On Harbaugh, Brandon, And Other Such Things Comment Count

Brian

ALL RIGHT, PEOPLE. We are probably embarking on a coaching search in the near future and also probably embarking on an AD search in the near future. When these things happen I get buckets of insider information from provenances both dubious and legit, and at some point they cross the threshold where I think they're useful to relate.

When I do this I want things to be supported by multiple people, or people I've heard from before and were accurate. I've learned over the years that when you get in these situations a lot of people stridently believe things that turn out to be wrong, so keep that in mind; I strive to be precise with my language to give people the right impression of how strongly these opinions are held.

So…

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ON JIM HARBAUGH. There are plenty of media reports suggesting that Harbaugh won't be with the 49ers next year; I've heard similar things. I've also heard that people within the 49ers organization think that maybe Harbaugh isn't an NFL guy, long term, and that Harbaugh is also coming to this realization as the guys in his locker room start getting more and more ornery. Michigan is not a far-fetched destination according to them.

ON DAVE BRANDON. I mentioned this on twitter and should clarify. There is the Big Ballers Meeting and then a Meeting With A Lot Of Big Ballers And Some Smaller Ballers And Some People Who Do Nice Stuff For The University. I got a report from the latter, in which Schlissel sat down for a Q&A session that was moderated by Stephen Ross. Nothing said was definitive, but almost all of the side chatter centered on how Brandon wasn't going to make it and Ross didn't seem like he was going to throw a hissy fit if a change was made. Even in this context away from the madding crowd the first issue addressed was the AD; Schlissel reiterated his point about a culture change; there seemed to be big baller chatter about who might be next.

Now: these people are not universally omniscient. There was chatter that things might go down last Tuesday. Obviously they did not. Don't take that as gospel.

ON THE COMBINATION OF HARBAUGH AND BRANDON. Never say never but I've heard from guys who know Harbaugh who say that Jim working for Dave is highly unlikely to happen. I do not have signed affidavits, but… yeah. As chatter goes this drumbeat is intense.

ON HOKE SURVIVING. This is likely to become moot this weekend, but serious people are asserting that he's not dead yet and could get by with a 7-5 record that includes a win over MSU or OSU, or even that 6-6 might be enough.

I don't think this is the case, as the powers that be know that season tickets are on a knife edge now and bringing Hoke back could see significant drops. It's impossible to know anything about Hoke's status given the uncertainty about the top of the department; the information being discussed is going to point strongly to a change no matter who is in charge.

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ON AD CANDIDATES. Amongst the obvious Michigan Man candidates I would peg the pecking order as

  1. Jeff Long (Arkansas)
  2. Brad Bates (BC)
  3. Warde Manuel (UConn)
  4. Joe Parker (Texas Tech's associate AD)

There's a bigger gap between 2 and 3 than between 1 and 2 or 3 and 4. Michigan may go off the board, of course, but Long in particular seems to have the respect of the AD community—he's the CoFoPoff chair—and made a stunning hire of Bret Bielema after the Petrino situation blew up in his face.

Also worth noting that he handled the PR of that disaster as well as can be expected. Bates and Manuel have not had to face similar crises yet.

ON JABRILL PEPPERS. This is not certain otherwise Michigan would have announced it but I've gotten several seemingly independent sources asserting that Peppers isn't going to play again this year. Michigan just threw him on top of the depth chart at nickel and punt return, so I don't know… I just wouldn't be surprised if he didn't play this weekend.

ON LLOYD CARR. Lloyd Carr is a civilian. He is neither involved nor wants to be involved in the day-to-day of the athletic department, and if you have a conspiracy theory involving him it is ridiculous and you should just drop it.

Comments

Mike60586

October 21st, 2014 at 11:57 AM ^

Does anyone know how much of a hit it would be if a new coach came in and got rid of Nuss and Mattison?

I am really interested since we just paid Nuss 1MM+.

 

 

Muttley

October 21st, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^

of the football cash flow stream that will be lost if the present state of the program is allowed to persist.

It's an $82-frickin million/yr cash flow stream in direct revenues.  With season ticket holders and luxury box benefactors at a disappointment level not seen in my lifetime.

sendm57

October 22nd, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^

Right? Jimmy, like most married men has to live with his wife and there s no way she wants to go anywhere there s snow. Not to mention, would U-M really be dumb enough to pay millions to a flighty abrasive guy who already dis-respected his alma mater with his big mouth (and didn t seem at all bothered that by doing so, he was burning bridges) and he was NOT even an NFL coach then! GAG. My dream scenario: JACK Harbaugh for AD and son JOHN as head coach. Why in he** does the new AD have to have U-M ties; didn t anyone see already how that worked out for the coaching search?

Ron Utah

October 21st, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^

Are you trying to be funny?  No personal ties?  Let's see...

  • Grew up in Ann Arbor (Pioneer High School)
  • Brother played at Michigan
  • Father coached at Michigan

Just becuase he didn't go to U-M doesn't mean he doesn't have personal ties.  Yeesh.

FrankMurphy

October 21st, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^

His personal ties to Michigan are actually pretty deep. He grew up in Ann Arbor, his dad was on Bo's staff, he was a ballboy during practices, etc. He was basically raised by the program, even though he never played or coached there.  

But you're right that the signs John Harbaugh would actually consider leaving the Ravens to take the Michigan job are minimal and likely fleeting. The only indication is that Harbaugh reportedly demanded that Ray Rice be cut when he became aware of the domestic violence allegations, he was rebuffed by the Ravens' front office, and that this supposedly caused a rift between them in light of the poor handling of that fiasco by the Ravens and the NFL. But those rumors have died down (unlike the rumors about Jim Harbaugh's relationship with the 49ers), so they may have been baseless to begin with. 

clarkiefromcanada

October 21st, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^

Mark D: "Lloyd, you guys really didn't need to put 49 on us".

Lloyd: "Listen, sooner or later, I'm going to retire. Michigan will drop Nike for Adidas and the Athletic Director will be hired away from Domino's Pizza"

Mark D: "No shit"

Lloyd: "Then, and only then will you have a chance to win games against Michigan"

 

swan flu

October 21st, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^

Is the Peppers issue strictly an injury or should we all run around panicking and search for our childhood blankets to comfort us and assure us that everything will someday be alright again?

State Street

October 21st, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^

Heard similar things re: Long.  I think he's the front runner, but I'm not sure the timing is right becaues of the CoFoPo stuff.  If he's the guy you won't know til it's announced, however.  

gwkrlghl

October 21st, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^

I know you like to be calm and controlled with your coaching decisions, but do you (as a University admin) look at this tenure and say 'yeah probably will get better. Keep!'

11-2

8-5

7-6

6-8 wins

Michigan can do much better than that.

Njia

October 21st, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^

With the exception of the Athletic Department, the administration (particularly POTUM) isn't looking at the W-L record. Excepting a violation of policy or the law, POTUM isn't likely to tell the AD to keep or fire a coach.

From what Schlissel has said, his beef with the AD has (in no particular order) been about:

  • Player safety
  • Misaligned priorities
  • Culture
  • Communications and image
  • Community

If Brandon gets dismissed by Schlissel, it's for those reasons. If Hoke gets dismissed, it's for other reasons and it won't be Schlissel who makes the decision.

turd ferguson

October 21st, 2014 at 12:30 PM ^

Nor should it be Schlissel who makes that decision.  If I were an AD, I'd be pissed if the university president made his own decisions about when to fire coaches, whom to hire as replacements, etc.  That's the AD's job.

Brandon needs to be fired before Hoke.  That's partly so the new AD can make the call on Hoke and partly because there's no reason to restrict the new AD's flexibility by having him step into a situation with no coach and an panicky need to get one ASAP.