Who would Brandon have hired if he had been AD back in '07?
November 28th, 2010 at 4:08 PM ^
I think this is a pointless exercise. Don't want to be rude. But what's the point..
November 28th, 2010 at 4:09 PM ^
been President in 1912 if Woodrow Wilson didn't win?
November 28th, 2010 at 4:13 PM ^
He'd have gotten the progressive votes that went to Wilson.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:22 PM ^
I want Taft. He was a larger version of Mike Holmgren-- probably just as innovative on offense when he was able to leave the bathtub.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:46 PM ^
Taft would have won because the population was tired of Roosevelt. People didn't want the Bull Moose. They would have picked the Bull Angus.
November 28th, 2010 at 7:27 PM ^
except that Roosevelt got a larger percentage of the vote than Taft with Wilson in the race. Taft had alienated the progressive wing of the GOP and between that and Roosevelt getting the progressive votes that would have gone to Wilson, he'd have been able to win.
A more interesting question is what would have happened if Roosevelt had been able to campaign for the last month of the election.
November 28th, 2010 at 8:22 PM ^
have gotten the larger share of the vote than Taft, but without Teddy in the race, Taft would have been free to focus voters on the Bloody Shirt meme. "Would you want a Democrat (party of the Confederates at the time) to be elected at such an important time in our history?" Because of Teddy, that arguement wouldn't work, it would only help him against Wilson. He felt Teddy was his biggest threat or at least made it personal against him. Remember, Wilson's favorite film was "Birth of a Nation". He would have been made Wilson into a southern sympathizer. Wilson may still have won, but I think it would have been razor thin without Roosevelt.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:09 PM ^
He probably could have gotten Les Miles if that was actually an option. It's easier to get your first choice if you're not with Andy Samberg and T-Pain in the caribbean filming SNL digital shorts.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:48 PM ^
He's got his flippy-floppies.
November 28th, 2010 at 6:05 PM ^
Not Les Miles. I know tha Dave Brandon can't stand Les Miles as a person, and would never even have approached him about the vacancy. I am not sure where their falling out came from, but they can't stand one another. I could be wrong and they could have made up since then, but I recall being at an event a few years ago (I work for UM) and being told by someone with the AD not to bring up Les Miles to Mr. Brandon because he didn't like Miles at all.
November 29th, 2010 at 8:37 AM ^
Coach Carr & Coach Miles had a falling out of sorts as well. There's no way he would've been hired here.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:10 PM ^
I think that the sentiment at the time was that the spread was where it was at, especially with the early season drubbings that EVERYONE was privy to. Maybe that was just among the fanbase, but I don't know for sure. I honestly think that Rich Rod would have been high on his list of candidates to interview, as he was really hot at the time.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:10 PM ^
Les Miles.
He would have developed a taste for field turf.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:11 PM ^
DICKWAD
what a dumb thread
November 28th, 2010 at 4:20 PM ^
Brandon have hired to coach the hockey team if he had been AD back in '84?
November 28th, 2010 at 4:25 PM ^
the season ended to begin his search. Since LC told the AD he was retiring a year earlier. The search should have begun then. An agreeable, suitable and educated replacement could have been found. That is not to say that RR is not educated by any means. What I mean is that a replacement with a complete understanding of what the job entailed, the importance of the specific rivalries and the tradition and history that IS MIchigan Football.
I'm not sure who that would have been in Dec. of 2007, but my guess is that RR might not have been the guy. The more I think about it, a head coach of Michigan should never say, "it's in the past, it doesn't matter." It sounds cute, but the "past" of Michigan football is upon which the present and future are built.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:40 PM ^
The committee to search for Carr's replacement began work in the summer before Carr retired.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:27 PM ^
the previous staff. LM would probably have never been an option, especially with LC still in Schmebechler Hall.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:38 PM ^
DB would put LC's feelings ahead of the programs success? I think Brandon is way to much of a professional to let Carr's hated of Miles sabotage potentially his best option as a replacement.
November 28th, 2010 at 4:30 PM ^
He was still at Domino's then, right?
November 28th, 2010 at 4:33 PM ^
Cocaine Wayne!
November 28th, 2010 at 5:05 PM ^
RR was pretty much the biggest name out there when we hired him - he turned down Alabama the year before. It wasn't like this was some kind of wild reach by Martin. The only controversy had to do with the buyout and WVU's ranting.
Then of course Rosenberg et al had to start piling on, which didn't help with recruiting.
November 28th, 2010 at 6:11 PM ^
He would have done a much better job of the whole process, and we, the fan base, would have been much, much more supportive of the hire. I blame Sailor Bill martin for the piss poor way in which RR or for the matter any coach during his era was hired. Brandon would have made sure that RR would have left UWV in a much smoother manor even with the problems between RR and the UWV AD.
November 29th, 2010 at 2:18 AM ^
I think a far more interesting question is what would have happened if RR went to Alabama at the end of 2006. If every thing else shook out the same way (Carr retiring, Schiano saying no, Miles turning it down after the Herbstreit incident), I wonder who we'd have hired. It'll also be interesting to see where Alabama would be without Saban and with RR. I doubt they win a NC. I doubt Saban would have stuck around in Miami, I could see him taking the Auburn job or maybe the Ole Miss job. Thats just a guess.
November 28th, 2010 at 5:07 PM ^
the other parties that were in the mix of the conversation at the time to my memory were Brian Kelley, Chris Peterson (who I still think may be an excellent choice in the event that RR does not stay on), and the guy from Ball State. If I remember correctly I don't think that DB likes LM very well.
November 28th, 2010 at 5:21 PM ^
enough to warrant that DB would never have considered him. LC would not have that much pull, but the Michigan family was forever affected by LM's actions and I believe that was unforgiveable.
November 28th, 2010 at 5:32 PM ^
I need to be brought up to speed. What did Les Miles do while at UM? I know about Jai Eugene, but that was at LSU.
November 28th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
1. Banged another coach's wife.
2. Told recruits about Lloyd's Parkinson's in an effort to negative recruit.
November 28th, 2010 at 6:08 PM ^
If he would've seen my resume on ncaa 07 he would've seen that I had the number one class five years in a row, and I was the five time national champion.
November 28th, 2010 at 6:17 PM ^
...but I'm betting he wouldn't have hired 4-8 first-year Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.
I"m not saying this to slam Harbaugh: really quite the opposite. There was no way one could project his record this year from his 4-8 beginning. And there is no way one can say that RR can't take the same kind of "leap" next year because we really don't know.
Did anyone here expect MSU and Wiscy to be 11-1 this year? Didn't think so. Just like almost nobody thinks RR and Michigan will be 11-1 next year. But it could happen.
November 28th, 2010 at 7:52 PM ^
makes you believe RR wouldn't have been on DB's radar? Alabama damn near snagged him the year prior, and I'm betting the fact that Rich was looking for greener pastures (per his agent) was not a well-kept secret in AD circles.
November 29th, 2010 at 2:35 AM ^
Brandon was on the search committee. Ultimately, we would have ended up with RR regardless.
The real difference would have been how the transition between Lloyd and RR was handled. Brandon would have advised keeping some of Lloyd's assistants. He would have advocated a more gradual offensive transition. He would have managed those sharks at the Freep while RR learns on the job.
Most importantly, Brandon would have managed the relationships with the alums and ex-players. While our on-field record may not change, at least we stayed as a family, not splintering into pro-RR / anti-RR factions.
November 29th, 2010 at 3:38 PM ^
Schiano might have wound up the coach. I have more faith in Brandon's persuasiveness than Martin's. The abrupt turnaround might never have happened.
November 29th, 2010 at 3:53 PM ^
If he truly is the great AD so many believe he is, he'd have gotten Miles and Carr in a room and had them resolve their differences. Miles was by far the most logical candidate and to not pursue him over some comments made on the recruiting trail just didn't make sense, especially when there was no obvious fallback guy.