Michigan looking at Dartmouth AD Harry Sheehy per ESPN

Submitted by Izzoiswashedup on

Title says it all.

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1817

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:35 PM ^

Pres Schlissel is also Ivy League and he's the most impressive guy in the room right now, so no fear here of someone from out east for AD.

Joined: 09/30/2014

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Voltron is Handsome

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:40 PM ^

How can anyone be upset about the possibility of this guy being the AD? No one here knows anything about him and more importantly, no one here knows jack shit about running an athletic department at a major university.

Joined: 05/12/2014

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Greg McMurtry

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^

Get a grip. It's never the person you're hearing about. Don't claim to know something you don't. Don't try to rub it in like "you asked for this." Nothing has happened and you don't know shit. Calm down and relax.

Joined: 02/25/2009

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Slacks

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^

I think the timeline will actually be longer than people realize. I think Schlissel is going to do long search. He is going through a very rigorous process.  He is not just hiring somebody to hire coaches, he hiring an officer of the university. I expect him to do a search similar to the way they do other executive officer searches. That process takes a long time.  They probably will reach out to a lot of candidates over the next few months. I have confidence that the process will result in the best candidate. I just hope there is some stakeholder input into the process.

For what it is worth, I think Sheehy may be a great candidate. Like people above have noted, his current position actually has more to it than being the Athletic Director. One of the issues with Brandon was his inability to engage with students and other campus stakeholders. Sheehy has experience doing that.

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MichiganStudent

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^

This is one search that I'm not going to get worked up over. Wake me up when its time for the coaching search.

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Ryno2317

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:51 PM ^

This is all a head fake. Brandon would not have been forced to resign if this was the plan all along. Let's not freak out until we have something to freak out over.

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Ryno2317

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:51 PM ^

This is all a head fake. Brandon would not have been forced to resign if this was the plan all along. Let's not freak out until we have something to freak out over.

Joined: 10/14/2013

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Danwillhor

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:52 PM ^

over a position that doesn't require anything but NOT being absolutely out of touch with with money & winning at sports (double negative, I know). Every name brought up inevitably leads to "but could he get Harbaugh". If referring to Jim, I think he'd want an AD that just stayed out of his way WRG daily operations/team freedom. Not talking about academic progress of the players (not an issue with Jim anyway) or holding f-ups responsible but the general running of the FB team. Very few guys are like DB. I don't think a "MM" is the only capable person to bring him here. Fact is, he'll come (or he won't) as long as the AD isn't a complete arrogant, meddling clown. The notion that an Ivy guy or a MAC guy would be absolutely out if their element at UM is dumb. In fact, unless one if the "MM" candidates cleans house and destroys the factions within the dept, what's the point even if they don't get Jim? The HC hire will get the "RR before coaching a game" treatment. As POTUM said, we may need a guy with no UM ties to make our dept a dept instead of f'n Melrose Place. Our dept is a cancer so how is it that only a buckeye and a new POTUM can see this? We may need a true outsider as this "MM" faction shit has to go. In fact, I think Jim would want it gone! Clean slate. Maybe I'm crazy and won't be having this discussion every 5-10 yrs?

Joined: 12/02/2008

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Spontaneous Co…

November 4th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^

The idea that we need a "big name" hire as AD is absurd.  There is absolutely no support for the proposition that a really good AD from a smaller school cannot scale up to handle our Athletic Department.  It seems the people who are claiming we need a "big name" AD are only saying that because they think it is a prerequisite for hiring the right football coach.  I do not think that you have to be the AD at Oklahoma to understand that Jim Harbaugh is the most desirable candidate.  Christ, everyone here knows it and we aren't in Athletic Administration.  If we had Harbaugh as our coach now, 99% of the people clamoring for a "big name" AD would be saying, "Who cares, just hire someone smart who won't muck it up."  I would love to look at Dartmouth's Athletic Department's growth and evolution under theri AD and judge him based his job performance.  Maybe he is the right guy.  Maybe others here have analyzed all the various schools' athletic department performance under a number of metrics, but I have not seen that.  So saying Brad Bates, or Warde Manuel are better because they are at a big school seems like a stupid way to prove they are better than someone we have not heard of.    The Dartmouth AD obviously loves sports or he would not be an AD, so the idea that he (or any other viable candidate) is going to actively make decisions that make us less competitive seems illogical.  If that happens you would have to believe that is coming from Schlissel and then the issue is not with the AD.  Michigan needs a great athletic director, it does not need a "big name." 

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BlueHills

November 3rd, 2014 at 9:56 PM ^

You guys are arguing about this like there's a serious chance this guy could become our AD.

It's out of the question. Really. It's just a name being floated out there.

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aiglick

November 3rd, 2014 at 10:36 PM ^

You think West Virginia would mind us yanking Oliver Luck from them? I had no idea he went there for undergrad so may not be possible. Would love him as AD though that would cause a meltdown but would be worth it as I have a feeling he and Harbaugh have a great relationship. Edit: beaten by Mr. Yost.

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deejohn

November 4th, 2014 at 4:00 AM ^

I truly hope this is all a ploy because of the football season still being in progress. I think they have their man but will wait till the season ends out of respect.

Joined: 11/18/2009

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jmdblue

November 4th, 2014 at 8:45 AM ^

with a really cool outdoor/athletic culture.  Probably not the guy for us, but who knows.  My main concern is how much former Ivy would be in leadership positions with us.  Shapiro and Bollinger left us for the Ivy's and I think that makes sense.  Probably a hell of a lot simpler job as one gets older when fund raising is automatic and you're dealing with much smaller campuses.  Don't know how much sense it makes having the Ivy bosses come here.

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wayneandgarth

November 4th, 2014 at 9:00 AM ^

If they truly are talking to ADs at Northwestern and Dartmouth, there is no doubt of Schlissel's influence at looking at candidates coming from high academic schools.  To me that bodes well for Schlissel approving of paying what it takes for a Jim Harbaugh hire. 

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UMfanKT

November 4th, 2014 at 9:02 AM ^

WOW!!!  First Northwestern AD...now Dartmouth AD?  WTF is going on?  OK folks...the position is for ATHLETIC DIRECTOR...and I'm going way out on a limb here thnking one of the qualificaitons for the job of ATHLETIC DIRECTOR would be EXPERIENCE RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL BIG TIME COLLEGE ATHLETIC PROGRAM.  

Nothing against these fine individuals but come on.  How about we not try to play the smartest guy in the room act again like we did with Brady.  We all see how well that worked out.  

Joined: 09/08/2014

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drz1111

November 4th, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^

I can't recommend Sheehy more highly.  Superb administrator, builds successful programs wherever he goes, and by all accounts is a world class guy.  At Dartmouth, he's been steadily rebuilding athletics programs that were eviscerated by a hostile dean of admissions in the early 2000s.   Dartmouth's football program was DEAD, completely, and Sheehy has worked with Teevens (ex Stanford coach) to rebuild it and they're 5-2 this year and competitive with the top teams in the Ivys for the first time in, gosh, 15 years?

He's a superb fundraiser and he hires great coaches.  Despite having possible the worst fundamentals for recruiting (small school,  rural, lilly white) he's made football competitive again, he's kept hockey and baseball in the upper echelon of the Ivy League (and consistently producing players who go on to play professionally), and he's resuscitated basketball from a nadir when it was consistently rated by Sagarin as a bottom 10 team in all of D-1 to a mid-pack Ivy program. 

IMO, he's a Tressel type - an insanely talented guy who just hasn't had a chance to demonstrate those skills in a high-visibility position.  I only hope Michigan doesn't hire him so that he can keep restoring Dartmouth's  athletics program - which all observers feared was mortally wounded - back to its historical position at the top of the Ivy League.

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School 4 the Gifted

November 4th, 2014 at 1:20 PM ^

Looks like Michigan is taking the whole "Harvard - Michigan of the East" thing literally....Schlissel graduated from Princeton and MIT.  This guy came from Williams College (previous home of future bball legend Duncan Robinson) and is now at Dartmouth.

Hell of a start to a quiz bowl team for Michigan leadership....

My take is.... I just want someone who is a smart and willing to listen, strong but not too headstrong to push through iniatitives without input or consideration of other options.  You don't need a big name AD.  Give me the smartest guy in the room....

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