Trying to move forward and salvage this season from a fan's perspective
Given the Brandon is on a press circuit, it looks like he will be our AD for a while now (people about to resign or facing termination don't usually give interviews). Based upon Brandon's comments, it also doesn't look like Hoke is going anywhere this season.
Now that I have calmed down, my personal feeling is that this is not necessarily a bad thing. Brandon has generally done a pretty good job as AD. As Brian somewhat acknowledges in his front page post, most of our issues with him are either (1) pretty petty (the noodle, rawk music, etc) or (2) financial (tickets cost too much). While Brandon has a pretty huge ego, even he must feel somewhat chastened from the demonstrations and petitions for his firing. So, if he is staying on, I am hopeful that when he "balances" tradition against modernizing (as he discussed in his Daily interview), he will be less obviously in favor of modernization and somewhat more respectful of tradition. As for ticket pricing issues, given this season, I think that it is safe to say that ticket priced are not going up for a while.
As for Hoke, here's my view: this season has been a disaster. Something broke with this team last year and it has festered and gotten worse this year. Sure, we are young, but we should still be able to roll over Minny, Utah and the like. There are two possibilities that I see: (1) this season continues on its path and Hoke as absolutely gone at year end, if not before, or (2) we go on a huge run, inclinding a road win against either or both of our rivals, Hoke is possibly retained. If that happens, we all end up really enjoying the next 8 weeks and end up in a decent bowl with momentum going into the next season and Hoke can sell the turn around to salvage this recruiting class.
So, as a fan, I have somewhat accepted where we are (stuck with Brandon for a while, and Hoke until at least December), and am just hoping for the best, which in my opinion is for us to win as many games as possible to get our kids those 15 extra practices for a bowl. So, with that said, Go Blue, Beat Rutgers and let's start that 9 game winning streak to finish out the year!
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:12 PM ^
Brandon will totally be fine. Until the next time when something goes wrong, when he'll be secretive, petty, blame someone else, and generally be a jackass.
Also, no one will want to work for him after he hung Hoke out to dry like he did on Monday. So we'll have to take a flyer on like, a shitty MAC coach, again.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:12 PM ^
In advance, I'm sorry OP...I've just been aching for an opportunity to post this and you have given me an opening....
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^
Salvage the season?
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:18 PM ^
Are people going to stop posting their personal rants as threads for the sole purpose of ego-stroking anytime soon?
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^
Doubtful.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^
Why is everyone defending Brandon today?!?!? He needs to go and this season is over, nothing can be salvaged.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:28 PM ^
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October 2nd, 2014 at 6:17 PM ^
At least we can always depend on Brown Bear.
October 2nd, 2014 at 7:14 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 7:14 PM ^
Brown Bear---at this point, IMO, DB is totally, permanantly beyond defending.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:21 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^
You are still in denial phase.
We got blasted my Minn and Utah AT HOME.
These games weren't even competitive.
I see 85% chance we only win one more game. Probably 75% chance of not winning another game all season. You are talking Rich Rod 1st year season or worse.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:25 PM ^
People go on the press circuit as a last chance to save their jobs too...
Brandon is finished.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:56 PM ^
Stone the heretic!
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:28 PM ^
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October 2nd, 2014 at 5:31 PM ^
Who have been writing all of the other posts?
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
"(2) we go on a huge run, inclinding a road win against either or both of our rivals, Hoke is possibly retained. "
If Hoke manages to pull that off I will probably support him staying. If he could go from total tire fire to beating MSU and OSU on the road, well, that would be miraculous.
Ain't gonna happen, but I'm just sayin', if he did...
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:01 PM ^
I appreciate that many here will find that unacceptable, but seven regular season wins and a clearly improving offense over the remainder of the season would justify giving Nussmeier another season to show what his offense can do, and that means Hoke made a good choice on an OC to fix the offense an has earned another season as well.
At this point I'd say that is pretty tough bar to reach given where this team is and who left to play, but I'm not ready to write this team or these coaches off yet. I really hope they can turn things around because a coaching churn in the midst of all this will make the devastation of the Carr to RichRod transition look like a Sunday picnic.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^
I don't think Brian "somewhat acknowedges" that Brandon has generally done a good job. He tried and failed to come up with 5 good things the man has done during his time as AD. We may disagree on the standard of what doing a good job as an AD is but I would not call failing to come up with 5 positive things in 4+ years as generally doing a good job.
I guess I somewhat glad someone around here can still try and be positive, but its ok for the board to go more than 12 hours without a post trying to put a positive spin on Brandon/Hoke's time at the university.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:35 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:40 PM ^
Starts with winning Saturday! I'll be there to support the team. Hope others in the NYC metro area decide to as well. Fuck it, we have nothign to lose but the game (I know Lolz). At this point, getting to 7 wins is a success. Brady goes away. and we dont have a total melt down
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:49 PM ^
the only way they can have sustained yardage is if DG runs the ball. If he does and is injured and depending on when, they will not win another game.
Morris will be out for at least a few weeks and Bellomy and Speight are not ready.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:52 PM ^
- my personal feeling is that this is not necessarily a bad thing. - It is bad.
- Brandon has generally done a pretty good job as AD. - He has been bad.
- He must feel somewhat chastened from the demonstrations and petitions for his firing. - Unsubstantiated assumption.
- he will be ... obviously ... somewhat more respectful of tradition. - Not obvious. Unsubstantiated conjecture.
- it is safe to say that ticket priced are not going up for a while. - Not safe at all. Ticket prices will go up with a better schedule I bet.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:53 PM ^
Once a week, we all simultaneously go to a designated Wolverine Historian YouTube game, pretend it's live, and share our thoughts here.
October 2nd, 2014 at 5:54 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 6:12 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 6:39 PM ^
While I can generally accept that Brady Hoke is a decent human being who should never have been the head coach at Michigan, Dave Brandon just seems like a dick on top of someone who should have never been the AD at Michigan.
October 2nd, 2014 at 6:40 PM ^
of a new Athletic Director, the "new guy" (or gal, no problems there) would have to select a new head coach, and forever be branded (no pun) with the success or failure of that single decision. I say branded because it would literally be the thing they would be associated with forevermore. So that's high stakes for a first year Athletic Director...they would probably be able to sign a multi-year guaranteed deal so their job was ironclad with greenbacks should the hire go wrong.
The next issue I see with a football coach "process" is going to be the division between prying (attemptiing to pry?) someone proven at a high level of success out of their comfort, who's willing to come take on the mess in Ann Arbor, coming with a high price tag, which might not even be possible due to the undesirability of the situation, leading to a low probability of that....
...versus the probability of finding a shining mid-level coach looking to step up, who might not come with the resume yet and is riskier and might bring some level of scheme change to the offense and defense. I won't put down names because that dilutes the philosophy of the decisions to come. There is talk about the buyout for Hoke being a good deal but I'm guessing anyone incoming is taking no risks and bringing their entire staff with them and so the entire existing staff has to be bought out of a year, not sure about the length of the existing Nussmeier deal.
I, for one, would personally love to know what's broken in this team. I know its not possible because of the Fort, but I've made a career out of being a '"repairman" more or less diagnosing problems with machines and eliminating them, and so I'm naturally inquisitive. The next coach selected from above, will need to know because he gets the same set of players.
October 2nd, 2014 at 7:31 PM ^
You mention that generally Brandon has done a pretty good job as AD.
Other than the idiots at Rutgers, or Penn State, can you name another AD who has singlehandedly created so much animosity among students, alumni and fans anywhere in the country?
I can't think of a worse situation, aside from the two I've mentioned. Maybe I've been living under a rock but this is really unprecedented.
October 2nd, 2014 at 7:55 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 8:01 PM ^
October 2nd, 2014 at 8:03 PM ^
Tickets are more accessable than they've been since before I was in school(mid 90's). There will be people going to games, taking kids to games who have never been to the big house.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:15 PM ^
of that kind of turnaround actually happening? A team was lost, sitting under .500, then rolled through the heart of its schedule to win a conference title and bowl game???
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:38 PM ^
1-2 start, barely beat winless and historically bad Northwestern. Won all of its remaining games, including the Rose Bowl.
I don't see it happening to this team, though.
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:25 PM ^
I went back and listened to Jamie Morris' show from Monday and his point was, at this point, we should just hope to see passion from the team the rest of the way out and the coaches trying to improve the players. That hasn't really happened to date, but seeing as there's probably no way in hell we beat either, much less both, of our rivals, the W-L doesn't matter as much to me now. I guess you still have to try for a bowl but 5-7 isn't going to do that.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:15 PM ^
I was initially quite excited about the idea of Brandon as AD based on his history with the University and his success in the world of business. Then:
- He hired a CMO for the Athletic Department. Michigan Football does not need a Chieft Marketing Officer - the football team, its traditions, and its stadium were all the marketing needed to fill the biggest stadium and sell the most jerseys.
- He implemented a loyalty program for student athletics attendance. I work in marketing for a living, and any decent marketer knows you have to understand the motivations of your customer, which he clearly did not in that case.
- He hired Brady Hoke. From the moment we started reading rumbles about Hoke being the favorite for the job, I was displeased that we'd consider a guy whose overall record was sub-.500 with mid-major programs. Like many others, I was quickly swayed by Hoke's initial press conference, first-year performance and quick recruiting wins.
- The seat cushion fiasco before last season, under the guise of "security." Again, a clearn misunderstanding of customer needs, and an insulting reason for the obvious money grab. If the original intent had actually been a security requirement, they never would have backed down mere days later.
Considering all of these things happened prior to the messes of the last few weeks, you can probably guess where my evaluation of Brandon lies. There've been a few recent examples too that are outside the big points everyone is talking about:
- Prior to the App State game, Michigan sent an email that contained information about avoiding heat stroke on hot gamedays. Part of that email mentioned that free water is available from all concession stands with beverage dispensers. During the blazing first-half heat, where we watched several people from our area drop, we were denied free water from two separate concessions. Both times, I pushed back and mentioned the University's email just the day before, and both times, they said "We're sorry, several other people have mentioned it as well, but we've checked with Stadium personnel and they said you can only get free water from the Absopure stations - they said we don't do that anymore." I emailed the Stadium staff following the game and was told that free water was indeed supposed to be available.
- I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread here about this (and I can't start one yet), but they're piping in loud band-based white noise from the loudspeakers to drown out the "You suck" that the crowd says on opponent fourth downs. I though I was hearing it at App State, but confirmed it last week vs Minny.
October 2nd, 2014 at 10:54 PM ^
At this point the coaches need to gather the team and have a frank talk.
The season clearly has not gone the way the coaches, seniors and the rest of the teams has hoped. There is honestly no hope of being a nationally highly ranked top team or winning the Big Ten or even the Eastern Division. But as a team they do have something to play for. They are not any football players. They are Michigan football players and they are among the best players coming out of high school and have been successful and competitive all of their sporting lives. At this point they can still play for each other and try to win every one of the remaining games for each other. A good finish and a bowl game are still possible. For those who have the possibility of playing at the next level it will give them the chance to show their skills. They were recruited to Michigan not just because of football because of their character. Being a winner in life is more than just winning games but in dealing with the tough times when you are not on the winning side but still have to carry on. This is the moment. This is the meaning to being one of the leaders and best.
That's what I hope Brady Hoke is telling the team.
If Hoke, Mattison and Nusmeier can inspire the team to a second or third place finish in the eastern division it will be their greatest coaching job and if it won't save their jobs here (I know that right now their chances are slim and none) it might get them an interview elsewhere. If the team just says "F this" and packs it in, it shows the coaching staff has lost the team and it is time to just let them go and name an interim.
For us fans it is probably not salvageable but for the team there is still plenty to play for. It might be very ugly however and not fun to watch, but if they can scratch out a good finish and play tought to the end they will always true winners.