November 28th, 2013 at 11:47 AM ^
What I posted was Dan Gilbert's "open letter" to Lebron after The Decision. It was widly mocked for it's tone, the way it was written (lots of ALL CAPS), the Comic Sans font he chose and the general ridiculousness of the content. Which was 100% wrong by the way.
Brandon's "open letter" sort of reminded me of Gilbert's - that's all.
November 28th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^
I had no clue what that excerpt was from.
To me, DB is typical of your average MBA from a high-profile school: arrogant beyond belief and completely convinced that he is always the smartest guy in whatever room he's in. I know people who've had interactions with him in the course of their jobs at UM, and I'll just say that I'm thankful I don't have to work with or for him.
However, that doesn't mean that everything he does or says is deserving of the sort of spittle-flecked rage that's normal here at MGoBlog.
It's now a common meme that the fact that he attends coaches' meetings and practices automatically means that he's an intrusive meddler, but does anybody here really know exactly what the nature of his participation typically is? If he's interrupting the coaches demanding explanations during meetings, or suggesting that they run certain plays or use certain players, then he's an intrusive meddler. If he's simply there watching and observing in the background, or watching film, that's not meddling, at least in my book. Given that he's a former player, it seems silly to me to begrudge him the desire to be present during some of the activities of the program he clearly loves. I also think it's dumb from a management standpoint to take the view that a senior manager in his position should never attend in person any of the activities led by the people who are responsible to him. Just because John Bacon says coaches from other schools are expressing amazement that DB is doing this isn't justification in my eyes for taking a trip to A2 Torch and Pitchfork, if for no other reason that coaches from other schools have a vested interest in perpetuating the notion that Brandon is an intrusive meddler that no coach or player would want to have anything to do with.
If you want to make the argument that he's probably got better things to do with his time than attend meetings or practices, I'd agree, but that's not the same thing as meddling, and it also begs the question of just how many practices and meetings he's attending. Is it every one, or just some of them? If Mary Sue Coleman occasionally attends a random lecture on campus, does that automatically mean she's meddling? It depends on what she's doing while she's there, and how often she's doing it.
November 28th, 2013 at 1:25 PM ^
You've been a voice of reason in this thread, IMO. I would have liked DB to leave out the reference to "Carr's seniors" - and I'm sure everyone would have edited the statement one way or another - but I don't think anyone can read the post and not believe that Brandon has every intention of bringing back Coach Hoke, and that was his fundamental message.
November 28th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
Well said.
November 28th, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^
It is a minimum 200 words for a Diary post at Brandon's Blog. He knows the rules.
November 28th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^
All in all, he's doing a great job supporting and promoting the long-established values at the University of Michigan - winning with integrity, including academic integrity. He is a major improvement over our previous AD (did BM ever write a blog in support of our recruiting efforts?).
I do not agree with everything that Brandon has done, as I consider myself more conservative and a traditionalist, but there's no doubt in my mind he's the right guy for the job. If you don't agree, who would you replace him with, and why?
November 28th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 11:47 AM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 3:54 PM ^
I think Brandon has done a disservice to Michigan from the beginning. The decision to fire RR after three years was foolish. The way it was handled showed inexperience. Hiring Hoke was not a stellar move. The mascot trial balloon angered Michigan traditionalists. He is on record stating that he would like to have advertising within the stadium.
He has greatly and unnecessarily expanded the marketing staff, when that money could be spent on more productive things.
He wasted thousands of dollars on skywriting "Go Blue" over MSU's stadium - absolutely a bush league move.
And now, naturally, he is supporting the guy he hired who isn't doing very well with the talent he has on hand.
Hey, as long as we are stuck with this staff, I hope they do very well. I'd love to be wrong.
You ask who'd be a better AD - how about the Louisville AD? Look how well their programs are doing with far less in the way of resources. There are lots of good ADs out there with real athletic program experience.
November 28th, 2013 at 10:07 AM ^
1. What about a blog post do you folks - on thos blog - not get? It's written in the style of a blog because it's, well, a blog post. As Don put very well, stop acting like 50s-era priviledged white housewives exposed to anything outside of what they expect.
2. Why should DB say a word about RR? Since being canned, RR has acted like an immature teenager and ran his mouth over and over. He has implicitly trashed DB whenever given a media opportunity to do so. Who knows what he has said to colleagues - but we can safely assume its much worse than what he has said in public. Chosing to ignore RR was DB's only option.
3. DB is not just responding to Peppers. Stop with this simple-minded inversion of a symptom and the problem. He is responding to ESPN and all the other media outlets that have Hoke on the hotseat. Peppers is a symptom of the media's attemtp to generate chaos and ensuing clicks. He is responding to a need to counter that chaos with a sense of stability, so as to avoid symptoms emerging on the recruiting trail.
November 28th, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^
I commend him for it. But how does this solve the offensive problem long-term? I don't think getting a new coordinator for offense solves problems unless the scheme and tempo is changed. We cannot be this all-huddle, all the time plodding, i-form team anymore. Doesn't work. Too predictable and only ensures wins against maybe Perdue. I know there are some who will say "well, Wisconsin does it and does it well" but we're not them. We're not Alabama and we don't have their offensive line. We may never have it.
Even Ohio State goes up-tempo. Nearly every successful team goes up-tempo, has a dual-threat QB, and uses the width of the field. Obviously the QB is such a huge part of this and unfortunately, Gardner has gotten worse and gotten injured. That is, of course, on the O coordinator. But it is also on the overall scheme and this fundamental view that "three yards and a cloud of dust" will cut it nowdays. I guess if we want to beat Michigan State 12-10 every 4 years, it does.
November 28th, 2013 at 10:47 AM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
otherwise this would turn into the last days of RR all over again.
When an AD stays silent about his coach, he speaks volumes.
I never really considered Hoke on the chopping block, he should get his 5 years at least, the same way I felt RR should have. So voicing support for him is smart PR.
As far as Mattison, he is a terrific coach, getting rid of him would be a massive setback.
In my humble assessment, Borges needs to go OR you need to hire a true QB coach who can develop players.
If Borges is on the way out, I can't think of anyone off hand as a replacement BUT would hope Hoke would look at an OC with a proven record of developing QBs...and everyone else on the offense for that matter.
November 28th, 2013 at 11:22 AM ^
Furiously rereading the statement. Brandon omission says alot. Wonder if Brady had a chance to review the statement before it was released. If not, nothing better than your AD throwing one of your coaches under the bus. Poor Al will now have to answer questions at every press conference as to why he wasn't mentioned and what does that mean for him going forward. If the decision is made, this statement could have been released Sunday with the news that Big Al is no longer the OC at Michigan. Actually feel sad for Borges. You don't do this 2 days before your biggest game of the year. Big Al will be game planning his next job not game planning for Ohio State.
November 28th, 2013 at 11:33 AM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 11:46 AM ^
But when a guy is so clearly already under the bus, not mentioning him is also not pulling him out. Sort of like, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it. DB has nice things to say about Hoke and Mattison. Saying nothing says a lot. This is a classic dance that management has to do with the public. Borges could theorticallysuddenly become competent and M could finish 9-4, heck if he did, we'd probably forgive his stark failures. And, DB would not have burnt any bridges, or created any self fulfilling failure prophesies. Unfortunately, it is pretty plain to see how this will likely end. And we will most likely have a new OC. If not, it gets even more crowded under the bus.
November 28th, 2013 at 11:49 AM ^
I think it is when your counterpart on defense IS specifically mentioned.
November 28th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ^
You can't mention one without the other, especially given the timing before "The Game".
November 28th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^
the fan base has been clamoring for his removal. If he mentions Borges has security, people like Brian would definitely not go on Saturday and make next season a total disaster regarding ticket sales and renewals. . .
November 28th, 2013 at 11:45 AM ^
If we win Saturday everyone stays. Of course, if we win, the outcries of why we didn't perform that way all year will be deafening.
November 28th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^
I thought that was the case also, but before reading this letter. I think Funk is gone no matter what happens Saturday or in the bowl game. I am also now skeptical as to whether Borges can save his job or not.
November 28th, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^
Here's my concern with what Brandon had to say (this may have been covered, but I'm a day late and don't want to read all of the posts in here.
Brandon says he needs to give Hoke more time because he's implementing a new system and that takes time. Look at Harbaugh, look at Saban... So what was Rich Rod doing then? Why didn't he get more time? He, over the life of his time here definitely tanked the system, but he was getting better. I'm not entirely sure that Rich Rod wouldn't have had the same result in 2011. Hoke on the other hand has progressed backward each year. I don't disagree that it takes time, but try to sell the fans that you're dedicated to this guy because you feel it's imperative that you give him a fair shot when you didn't give the last guy the same shot.
November 28th, 2013 at 4:21 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 8:31 PM ^
I know it's beating a dead horse, but personally I don't blame everything on Borges. I'm not crazy with all of his play calls, but look how much Devin has been sacked this year and the lack of a run game. As a coordinator, what are you supposed to call when you know you probably can't get more than 1 or 2 yards on a run play, if not a loss, and Gardner is probably going to get sacked if he drops back? Borges has been successful throughout his career and has shown an ability to adapt to different styles of offense based no personnel, so if's not like he's forgotten how to coach an offense. I'm more inclined to blame youth on the offensive line and a lack of cohesion. If come next year we do not see a jump in performance from the young interior line guys, I'd be more critical of Hoke and Funk than Borges.
November 28th, 2013 at 9:28 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 10:11 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 10:06 PM ^
What makes you think Mike Hart would be any good as an offensive coordinator? We need someone with a proven track record of success at the Division I level.
November 29th, 2013 at 12:37 AM ^
Same reason Chuck Norris should be President.
November 29th, 2013 at 9:33 PM ^
There are two groups of people questioning Brady Hoke's job security right now. 1) Those that don't want Michigan football to succeed and 2) impatient and uninformed fans buying into it.
Brandon is 100% correct. I am not surprised to see his statement, but am very pleased.
November 30th, 2013 at 12:04 AM ^
Point these people out, otherwise you're simply strawmaning.
November 29th, 2013 at 10:53 PM ^
I've been a long time lurker on this blog, after watching Oregon run a two minute drill like its their normal offense made me register just so I could throw out the name Scott Frost for OC.
I know there are hard feelings toward Nebraska, but he has learned under Chip Kelly, and I think after tomorrow we will all see the spread once again is the way to go.
You have a great spread offense especially with Devin running it, combined with Mattison's defense. I think we have what we need. Is that something that Hoke will go for? I guess that is the real question, is he too attached to running old Michigan offense?
November 29th, 2013 at 11:59 PM ^
While I agree that Borges job situation is probably looking iffy, I think DB's comment about knowing there are areas which need to be addressed and improved could equally apply to Funk. We're looking at two years of pretty poor line play.