like me to let others know so that I can present them with a more accurate representation of the real John U. Bacon?
Much Thanks,
bacon 1431
P.S. - when will you update Blue Ice? I am asked this quite frequently as well.
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September 8th, 2015 at 10:03 PM ^
John,
Were there ever any concerns from inside/outside regarding Brandon's "ethics"? Defining ethics as cheating/stealing or "abuse"?
We know that he didn't treat people all too well from a loyalty perspective, and the department lied to cover things up. But were there instances where you couldn't get people on the record/confirm about things worse than what we read about? You don't have to give specifics if you don't want, but it seems as though Brandon kept things clean even if they were dumb.
I'm interested to hear about things that couldn't be confirmed or validated.
September 8th, 2015 at 11:43 PM ^
John,
My takeaway was that many people saw the warning signs and problems early with Brandon, but no one was able to communicate their concerns and insights to the community or the administrators at Michigan.
How can we grow from this? What could be done by a student or individual if a similar leadership problem arose in another program or department within the University?
September 9th, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^
Mr. Bacon,
I know you said you are wrong every time you think writing the next book won't be as difficult as the last one. So I was just wondering some things about the actual writing process of this book:
What was the most difficult sections to write?
How do you organize your notes and interviews into a cohesive, sequential 400 page story?
Lastly, how the hell did you do all of this in six months??
September 10th, 2015 at 12:24 AM ^
Just came here to say that nearly all of these questions are so good, I'm going to be sad that most will go unanswered.
Is there any chance for a Reddit style AMA on this site?
September 10th, 2015 at 8:38 AM ^
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September 14th, 2015 at 8:51 PM ^
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