Michigan Museday Finishes That Thought
Michigan is 7-1 right now with four winnable games on the horizon. We have an excellent coaching staff and a team and fanbase united behind them. We have a top 5 recruiting class, yet one of the cleanest programs in the Top 25, and one of the hungriest. A victory over Ohio State this year for the first time seems at least 50% likely. The defense is young but competent, the offense scares people. We have all the Denards.
It took me three sessions to get through Three and Out, and after each one I had to repeat some variation of the above mantra to recalibrate. The book is about the program and the team from the perspective of Rodriguez, it has a hard Michigan bias and got at least one minor fact wrong,* but as an RR-era survivor I couldn't help experiencing it again as a fan. Reliving the Rod years is not a particularly enjoyable experience.
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* He gives the program credit for giving Kovacs, an out-of-state player, a scholarship despite out-of-state tuition being much higher, but the AD—and I'm 99.999% sure about this—pays the same (full) cost of attendance for every student athlete. Everyone costs the maximum whether they're suburban Toledo defensive backs, underclass volleyball strikers from Algonac, or intergalactic space punters in the B-school.
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What struck me most when reading Bacon's book was how important those years made this all seem. He mentions match points a lot; there were a lot of match points, and not just the football game ones. Like every article in every rag across the country that ragged on our coaches meant organizing a counter-defense. We were blogging for our very lives!
The second, and longest, of those sessions ended around page 415, or Location 8691 for you Kindle readers. Rodriguez was giving his speech at the infamous Bust, moments before the Great Groban-ing finally tipped the scales. 
I quote the passage:
"We all need to be ONE Michigan. One Michigan. Proud of every era. Proud of every young man, every student athlete who went through this program…
…
After giving a nod to Michigan tradition, he was now speaking of what his coaches were doing to turn their players into a team of Michigan Men. Now that he understood Michigan traditions, Michigan needed to extend him the respect he needed to lead the program…
…
The raw emotion of the speech went up a notch.
"Is this worth it?" Behind that question stood all the personal and professional costs of the past three years. "Is this worth it for your family?" he asked, getting choked up.
The answer wasn't clear-cut. It wasn't a matter of feeling sorry for yourself, he said, though the temptation was always there. It was instead seeing "the pain in the coaches' faces and worry and anxiety in your kids' faces." He wasn't speaking just of the losses but also of the personal attacks and the seemingly endless public trial he and his staff and players had been put through.
But, unequivocally, Rodriguez said, the answer was yes. Yes, it was worth it. It was worth it because the differences made in the lives of everyone attached to the program, said, and because of his unquestioning faith in the future greatness of his players and team.
And right there I had to painfully leave it for a day of work. I knew as well as you do where this was going, but without its infamous conclusion I got to ponder the content of the Bust speech and mentally fill in 
my own ending. In it I had him define "Michigan" and confront the idea of factions…
"If you ask me what side I'm on it's for these players, and the ideals of hard work, excellence, education, loyalty, and honesty which they embody—in a word, 'Michigan.' If you ask our own living legend, Lloyd Carr, who stood as a rock of integrity in a business that makes a mockery of it, what side he's on, it's 'Michigan.' If you ask our millions of fans and alumni what faction they're with, it'll be Michigan! Michigan! Michigan!" etc.
…and then come back to "Is it worth it," where "it" isn't just poor Rich and his staff but the players and the program. This is the thing that Hoke "gets" that Rodriguez didn't: there's nothing that can galvanize Michigan fans like talk about how great Michigan is, and the unity of the fanbase is all-important.
Of course he didn't take that tack but before he Groban-ed himself out of the job Rodriguez did give us a question worth pondering: "Was it worth it?"
Well was it? All the battles, all the interminable defenses, all the GERG and gimpy Gibsonesque defensive backing? The transfers, the divisiveness, the losing, the jihad—were these all worth it if that was the price to chip off the hubris from our program's unique idealism?
The RR years left us with a defense so bad it would literally need the Baltimore Ravens' D.C. and more than one outstanding freshman to even get to okay. It also left a team and a fanbase more united behind our program and our ideals than anytime in recent memory. We may have had to throw one of the rare good guys who can actually coach under the bus to get there, but we did get there. Other than a bit of whining last February, the mistakes made in the last transition have not been repeated, either inside Fort Schembechler or outside of it. The liars and the leaks were exposed. And these players, man. 
Can you remember a team more worth rooting for?
I got to the end of the book feeling more favorable toward Rodriguez than I was before, but ultimately, like Brian, still glad we've moved on from all that. But in some ways, I'm also glad he came. Because that subtext, the possibilities left unrealized at every match point, all the stuff that was on the tip of the tongue right before everything went Josh Groban, weirdly enough we got to keep all of that, and move on.
Michigan is 7-1 right now with four winnable games on the horizon. We have an excellent coaching staff and a team and fanbase united behind them. We have a top 5 recruiting class, yet one of the cleanest programs in the Top 25, and one of the hungriest. A victory over Ohio State this year for the first time seems at least 50% likely. The defense is young but competent, the offense scares people. We have all the Denards. Hoke and his staff have a lot to do with that, but a lot of that comes from what was built before them. In his own completely inelegant way, Rodriguez left a program in better shape than he found it. Perhaps that can be my last thought on him.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:13 AM ^
Battle Photo! I had forgotten about that one and it really says it all.
Was it worth it? Without adversity, there is no greatness. I know it is/was very tough for the players (and fans), but there it is. And unfortunately, we can't go back, so what choice is there but to live with this part of Michigan history.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:12 AM ^
It finally got our running game out of the stone age. Also, we got 4 years of Denard because of RR...
November 1st, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^
I couldn't have said it better myself.. literally, I couldn't. I'm terrible at conveying my thoughts, especially in writing.
Great writing Misopogon. This is an example of why this blog is better than any other sports blog out there.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^
- How can Lloyd be a "rock of integrity" when it's pretty darn clear he sabotaged the program while Rich was the coach?
- Have we, as a fan base, learned our lesson if the sabotuers are allowed to be a part of the football program going forward?
- Does the athletic department and football program really have integrity as one of its values when sabotuers are allowed to conspire against its coach, get its choice installed, then remain part of the program and university?
I have nothing against Hoke; I think he's a good man for the job. But until Brandon investigates (even informally), finds, and bans the saboteurs, this program is not well.
If Martin and Rodriguez were so terrible, then they would've failed even with full support. Heck, they should've known Martin was close to retirement, anyway. And if Rich was such a poor coach, as they claimed, then it would've come to a natural conclusion.
As long as the sabotuers are around, this is not the football program Bo built. It seems that, to the conspirators, Bo's "Lasting Lessons" lasted only until the day he died.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:30 AM ^
Misopogon was quoting Rich Rod speech at the Bust, from the book. So, you may need to ask Rodriguez your questions.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^
No, those were my additions. It's a fair question -- I'll answer when I can.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:27 AM ^
1. While he was head coach at Michigan, there we no scandals, and had they turned a Rosenbergian witch hunt on his program nothing more than the same CARA reports, only minus a few months, would have been found. He spoke out against the 12th game and 4-round playoff systems that would have kept kids from their final exams. He was one of the few in the game who genuinely believed his players should leave with good educations.
Also, even though he doesn't come off well in this book, Lloyd didn't take the opportunity to defend himself, and hasn't yet. To declare that a sign of guilt would be to make the same mistake people made when RR wasn't allowed to stick up for himself. There's another side of the story that must be told before we hand out certainties.
2. Yes we have. The people who turned on the program are no heroes, but they're part of the same family, just as the nutball politicos trying to undermine this president or that one are still Americans, still votors, still people doing what they think is best. Learning to drown them out with praise and loyalty to the program is an important step.
3. It's imperative to separate Hoke from the reprehensible actions of a few select people who wanted Hoke. There were some dirty, dirty people with some really underhanded tactics working on behalf of Abe Lincoln in 1860.
I agree if anyone in the athletic department can be identified as having worked to undermine the program or its coach, they should be fired. However I'm not going to hold a regime hostage until we weed out every non-true blue. That's "Sacred Brotherhood" territory and we're above that.
November 1st, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
- I'm not declaring a sign of guilt, but rather pointing it out. To tell players he would facilitate their transfers while the new coach was out of town and hadn't met them yet is sabotage, plain and simple. GTFO.
- Nutball politicos trying to undermine the president is a poor analogy. If members of the President's own White House Administration are sabotaging him, they would be banned from the White House.
- I clearly have separated Hoke from his supporters when I said, "Hoke is the right man for the job."
November 1st, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^
What I find interesting is that on the one hand Carr is excoriated for considering the future of the student athletes and offering them release from their scholarships should they so desire. On the other hand Dave Brandon has been attacked for his handling of the coaching transition in part because he appeared to put the program ahead of the student athletes.* I find it amusing that many people find indignation with both actions. Not one or the other, but both at the same time.
*It has been alleged by some that Dave Brandon delayed the firing of Rodriguez so that Rodriguez couldn't get another coaching gig and take players with him.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:58 PM ^
*saboteur. Sorry, man, but you did do it three out of four times.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^
If this were RR's legacy. Failed at so many things, and yet, left the program in a good situation. Recruited some great players. /end legacy
I think it goes back to what you think about people, if you remember the positives or the negatives. There are the studies on how if you are told 2 good things about yourself and 1 negative, which do you remember? I'm going to look back at the RR years as hard and trying, with his legacy being "He left us in a great situation, and recruited us some great players".
But maybe I'm an optimist.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:20 AM ^
Was struck by the constant series of challenges that faced Rich every week and how it continued to eat at him. I will always believe that while Rich had some mentors, that being a head coach at a young age and having early success did him a great disservice. He was not seasoned enough for the size of the Michigan program especially with its' challenges at the time. I fully respect him for his beliefs and his integrity and hope that I am in Michigan Stadium on the day he is recognized for being our coach even though it was not a match in the end.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:23 AM ^
One of my favorite nuggets was that FoxSports was offering $50,000 for the "You Raise Me Up" footage (an another un-named media outlet $100,000!).
...and of course, the UM greeter at the UM/MSMoo game who extended his handshake to Dantonio when he was getting off the bus to enter the Big House, only to have Douchetonio tell him to "get the hell otta here". Classy.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:23 AM ^
After the national (and drawn out) embarassment of Rrod's contract situation, followed by the first time ever major NCAA violations at Michigan (whether they were unfair or not), and the very worst football played by anyone in maize and blue in over 40 years, no, it was not worth it. I blame Bill Martin for totally botching the transition. Done properly, we would have modernized the program and avoided all that nonsense. I do agree that is a great battle photo.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^
Many will be surprised by this, given my usual anti-RR posts, but I think that Wolverine 73 hit the nail on the head. Sure, RR did a ton wrong when he was here, and ultimately he didn't have what it took to deal with the metric ton of shit thrown his way, but the blame for what happened has to rest with Bill Martin.
Had Martin done the following things, we might be contending for a National Championship with RR right now:
1. Before introducing RR to the world, have Rich sit down with a couple of key people in the program, some from the Bo era and some from the Lloyd era, to become steeped in Michigan traditions. Sure, RR can be blamed for not "getting it" and not making enough of an effort with our traditions, but unless someone told him how important tradition is at Michigan, how can he be expected to know? Sit the guy down for an intense 24 hours, explaining such things as (1) the OSU rivalry; (2) some of our great players over the years, (3) "those who stay will be champions" (imagine if he would have invoked that quote in his intro presser?), etc. I still think that Michigan is unique and having a coach with some connection to Michigan who, from experience, "gets it" is a better move, but this didn't have to be so bad had Martin handled it better.
2. Fight back on the media Jihad. One thing that I like about DB is that he doesn't take crap from the media. Had Martin said some of the things that DB said about the whole practice hours BS, perhaps the fanbase would have galvanized behing Rich in an us-vs-them mode, instead of eating itself alive.
3. Open the wallet and pay the few extra $$ to get Casteel. No explanation needed here.
Like I have said many time, I still think that RR made the worst of a bad situation, but Martin could have certainly done more to make it better.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^
Coach Rod was much more familiar with and appreciative of Michigan tradition than his press conferences would have had you believe. He had a "Those who stay will be champions" sign himself prior to being at WVU (I can't remember where he was at the time - I also can't remember if he was quoting Bo when he used the statement).
The importance of PR in college athletics (as you mention) was probably the biggest lesson of the Coach Rod era and the book for me. I have mixed feelings about Brandon, but I feel good knowing that he won't let Michigan be shoved around by the media.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:48 AM ^
After reading the book, I don't understand how anyone could claime that RR didn't "get it" or more specifically, he didn't make an effort with Michigan traditions. The man was using the "those who stay..." motto nearly twenty years ago. HIs mentor was a Bo disciple. He stacked his book shelves with all things Michigan.
Sure, 36 hours into his Michigan career he may not have been familiar with everything, such as the relatively modern "#1 Jersey" tradition, but he seemed to embrace it right away and used it in motivation of his team.
In my mind, RR "gets it" more than the current administration that seems more inclined to give lip service to Michigan tradition than actually protect it.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:52 AM ^
Stop comparing Rodriguez to Hoke. It's a pointless exercise.
Rodriguez has proven himself a great offensive coach who routinely runs into problems in his job as head football coach. This happened at West Virginia and Michigan.
You know what the great thing is?
Rich Rodriguez doesn't coach Michigan anymore, so we don't need to talk about him.
Talk about the 7-1 Michigan Wolverines, with great players, great coaches (seriously, you shouldn't be comparing Hoke and Rodriguez - you should compare Mattison and Mallory to GERG and Gibson and try to stop giggling), a great recruiting class, a great stadium, and a great future.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:00 AM ^
I'm not really comparing Rodriguez to Hoke, that's more a shot at Brandon. I have no doubt that Brandon is the driving force behind a lot of the game-day atmosphere issues (jerseys, music, etc.) Maybe allowing the #s on the helmets is on Hoke, but I'd be willing to let that go if we didn't have the rest of the shit.
I have no doubt that Hoke knows and loves Michigan tradition. I also think Brandon is using it as cover to corporatize Michigan to a greater degree than it already was.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:05 AM ^
But the music thing...doesn't anyone remember the RAWK started with Rich and Martin, before Brandon was even here? You can complain he hasn't abolished it, or maybe has taken the next step, or whatever (Dog Groomers), but it happened before him with Martin, and Rich was all behind the department hyping up the atmosphere with some more current music.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
Ok, yes, I'll substitute out Music and add in the $500 fee to be on the season ticket waitlist.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:29 AM ^
You've found an ample substitute.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:08 AM ^
Dave Brandon is still batting 100% as far as I'm concerned.
As far as "corporatizing" Michigan, what do you think of the beautiful new suites and scoreboards at Michigan Stadium? The upgrades at Yost and Crisler? The beautiful new Player Development Center for the basketball team? The new D-1 Lacrosse programs with the funded scholarships to match?
Do you really think those things just fell out of the sky? They have to be paid for. Brandon is in charge of paying for them and he's doing a great job.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:15 AM ^
I believe the planning and financing of most of those things (other than lacrosse and the scoreboards) were instituted under Martin's ADship. The stadium expansion, Crisler renovation, and PDC for sure. Brandon's now in charge of filling them, and he approved the projects as a regent, but he played a small role in planning or paying for them.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^
He could have done all those things without giving Adidas carte blanche to create a new "legacy" uniform just to hawk a little merchandise.
And as the previous poster implied. It was Bill Martin (and the Big Ten Network) who solidified the finances to pay for all those things you mentioned.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:35 AM ^
Very well. Hey - if you all want stuff to complain about, you'll certainly find a way to do it.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
Says the guy who bitches because people use "bye" instead of "open date."
November 1st, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
All these things were projects that were started long before DB bought his position as AD. He can take credit for the scoreboards... and little else. As for paying for them... its not too difficult when you're selling out the largest football stadium in the country week after week. Let's not forget the facts, Dominoes Pizza was the number 2 pizza franchise when he took over, when he left, it was #5.
November 1st, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
If so, that's cool. Otherwise, I'll say I always find it extremely strange when someone posting on a board tells someone else what to do. "Stop comparing Rodriguez to Hoke. It's a pointless exercise." Not something like, "Please stop...," "Maybe you should stop...," "I find it pointless to compare Rodriguez to Hoke," or whatever.
"Rich Rodriguez doesn't coach Michigan anymore, so we don't need to talk about him." Yes, that's true. But then we don't really need to talk about anything, do we?
November 1st, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
The key in the book is that he was nailing the "tradition" angle (purely subjective idea as that is) behind the scenes, but in the public arena, consistently failed to articulate that he knew it.
And, really, I've never understood how he could have read Bo's Lasting Lessons (as he claimed he did), or been around the program for five minutes, and not known about the #1 jersey thing. Or, beyond that, how Jon Falk could have let that one go through. The whole thing was a debacle that had blame on both sides of the equation.
November 1st, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
I'm glad you mention the #1 jersey. Let's trace the roots, shall we? Made famous by Anthony Carter, the greatest receiver in UM history... who also left the school as a functioning illiterate. Yes, thats right... the dude was greased through and couldn't read. (I seem to remember RRod getting heat for recruiting Demar Dorsey and Adrian Witty because of their classroom performance). Finally, the "tradition" of the #1 became permanently solidified decades later as Braylon Edwards, you know, the underachieveing WR with hands of stone who dropped the Navarre pass in the Rose Bowl against USC that cost us a chance at that game, decided to fund a scholarship based upon the #1. This was a guy who was in the Carr doghouse most of his career, and was running the stadium stairs at 5AM just to keep his scholly. With traditions like these, I hardly blame RRod for "missing" the importance of this one.
P.S. David Terrell was a real a-hole as well... so I've heard.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^
Just a lot of people making mistakes. But Martin is right near the top of that list. I came away from this post wondering why Misopogon's made up speech didn't come in year 1, not at the pre-Groban bust. That's mostly on Martin for not preparing him, but to excuse Rich completely is one, to paint him as kinda a rube, which he's not, and second, forget his attitude when he came in. There was a bit of arrogance there, do things completely my way attitude, that actually was sort of appealing. But in all cases being cocky only works when you back it up. If you're going to be a Michigan "arrogant ass", winning makes the arrogant stand out, losing makes the ass part stand out. Spurrier, Harbaugh...people love it when you win. You don't, and you're not respecting "tradition" or whatever.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^
Now, you won't see me going off on any supposed villainy of Carr, or Bill Martin or "the Hill" as John Bacon (confusingly, I am afraid; to me "the Hill" is Markley, MoJo and Cousins) called Michigan's academic administration.
But there were villains, to be sure.
Our villains: Rosenberg and Snyder and the Free Press. Pure, inexcusable villains. Does the book leave any doubt? Does there remain any doubt at all? Honestly, for me the book revealed almost nothing new about what Rosenberg and Snyder did, but quite a lot on just how badly their actions hurt Michigan's football program. And my presumption is that had Bacon dug into it some more, he'd have found even more damage to the program. Lost recruits. Distraction of the staff. Revenue poured into NCAA "litigation." Injured prestige. Disheartened program donors.
There are lots of other debatable points coming out of the book. But the villainy of Rosenberg and Snyder is beyond debate.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:48 AM ^
But I was speaking of "in-house".
Yeah, the Freep dudes were bad guys.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^
Great points, and I agree with 99%. And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Casteel stay at WVU because he thought he would be next in line for the HC? Or was it because we couldn't spring enough cash for him
November 1st, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
...and as long as Casteel is the DC at West Virginia, he will assuredly not be talking about how close he came to moving to Michigan.
Bacon reports that before Bill Stewart was hired as a surprise pick to replace Rodriguez as the WVU head football coach, Casteel was ready to move to Michigan. He had been issued a cellphone from our football program. But the money we offered was prettty much what he was getting already; we apparently (!?) did not offer Casteel a contract with any guaranteed money; and when Stewart came in, he immediately offered Casteel $10k more than the Michigan offer, if Casteel would remain at West Virgina.
And, I expect that as important as anything, Casteel and his family were happy and comfortable in Morgantown. Casteel could, in Morgantown, just run his defense as he saw fit. His family could remain settled, his two girls still in school. Casteel was not wrong about his ability to remain settled.
November 1st, 2011 at 12:06 PM ^
didn't Rodriguez have the "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions" sign up in his Glenville State locker room? What surprised me is how well he played up Michigan traditions to his players in motivating them behind the scenes but missed almost every opportunity to do so in his public appearances. He really did, as you say, make the worst of a bad situation.
(EDIT: In the time it took me to type this, 15 more comments popped up, including this one).
November 1st, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^
*Kovacs was from out of state as a walk-on, therefore he was paying more money than other walk-ons. Bacon was saying that the athletic department did right by giving him a scholarship.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:03 AM ^
But elsewhere in the book Bacon mentions paying out of state and in state tuition. Enough that I even questions "was I wrong...? I thought all athletes paid OOS tuition, no matter where they lived..?" So he's picking up on the same thing I did, and having the same thought process about it.
Now, whether that was the ONE factual mistake (considering we've had 2 threads on at least one other, and I could name off a few more not extremely consequential ones) is another story.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:35 AM ^
Asking whether it is "worth it" is useless. What's the alternative? It happened and now the program is where it is.
Let's hope that it is a great re-direct for all of the players in the story from Bacon, to RR, to Hoke, to DR, to Barwis, to ....
November 1st, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^
It's not useless at all. Going through this form of self-reflection can be a preventative measure against something like this ever happening again. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it and whatnot. I think Dave Brandon and MSC have taken the hard learned lessons of the Rodriguez era and taken steps to correct them. I think the Hoke hire is a direct reflection of that awareness. Removing Labadie and Draper is a more practical example.
If there is a positive takeaway from the Rodriguez era, it's that we learned how fragile and transient the Michigan image can be. When faced with adversity we learned how easily we can crumble and resort to pettiness and fractiousness. It was ugly and soul-crushing and when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we shouldn't be as proud of what we see as perhaps we used to be. Still, we survived, and I think in the future we will be the stronger for it...and hopefully the wiser.
There's no telling where the Hoke tenure will take us, but this will not be the last time Michigan has to look outside for the leader of it's football program. Whoever is in charge of that next transition, be it 15, 20, or even 40 years from now would be wise to heed the lessons and warnings laid out in Bacon's book.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^
Although we all knew how the book would turn out there were a few things that surprised me. After RR was fired there was much made of another attempt to get Les Miles. The book claims that hiring Les was never going to happen. So was it all a ruse or an attempt to satisfy Les Miles supporters that the AD "tried" to get him?
The second thing that surprised me was that when getting Jim Harbough failed they attempted to get his brother John. First I heard of that.
Finally, did anyone else get the idea that Barwis was screwed? It seemed to imply he was asked to stay, rejected a huge offer from Florida State and then quickly thereafter was fired.
My admiration for Denard grew even more when it was reported he made several attempts to meet with Brandon only to be put off. His decision to stay with Michigan must have been made harder when Brandon said he had been open to meet with any player.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:38 AM ^
1. A ruse.
2. Me too.
3. Yes he was. That's another moment when we got our cake and ate it too, since he remained in Michigan instead of going elsewhere.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
Denard's decision to stay with Michigan was made for him BY Dave Brandon, when Brandon decided to fire RR when there was nowhere for Denard to follow him to.
If RR had been hired as coach at Maryland before the bowl game, do you really think Denard would still be at Michigan right now (along with any east-coast or Florida based players with 2+ years of eligibility)?
Checkmate - Brandon.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:20 AM ^
Let's give Denard a little more credit for controlling his own life.
If he had wanted to leave, spread option teams from across the nation would have been lining up to offer him a scholarship. He made a decision to stay at Michigan with a group of teammates that he seems to have close bonds with.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
Brandon certainly didn't come across as looking too great at the end of the book.
I too was surprised by the description of the "process." Jim Harbaugh was lost because we waited so long (ok, we knew that), John Harbaugh was offered? Pat Fitzgerald was offered and turned us down for NW (we all heard the rumors, but I always felt it was more of a feeling out process)? Am I forgetting anyone?
I mean, trusting Bacon's sources, becaus I'm assuming he lost his all-access pass when Rodriguez was ousted, but Hoke was at best the fourth choice. I guess that makes me feel better actually. As good as it has turned out so far, at least we tried to get a higher profile hire.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:02 AM ^
You can't accurately state Hoke was the fourth choice. He was one of many choices, and the 2010 golf tournament made it clear he was the first choice of many of the alums at that event.
Put it this way: we're never going to know the truth. If you read the book you saw Brandon knew Hoke was doing a good job at SDSU and was highly regarded by former players. Brandon also undoubtedly knew that Hoke would walk to Michigan to be the head coach. When you have that ace in the hole, you can certainly go out and talk to numerous other candidates when you know you've got a solid guy in tow.
Don't fall into the trap of needing or wanting a higher profile guy. Michigan just did that and it blew up in its face. Look at how Ohio State fared with a "low profile" guy in 2001 - that's Michigan's current trajectory and I love it.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
You really have a hard-on for anything that whiff's of Hoke bashing, don't you? Listen, I just said the Hoke hire has worked out so far. I like him. I like his staff. And I'll be fully convinced if he wins more than 8 games either of the next two seasons, as that will show he can win with a brutal schedule or that he can win when from outside appearances, the talent level might take a dip and/or be very young.
But don't give me this "ace in the hole" crap. If you really want a guy, you don't go offering three other people. All I'm saying is that there seemed to be two ways to read "the process." Option 1, Hoke was the intended guy all along and we just played it out so that it appeared to the public that he was the only possibility. Option 2, we tried to get guys that on the surface seemed to be better bets, but failed, and settled for a guy many Michigan people liked but was slightly unproven. I prefer to find out that Option 2 was closer to reality. Low profile guys can certainly succeed (especially when they can hire Greg Mattison), but that doesn't mean that at the time you would want to pass on a guy like Jim Harbaugh.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:32 AM ^
I heard some time ago that DB allegedly stated after he was hired (but before he fired RR) that nobody who's publicly criticized UM would ever work for him. I've never found any sources or links to back up that assertion, but knowing what we do about Brandon, it would not surprise me in the least if he has that opinion; I would bet he places huge importance on loyalty to the institution. The respect, admiration, and perhaps even love he has/had for Bo is no secret, and it would be logical and consistent for Brandon to have taken offense at Harbaugh's public comments about the academic integrity of the program while Bo was coach.
When commenting on the hiring process after he hired Hoke, Brandon also alluded obliquely to encountering people who were more about themselves than a desire or love for UM. He never elaborated about who or what he was referring to, but given Harbaugh's well-documented ego, I've always wondered if he was referring to JH. Regardless, that issue was not a factor with Hoke.
I'm not a huge fan of Brandon, but even if Hoke was his first choice from the beginning, he was smart to interview or talk with Harbaugh and Miles. If he hired Hoke without talking to the higher-profile guys first, a shitstorm would have erupted among a good portion of the UM fanbase, and that would have done Hoke no good whatsoever.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
In the podcast, Bacon doesn't reveil his soucres, but according to him, DB NEVER EVEN SPOKE TO JIM HARBAUGH concerning the job and that little more than a menial offer was made.
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