Fire John Beilein
January 12th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^
Before the beginning of the 2015-6 season, Jim Hackett extended Beilein's contract for two additional years (through the 2020-2021 season). Beilein gets $6 million if he's terminated at the end of the 2016-2017 season and $5 million if he's terminated after next season. I got negged pretty good by MGoBlog for disagreeing with that contract extension, arguing that Beilein didn't deserve the extension (he was 16-16 the preivous in 2014-2015) and that there was no risk of him leaving UofM at the age of 62. So, Warde Manual can let him go, especially since Beilein wasn't his hire, but it's going to cost UofM big-time.
January 12th, 2017 at 10:21 AM ^
But the key there is that there's only $1M difference between letting him go after this year or after next year. So if you really want to save money, you have to be prepared to wait 2 years (I think the buyout drops to $1.5M after that), during which our problems could get a lot worse than a $4.5M difference. And I'm guessing a new coach would be at least a little cheaper (Beilein is over $3M in salary now, top 10 nationally), so that would cut into the buyout a bit. I see both sides of the debate but if Warde thinks it's going in a bad direction long term, after this season is as good of a time as any to make the move.
January 12th, 2017 at 10:21 AM ^
I see a lot of parallels between Beilein and Dantonio. Both turned a program from being a national afterthought to something people look at and say "They could be something big this year" Granted Dantonio has done the 'big this year' bit better than Beilein, but the parallels are there. The real question is how do the schools respond. I think Beilein has hit the threshold of his good will. If this season continues in the arc that it's happening, you put pressure on him to leave on his own accord and if he refuses, you fire him. Conversely, I think next season for Dantonio is the equivalent of thsi season for Beilein. If he gets 5 or less wins, he retires or gets fired. If he gets 6 to 8 wins, his seat warms up for the following year. 9 or more wins and he's golden again with no concerns. The real question though is will Hollis do anything about it and conversely, what is Warde willing to do. I see nothing to indicate that Warde isn't willing to make tough decisions. I don't follow Basketball coaching that much, so not sure if there's an "AD Vote of confidence" rule in Basketball like there is in Football.
My thought though is Beilein has to the end of this year to turn things around. If he makes the tourney, then he stays. If he doesn't, you give him the option, then exercise your right to terminate.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
Except Dantonio is an asshole, has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide, has questionable ethics, and suits up felons. But yeah, other than that, I get the comparison.
January 12th, 2017 at 10:24 AM ^
I sit on the fence with this right now - I am pretty frustrated with this start to conference play and the seeming lack of on-court leadership that seems to dog the team currently. That being said, if they can do well enough in the next 5-6 games, they may be able to salvage something, in my view. What that something might be is debatable, but they would be in an infinitely better position than the one they seem to be barreling towards at the moment.
If we finish this season as flat as we look now, I will probably join the crowd that wants to see change - I don't come by those decisions easily, but it would be time then, in my view.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^
"...but they would be in an infinitely better position than the one they seem to be barreling towards at the moment."
Seems like anchoring bias. It's dangerous to start feeling like merely "salvaging something" is ok. As Michigan fans (and alumni), we should expect more looking backwards and going forwards.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
Irvin and Walton are the worst Senior leaders we have had in years. Both seem all about offense, but not big into playing defense. I can't wait until they are gone and Mo is the leader he has the passion that will bleed through a team when he is seen as a leader.
January 12th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^
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January 12th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
For those who want to retain JB because of lifetime achievement or because of program resurrection, or for those who say be careful what you wish for, I would caution you to do the same. Some of us are pretty hardcore Michigan fans and have been for many years but when you have apathy starting to set in, there is a major problem. I have always been all about Michigan football and basketball. If one of those games were on, it wouldn't matter what else was going on, I would be watching if possible. Over the past two seasons that has changed for basketball. Last night I watched parts of the second half and really became disinterested. I changed the channel. I am not even close to the only one it's like that for now.
It's okay to have a bad team once in a while but when you mix subpar recruiting with no real passion for it and it is obvious, then put that together with a soft identity (both internally and externally) in a league known traditionally for toughness, it is time to change things up.
January 12th, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^
I have been a defender of Beilein's even when I criticized the team. But this just isn't working anymore.
The defense was putrid last night and it has been bad for years. Had some free time and I watched BTN from 7 through the end of our game, of the 4 teams I saw play, ours was the one that looked like they weren't even playing the same game. I saw more open looks from inside 10 feet in 5 m inutes of our game than I did in 40 minutes of the Minny-MSU game. We can't defend and we can't rebound, those are what you need to win games when you aren't shooting lights out. We had 6 fiurst half rebounds in that game, 6!!!! We totally 17 for the whole game, that's just crazy, especially when we have more height than Illinois.
Let Beilein "retire" after the season and bring in someone who can rejuvinate the program.
January 12th, 2017 at 10:59 AM ^
Beilein=Hoke
January 12th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
THEY MADE THE ELITE 8 THREE YEARS AGO AND THE TOURNAMENT LAST YEAR.
But sure, fire him because... reasons.
Delete this bad thread.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
So you interact sparingly for three years on here but you get to be the arbiter of what is threadworthy? Don't think so.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
So only people that post a lot and have been here a long time get to decide?
What if I was hired as a Moderator right now? Then would I have a say? Oh please tell me what I need to do to earn your approval! I mean, you joined less than a year ago, so really, I have more authority than you.
January 12th, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^
Your anger is a bit low. Turn the knob a little to the right.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:30 AM ^
It is a bad thread. Points != cachet; that's a bad assumption on your part.
January 12th, 2017 at 1:10 PM ^
Holy shit. Look who was right.
You were really right.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
Beilein is just not recruiting enough talent. Hard to see us contending for national titles unless he becomes better at recruiting. Very surprising to me how we got very little lift from making the NCAA championship game and then the elite 8. Not saying he needs the Calipari bagmen but seems like we could do better.
I agree with another poster on this thread, I have just turned to not really caring. 2 Big 10 titles in 9 seasons is pretty good, but the future looks bleak.
January 12th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
10 years we shouldnt be in a position virtually every year of hoping wishing and praying on selection Sunday that somehow maybe perhaps we can sneak in...If Gonzaga, Butler , Creighton and the likes can be NATIONALLY COMPETITIVE every year and Michigan isnt? well then THATS A PROBLEM.
I dont expect to make the Final Four every year I just expect us to COMPETE, play hard and IMPROVE each an every game and we dont do that..
I like JB and I thank him for resurecting BB from the depths of Hell...BUT its been 10 years now and it looks like he peaked after 2014....Missed the tourney in 2015 and barely squeaked in last year...He didnt capitalize on the Final 4 and Elite teams regarding recruiting and this year the team looks lathargic, listless, unemotional and unmotivated...
There is NO REASON UM shouldnt be at minimum a top 25 team every year and that just aint happening.
we Need NEW BLOOD and a new approach..I dont see Warde Manuel doing a thing and while were at it He has been underwhelming as well
January 12th, 2017 at 12:01 PM ^
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January 12th, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
I agree with the OP. Some backslide since the title years was expected, but here is what has happened.
Recruiting has been a very big disappointment. Michigan has consistently been middling to below-average for the conference.
The teams have not improved much during the year. This was true of last year's team, but injuries explained a lot. This year's team has not mproved one little bit. Beating SMU is looking like the highlight of the year.
Individual player development has been uneven. Zak Irvin was a blue chip guy, and he has looked like a Freshman for four years now.
This team looks like it will drift to 7-11 or 6-12 in the conference. That is not acceptable for a team with a senior backcourt and a coach who has been there ten years.
January 12th, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
I agree with the OP. Some backslide since the title years was expected, but here is what has happened.
Recruiting has been a very big disappointment. Michigan has consistently been middling to below-average for the conference.
The teams have not improved much during the year. This was true of last year's team, but injuries explained a lot. This year's team has not mproved one little bit. Beating SMU is looking like the highlight of the year.
Individual player development has been uneven. Zak Irvin was a blue chip guy, and he has looked like a Freshman for four years now.
This team looks like it will drift to 7-11 or 6-12 in the conference. That is not acceptable for a team with a senior backcourt and a coach who has been there ten years.
January 12th, 2017 at 3:38 PM ^
We won't even win another game, except maybe Illinois at home, until Feb. 22nd against Rutgers. Even that Illinois game is doubtful. Are we all of the sudden going to learn to defend inside? Nope. We'll keep making Maverick Morgan look like David Robinson. Much like we did with god damn Alex Olah.
After that Illinois game, we are worse than every team on the schedule. OSU might be a mess, but at least they battled Purdue in one hell of a game.
Illinois, Rutgers, and NW are the winnable games we have left on the schedule. We may only win 2 to 4 games in the conference this season.
January 12th, 2017 at 6:45 PM ^
Don't think we should follow your logic about team success.
Using similiar comparisons, you probably would have projected the USC football team to be
3-9, sitting at home with no bowl game to go to....or even worse after their opening game loss to Alabama 52 - 6.
I may be disappointed in this year's team record but I still believe it is possible for a turnaround and a trip to the NCAA tournament. The team is not as bad as some people see them. Our core 8 players are not top 20 material but it is good enough to make the tournament or at worst the NIT.
January 12th, 2017 at 7:27 PM ^
Gentlemen, anyone want any takebacks?
This is why hot takes suck.
April 19th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
this hot take kind of got torched a few months later and then burned to a crisp this last season..
Man, I cannot agree more. Things have changed around this campus. No longer are the days of Amaker or Frieder where the coach was present around campus and knew who players are. Where the coach woiuld come into the gymnasiums and CCRB and the IMSB were basketball meccas where legends like Ian Ashton-Miller put up 800 pounds and battled Kobe Bryant. Beilein doesn't know who players are and is completely out of tune with the history and philosophy of basketball around here. His Jesuit influenced philosophy doesn't jibe with the open feel of the UM campus, and his isolated holed up barricade at the new Crisler which looks like the Vatican, keeps him out of touch with the fields where the kids around Ann Arbor, many highly talented Pete Carol and Phil Jackson proteges play on unrecruited. Instead he brings in weed smoking gangsters and does nothing to recruit classic majors who moonlight as kinesiology buffs, poets, philosophers, and community giving people. Beilein has no guiding theory to his coaching, he's never been any place where theory was taught, all the schools he's coached at are backwater and parochial. I bet he's never read Euclid . And games don't get hype. Michigan has fallen pray to weak nihilism. And Beilein goes on pocketing millions while the NCAA and NBA are in shambles. We need a strong leader who isn't only about winning but is about elite college education like the IVY's and Stanford. And who is a free thinker and talented recruiter. Beilein wants to be loved, but he is out of touch and he ignores the real line and people in this town. The time is now for a change. Stop making real players beg. And let's bring the house down again!
I disagree.