Things That Don't Make Sense About RR's Firing
Let me begin this post by stating I am 51 years old and have been in management for the past 25 years. I have hired and fired people for the bulk of my adult life and currently have direct and indirect supervision over 120 people. And I am well aware of Dave Brandon's professional accomplishments in the business world and have met him and heard him speak several times prior to his appointment as AD.
I am baffled, therefore, at his breaking of one of the oldest rules in management with his dismissal of RR last week. And that is you NEVER terminate an employee (unless terminating for cause) unless you have a superior replacement selected and ready to go when you do. To take out a person in a critical functioning capacity as well as his entire support staff without having the new HC ready to step in immediately is very dangerous and will make the subsequent transition period ripe with potential problems. For example my company recently completed an acquisition of a competing firm and and we wanted to take out their existing executive team but we didn't do it until we had recruited the replacements! Firing them before hand would've put every employee at flight-risk as they would have nowhere to turn for guidance and each of them would ask themselves "am I next?" This is such a basic and fundamental rule of management I cannot believe it was broken.
Which leads me to my original question. What exactly happened last Wednesday? How is it possible that RR wasn't fired, then he was the next day. This too is something you learn in management early on - never drag out the termination process. Fire them quickly, let them vent and then answer questions. You don't conduct a "Chinese water torture" on the person being let go. This rule seems to have been broken as well and I can't help but wonder why given Brandon's obvious experience in these matters.
I wonder if Rich did, in fact, get the ultimatum "fire all your defensive assistants and you can stay" and he refused. Many of us (myself included) theorized that DB would have such a conversation with RR at the end of the season and perhaps he did. And if he did and RR refused EVERYTHING that happened afterwards makes sense. DB would have to fire RR because he would be in defiance of his directive. The firing would be delayed a day as RR decided what to do. And DB might not have a "plan B" because he never imagined Rich wouldn't acquiesce to his demands for a new defensive staff.
What do you guys think?
January 9th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
loyal to robinson, loyal to gibson, but, apparently, not loyal to West Virginia or Michigan? That would be selective. And like Harbaugh, I believe RichRod had every right to seek a better job. This is the most unlikely of scenarios but, if true, one that will come out eventually.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^
You may have been in management but you have never been a big-time college AD. You can't talk to candidates directly without getting permission. And you can't do that pre-bowl games without coming off like arrogant assholes or just being used as negotiating leverage. Both of which Bill Martin managed to do last time.
Candidly, you sound like you may have been more of a middle-manager type. Pushing paper up and slapping your directs down. Spending too much time agonizing about the past; too little time taking action to influence the future.
If you are still preoccupied with this stuff, just wait and read John U. Bacon's book. Brandon inherited a mess and refused to take the easy way out. He didn't put off a hard decision because he knew things would just get worse.
That's what I call being one of the Leaders and Best...
January 9th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^
But you can and do talk to agents without needing permission.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:40 AM ^
There is a difference between an interview and determining someone's interest. You can have a conversation that is not an interview but can see if they might be interested in the future if a job may open up. DB would have been an idiot not to have done this (I believe he has been doing this).
Also you can use headhunters i.e. search firms and other 3rd parties who do this work for you. This happens all of the time. I agree with the original poster and there is no reason to insult him because you think you are smarter. I'm no CEO but have worked with small and large companies and have hired and fired people. All we are doing is speculating on what DB is doing, he may be doing great things or may be sucking - we have no idea.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
He doesn't sound like a middle-manager. This is SOP he's talking about. I've been in an executive post.
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<br>And he's not necessarily saying you have to have a replacement hired. He's saying you have to have a replacement teed-up. AD's do this through intermediaries. But DB, by hiring a search-firm after saying he wouldn't need one, proved that he didn't have it all covered.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
To me, either RR wasn't totally fired before the meeting and had been given options that would include him staying, or the JH thing fell through at the last minute because of NFL, wife, or other reasons.
To this point it's been handled poorly.
DB's explanation that he wanted to sleep on what RR had told him rings of falsehood.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
I think the JH plan was starting to falter right as DB was about to fire RR. His plan B was an ultimatum to RR: fire everyone and restock or you're gone. I think the JH to the NFL thing caught DB off guard, and thus plan B was not well thought out because he hadn't counted on needing a plan B. Timing was everything here, and DB's was off.
I agree, re: sleeping on it. What effective leader has to sleep on a decision once he's made it and acted on it?
January 9th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
Jeff Casteel or no Jeff Casteel, our size, athleticism, depth and overall talent level on that defense was not first tier Big Ten ready and we weren't drawing the impact guys to restock it.
When you look at Rodriguez' recruiting for 2011 it was more of the same as far as the size and playmaking ability of the defensive players. I am sure it was the best he could do and the best he knew how to do. Which was the problem.
Everyone keeps saying that Brandon doesn't have a plan or got caught without a plan. Seems like they are ignoring the likelihood that firing Rich after a full and fair chance for him to save himself and going on a comprehensive nationwide search were keystone elements of the plan.
I think we are all over reacting about a few extra weeks. David Brandon knows better than anyone that we aren't into rebuilding years and we need an immediate impact coach. The concerns about recruiting have merit. However, I'll bet a beer with anyone who takes me up on it, we'll draw in a defensive player or 2 that had totally given up on us because of the quality of defense that was fielded by the previous coaching staff.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
You are telling me that 1 or 2 defensive players out of thousands of High School players didn't want to come to Michigan because they didn't like our defense the last 3 years? Very profound.
Please just stop. Your hate for RR is getting a little ridiculous. I bet you said Craig Roh was too small to be a defensive end, didn't you? How is it that you don't understand true freshmen and sophomores (which are what RichRod's recruits are right now) get bigger? Just go root for MSU, we know you want to.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:23 PM ^
Every RR Defensive recruit either has played terribly, or has been wasted playing a role that doesn't play to their strengths. Does it make sense to drop Craig Roh (who has more of a "on the line of scrimage" ability) into coverage approximately 70% of the time? Jibreel Black's high school footage shows a quick, instinctive pass rusher, who's forced to play a gap filling DE in a less aggressive 3-3-5. Cullen Christian was thrown to the wolves in a particularly nasty fashion and may never have his confidence back after the shellacking he suffered in 2010.
It isn't even a matter of bad recruiting. The talent is there but Rich Rod's defensive staff was mostly not doing well in player development and did not use the talent he had effectively.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^
demanded he fire everyone. Fine, but why would that add an extra day?
January 9th, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
For RR to think the demand over and/or discuss it with the D staff
January 9th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
... this has been beaten to death here; RichRod was told he was out Wednesday but the arrangements were finalized Thursday. He knew it was coming and likely was well prepped by his agent and lawyer.
The argument: you decided to fire me at least back to the OSU game, and therefore this delayed "evaluation" is just a sham to avoid paying me my entire $4 million buyout. He probably threw in some stuff about allowing him to twist in the wind and this harming his future employment prospects.
So what likely happened overnight is that they negotiated a sweetened severance, to something north of $2.5 million.
They probably also negotiated the press release RichRod would put out and perhaps even a commitment not to press Denard to come with him.
Anyway, who cares at this point?
January 9th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
reference, your analysis is as realistic a scenario as any I've seen. Thanks.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^
with signing day around the corner DB needs to find a coach and leader for the program ASAP! These next few weekends are going to be huge for the new class of recruits. Also getting a coach can add stability for the current players
January 9th, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^
... for creative use of punctuation!!
January 9th, 2011 at 11:39 AM ^
i miss Rich Rodriguez. i miss Dee hart. i miss Kris Frost. i miss Zettel. i miss others that wouldve come here had RR stayed. i miss 20 starters back. i miss no transfers. i miss 9 wins or more next year.
his firing was not necessary.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
His firing was not necessary but it had the air of inevitability especially after the bowl game. When something appears inevitable the only thing that ever changes it is miracles. This time there were no miracles.
I miss what the offense could have been with Rich but out of respect for him as a coach, father and human being I am glad he got fired. He was too proud to quit and this environment was so toxic for him that I really wished someone would end the torture for him. He is a good man and doesn't deserve this. I think his future will be bright and a new lease on life will make him a new kind of coach. He will be very successful wherever he goes.
What's done is done - let us hopefully learn from this as a fan base and truly support the next coach. You never know - we might be pleasantly surprised when we do.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
Just such a shame this happened.
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<br>I do think the OP's theory makes sense, though. Maybe DB gave RR the chance to fire his defensive staff and he refused.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:40 AM ^
Anyone have any info on some sort of required week posting period for the HC, prior to anyone being officially hired for the position?
January 9th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^
In a good organization there is typically a good succession management program in place, so when people leave or are fired there is talent to step into those vacancies. While you can do that in the business world (because successors are mostly internal), it's nearly impossible to do that in sports because when you fire a head coach that usually means his staff are fired too. To send feelers out there to gauge interest level others (outsiders) have in a job while a coach is still in it would be bad form and leak all over the media and internet - there are no two ways around it. The only way I've seen it done in sports is when programs have made a clear point to groom someone to take over for another coach when he retires (e.g., Fisher for Bowden at FSU).
As for the day wait, not sure what happened there, but my guess is that Brandon probably wanted a night to review what was discussed. There were positives (better record every year, top 5 offense, etc) and negatives (defense, NCAA violations, etc) with RRod, so he probably wanted a night to sleep on it to make sure he made the right decision.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:49 AM ^
You allowed for termination without having a replacement if the termination was for cause. That may be the case here-RR was fired cause he didn't win enough games.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^
... Brandon has explicitly disclaimed any firing for cause regarding the NCAA violations.
And there is nothing in his (or any coach's) contract that losses constitute cause.
He was fired without cause and will be paid at least $2.5 million pre-tax.
(Go ahead and neg-away fellow Wolverines...)
January 9th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^
Why would that be negged, its a concise summation of the contract issues and the most likely approach taken by the AD.
January 9th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
I don't think hiring/firing football coaches is the same as other positions. Sometimes relieving a coach of his duties before you have a replacement is the best decision. In this case, DB appears may have waited for the bowl results to make his decision to fire RRod. The timing also allowed a MUCH lower buyout - $1.5 million less. Not exactly chump change. Prior to this, a thorough open coaching search was not possible. I doubt many of the top candidates were willing and able to negotiate fully before the bowls. Moroever, the primary candidate, JH, was undecided and likely wished to make his decision after Stanford's bowl game.
So I don't think the criticism of DB is warranted. I would wait for how it all plays out before rendering a final judgement. Even then, if he picks a reasonable replacement, that's all you can ask. Coaches don't come with guarrantees. And there will be pluses and minuses with any hire.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^
I have read many posts on this site and respect all opinions. Having said that, I do believe a change was necessary simply by looking at the over all state of the football program. This is business and Michigan football is and needs to be a money machine period! Dave Brandon was hired for more than just firing the FB coach. I am extremely glad he is in charge of this process for the longer term welfare of Michigan. David Brandon will make you all proud and I am not his mom!
January 9th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
sister?
January 9th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
I was a huge supporter of RR and did not want to see him go, taking a step back and looking at it how could you keep him? Everyone is upset that we lost recruits over this and this will be a bad class. I understand that but 0-6 to MSU and OSU and not beating a big ten team with a winning record? He had to go, there was no sign that things were going to get better. We were trucked by every quality team we played our defense is an absolute joke. A change had to happen, and guess what changes are more than likely going to be a bit sloppy. Lets just hope the right guy comes in and puts things back on track.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
The rest was icing on the cake.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
That was my hunch as well. He's already demonstrated a pretty strong loyalty to a lot of his assistants (an admirable quality), so it would make sense that he would choose to start over elsewhere with the team he trusts even if they couldn't adequately deliver under the circumstances at Michigan. Hopefully John U. Bacon will demystify this for us when his book comes out.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^
Smart questions. I'd add one more. DB, at his most recent presser, emphasizes that an experienced executive always has multiple contingencies in place, personnel-wise.
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<br>If that was the case re the cc -- in which db claimed to keep his own counsel and be totally on top of everything -- then why did he suddenly reverse field and elect to hire a search-firm? So JH goes south. Then RR gets fired. Then the contingency is..."Well, let's hire a company to help us find someone." Some contingency.
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<br>I think it's pretty obvious DB realized he didn't have it all covered. And I'm guessing he also realized that maybe a guy who has been an AD for less than a year shouldn't appoint himself a committee of one. Even the most experienced ADs have teams. But DB is arrogant enough to think he already knows everything. And an AD who knows everything doesn't need to hire a search-company. And he'd know which coaches were in or out from the start.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:42 PM ^
Why do you keep claiming Brandon reversed course? You made this claim in another thread last night and perhaps you didn't see a response I posted there, so here goes again:
Brandon said at the press conference that he wasn't going to form a search committee. Forming a search committee is not the same thing as hiring an outside search firm. A search committee (which Bill Martin used three years ago) is a group of people (such as former players) that an AD pulls together to help identify coaching candidates and provide advice on who to interview and perhaps who to hire. Brandon is not doing this. He is doing what any CEO does when searching for a top-level executive: hiring an outside search firm, not to help him identify candidates, but to do a lot of the leg work that is involved in these searches, such as making initial contact with candidates or their agents to gauge interest, vetting the candidates, and providing advice on contract negotiations.
And for someone who's so eager for a quick decision, you should be happy he didn't form a search committee--that would have slowed the process down, not speeded it up. By contrast, using an outside search firm will help this process go faster.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
Brandon may have been in the "Harbaugh or bring back RR" camp before the bowl, but the bowl destroyed that. RR needed to go after that. It put Brandon in a bit of a bind, but he has a chance to get out of it. Miles would be a coaching upgrade.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
I think so too. It is quite logical to asssume DB wanted to bring RR back if JH was unavailable. Although, it would have been almost impossible to bring RR back after the bowl performance. The only plausible way would have been with an entirely new defensive and special teams staff.
To your second point, I was one of RR's biggest supporters, but Miles probably is an upgrade.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
I tend to agree with this line of thought as well.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
January 9th, 2011 at 12:49 PM ^
Casteel? To what accounts are you referring? I'm didn't see many substantial reports that he wanted to come.
January 9th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
I mean, maybe he just wanted to create a media circus -- and he really does have a plan. Not sure what the motivation would be at all, but hey, you never know.
The whole thing does seem quite ... crazy.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^
January 9th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^
These are early lessons taught in B-School classes that seem to have been totally ignored.
I would also add that DB could have and should have fired GERG the Monday after the tOSU game. This would have accomplished two things...
1. There would have been blood spilled (metaphorically) at zero cost. It was a forgone conclusion that GERG was not going to survive another season so the only thing that would have changed was the timeline. It would have mollified and disarmed many of the staunch RR haters and would have elevated DB's "pimp hand" aura.
2. It would started the search for a capable and ready DC while allowing RR the opportunity to fix things before the bowl game. After the bowl game, DB's hands were tied.
Instead we have what we are perceiving as a trainwreck. As of right now, nobody has even asked to talk to Miles btw.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:55 PM ^
That is an excellent point and one I had not considered until now. What if DB HAD stepped in and fired RR immediately after the OSU game? How different might things be right now for many reasons:
1. RR would know things had reached Defcon 4 if he didnt already
2. We'd see a different defensive outlook in the Gator Bowl
3. We'd have several weeks to potentially line up a new DC
Damn....what a good idea. Too bad it didnt' happen.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
I think Brandon would believe he fired Rodriguez 'for cause'. Also, you're dealing with a very small labor pool, and the unwritten code is not to try for someone's job until that job is open (see the grief Ross got for going after Harbaugh when he still had Sparano in that position). So lining up a replacement is much harder, even behind the scenes.
On the second point, I agree, that's weird. Terminations usually take (pardon the Domino's pun) 30 minutes or less. Given how messy Rodriguez's divorce was from WVU, my guess is that the length was related to that. And if we are to believe Brandon in that he didn't decide until Tuesday night, then your hypothesis is potentially right.
January 9th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^
January 9th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^
I think RR could have made the case to DB that starting 8 freshman was a necessity brought on by bad luck and that no defensive coord or staff anywhere could take so many freshmen and have any chance at even a decent defense. I also got a feeling that Rich, an emotional guy, might have soured on how the fanbase was howling against him and maybe didn't go 110% in preparing the team for MSU...more like "let's get this over with 'cause I'm outa here".
January 9th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
I didn't think it was an RR refusing to clean house on defense was the issue, rather one of the following:
1. RR indicating that he needed a two year extension to be able to bring in any new DC, or else he was hamstrung in terms of hiring fixing, not to mention what might have been budgetary issues, looking at some of the relative salary info for DCs at comparable programs (although I think this was far more a factor in ending up with GERG rathe than a more A-List candidate or Casteel).
2. RR saying, I have had it here, my family is unhappy with Ann Arbor (considering what I have heard first-hand from my brother who lives there about the deplorable manner in which he, his wife and kids were all 'welcomed' and treated...hardly an impossibility), I am never going to be accepted by people even if/when I start to win, next year is not going to magically fix the youth factor on defense no matter who we bring in so we are 2 years from any kind of blue-sky in that respect and, quite simply 'fuck it', I can quite simply go somewhere that an effete, spoiled and classist segment of the fan base won't make my life and that of my family miserable from day one before i even see the field and I won't have hack journalists rifling through my laundry basket checking my draws, so yeah, 'I'ma take some time off and get the hell out of this crummy snob-a-torium'. Good luck with that, cal it what you will, I will get a job pretty soon, no worries. Given that there there isn't any name that Brandon was likley to give the players in their meeting that would elicit a 'weight off my shoulders' sentiment, however saying that RR wasn't really too sad about leaving might do so.
These are the types of discussions that would warrant a 3 hour meeting and a 'sleep on it' prior to announcing a change.
Pure conjecture, but I only have this to go on without consulting the goat innards I just spread on the altar in my back yard which thus far aren't telling me mich more...in other words, goat innards are not very telling.
January 9th, 2011 at 4:25 PM ^
I had not considered your #2 point but after reading your post a couple of times I can absolutely see where that could be the case. Good insight and what a shame if true.
January 9th, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^
My opinion of certain segments of the M fan base has taken a beating lately and I have to say my eyes have been opened wide to the reality of how a major portion of our fan base acts on a consistent basis.
Previously I really thought that M fans were a pretty class bunch, that didn't gloat or get all 'in your face obnoxious' after a win, which to a large extent is true, however there is a very large contingent of fans that come off as snide, self-important, superior and condescending.
My whole family are alumnae of M, I grew up an M fan in East Lansing and my Mom's entire side of the family lives in columbus and are rabid OSU fans, so I have a somewhat intense experience in terms of the rivalries. One of my best freinds here in San Francisco is a Sparty fan and we were discussing this whole debacle earlier this week and they pointed out that this is what they have been telling me about M fans for years and I never really saw it and always chalked it up to excuse making on their part for their more obvious fan 'transgressions' and such. However, in watching this all unfold and looking at the deplorable treatment of the Rodriguez family from the day they came to town, from fans to media and the absolute lack of any support from anyone in the AD or previous coaching regime, and the shrill, irrational reaction of a certain portion of the fans, I sadly find that a lot of what they have been saying is true.
January 9th, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^