So the Regents got together for their regular meeting in Flint yesterday afternoon and a lot of talking happened:
Schlissel opened the meeting with a six-minute address outlining the department's struggles in recent weeks, his disappointment with the way the Shane Morris injury situation was handled from a communication standpoint and the general appearance of a disconnect between the department and the school's athletic community.
Regent Mark Bernstein: “The Shane Morris incident, the poor performance of the football team, that’s like a spark in a very, very dry forest. And there’s not a lot of water around right now," Bernstein said. "I think the actions of the athletic department, I believe (some) generally agree, have drained whatever reservoir of goodwill there is with Michigan football in particular. So it makes navigating this issue far more difficult. He would not comment if he supported DB or not.
Regent Andrea Newman: “He has my support,” Newman said. “(But) I would like better communication. I would’ve like to have seen statements come out earlier. But there are reasons for all of those things, why they’re delayed, what happened, how the conversations take place.
“And that was a general fault for the university. We’re the board, it’s our job to review these things with the president, work with the administrators and work with the university.”
Student Body President Bobby Dishell: Dishell explained that, per the survey, only 10 percent of students currently holding football season tickets would renew them next season unless the price is dropped. He also explained that he and Brandon have an agreement that the price of a student season ticket will come down next season.
So it seems removing Brandon is not going to happen quickly and he is clearly on the offense: He has met with Dishell and has lowered student season tickets next year. There was also a letter support that had been floating around that was signed by all the varsity coaches. The word on the street is he will not resign, which actually surprises me. With the entire fire storm, I'm not sure how he see's himself coming out of this still in his job or with a any reputation at all.
You cannot make decisions like this in a rash way. And it can be frustrating, when people are pounding for something immediate," Bernstein said. "But the qualities of our president, that’s not in his constitution. He’s a methodical, thoughtful person. His decision-making process will be like that and we’ll honor that.
“And so, for that reason, I think that this is a circumstance that requires some patience, but also a degree of urgency. John Wooden used to say that you should play quickly but don’t rush, right? Clearly this is the kind of thing that needs resolution, but it’s not the type of thing that serves anybody well to just come out immediately with a decision that may not be supportable.”
Welcome to Ann Arbor President Schlissel, the ball is in your court sir.
Enjoy the bye weekend everyone!
Friday, October 17, 2014
Michigan Friday: Regents Talk - A Brandon Removal Not Immediate
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10 comments:
The writing may not be on the wall for brandon.... but i bet he's more likely to update his resume than remodel the AD's office.
Brandon won't be fired nor should he be fired.
Yes the staus quo is perfectly acceptable right now. I like our trajectory. The football program is excelling, the Game day experience is superb, fans and alumni are happy. In fact, I belive the current state of our athletic department is a model the rest of the country is coveting to replicate. Brandon definitely needs to stay.
I don't think it is Brandon's fault that the players can't block.
So now its acceptable to be in the bottom half of a mediocre Big 10, Wow... its come to this??
I fondly recall the days when a 9 win season was a disappointment in Michigan.
A four year decline, ending in the worst season start in program history is acceptable to some apparently. It will take divine intervention for Michigan to get an invite to a Dec. 28th bowl game this year.
That's not what I expect from Michigan Football.... it isn't a 'transition year' when your head coach has a full slate of his own players, four years worth of recruiting.
Maybe Brandon is a genius, maybe Brady is a great coach, the problem is, they haven't shown it. The program has not looked this bad in all the years I've been a fan. From the Gibbons sexual assault mess to the Morris concussion mess, on top of that a football team that isn't coached well enough to dominate Miami of Oh, score against ND or beat MN... This is not acceptable and change is needed, if you ask me.
Interestingly enough, if you and I were having the same difficulty within our employ you know that our bosses would clamor for getting rid of us. That is true for most people, however, somehow when you get to be at a certain level somehow things seem to change. Performance evaluations become more political and the bottom line is adjusted for some and not for others.
When they brought Dave Brandon in, you knew that the regents weren't happy with Rich Rod and it was only a matter of time. RR didn't have his compliment of players and he made some changes that people didn't like and you knew that there was nothing that he could do short of winning the B1G championship that would keep him here. That was Dave Brandon's decision. Rich Rod put on a tear jerking performance at a banquet for the AD to try to keep his job but the tears didn't work for RR it wasn't enough and Brandon said he had to go.
Then he went on a not so national search and came up with Brady Hoke as the best candidate that he could find, who won eleven games his first year with Rich Rod's players. Then he got worse every year. Michigan has been humiliated by a number of schools with Hoke's own players and Dave Brandon won't budge because that's "his" guy. Not too long ago our fans would rather die than to give up their tickets to a Michigan football game, but now because of Dave Brandon you can get free tickets when you buy a Coke. It worked for selling pizza but how's it working for Michigan football?
So what has changed? The way we define success.Michigan is struggling to get to five wins...and it's alright because Hoke is Brandon's guy. The bottom line has changed. When you have a billionare who is supporting a multi-millionare saying "He's probably the most qualified athletic director in the country, I think he's terrific.” - Stephen Ross, and then at the same time he's telling the University, “I wouldn't have given my gift to the athletic department if I didn't believe in Dave. You don't go around giving $100 million if you don't feel there is going to be bang for the buck." He is strongly indicating that "you have my money because of Dave Brandon and if you want to get more of my money then you have to keep him." In other words, the Millionaire's Club has just strongly endorsed one of their own. That says that the bottom line has changed.
Unless the university can come up with how to replace the millions of dollars that they would have received other wise then it looks as though Brandon isn't going anywhere. So it doesn't matter if the Alumni and Student Body feels that Brandon is doing a good job or not, money talks.
I hope our basketball coach continues to win because he wasn't hired by Brandon but then again... who knows?!!! IMHO
The truth of the matter is this football team has been awful for the last year. It is the only reason people are calling for Brandon to be fired. Same with Hoke. If he was winning every perceived negative thing that has been brought up recently about both of them.. The concussion, ticket prices , the headset all of that wouldn't be an issue.
Brandon needs to fire Hoke. Get a coach that can win withiout out compromising the integrity of the rules. Brandon isn't the reason this team sucks. That is on Brady and his assistants.
I hope that Brandon has learned some lessons and corrects some situations. I think that he has done many good things and many bad things. The bad are all out there now, let’s hope he steps up. He has hired great coaches in other sports, which has turned them around….. now he must do so for the football program….If they will work for him. If Brandon is fired I just hope that they get the “right guy”. The hiring of Hoke was an obvious 2:30 in the morning beer goggle decision by Brandon, especially when he brought his band of misfit minions, instead of hiring the best. Much more needed to be done than firing Borges at the end of last season!!!.........It was obvious!
Of bigger concern, it is my belief that we have one of worst head coaches in the big 10 in the following areas:
- Clock Management
- Game decisions
- Offensive knowledge
- Defensive knowledge
- Coordinating strategies between O, D, and Special teams
- Player development
- Loyalty to assistants vs. hiring the best for each position
- Capability of identifying problem areas and correcting
It’s too bad because I think Hoke is a great guy and the type of player that I’d want my son to play for if winning really wasn’t that important. In watching many other big ten games there is a great deal of innovation, strategy, great decisions, and sound clock management by most other programs…….Even though many don’t have the talent of Michigan. In comparing Dantonio and Hoke in the aforementioned categories the results are highly disappointing.
Whether it's fair or not, whom the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics hire as the head of the football program is likely "the" most important decision that he will ever make, and it's the one that he will be judged by the most.
As we all know, the football programs at major colleges normally fund almost everything. When teams are winning alumni give big money to the schools that pay salaries and build building, etc. and because the team wins students and alumni buy t-shirts and all of the stuff that has the schools name on it, in other words its more money for the school. One could argue that schools will still make money, but when football teams win conference titles and play for national titles it usually coincides with the schools making more money and becoming more attractive to good students.
When the football team (at a football school) is not winning well...alumni and the student body don't buy as many tickers, and the t-shirts stay on the shelves longer, etc. That is why some of the heat from the performance of the hire goes towards the Athletic Director. He doesn't get as much glory if the coach from the Tiddlywinks team when the conference title because it's not the same.
There is a saying, "Crap flows down hill." In other words, if the head football coach doesn't do well it makes the AD look bad; and if the AD looks bad it makes the President of the University that hired him look bad. And if the President looks bad, the Regents look bad. The bottom line is, no one wants to look bad so they make changes.
Yes we know that an AD who builds athletic facilities, and brings in millions of dollars is doing something right...but when your football team is at the bottom of the conference and the laughing stock of the NCAA because of the coach "you" hired, then somehow the buildings don't seem quite as important to many of us as being 7-0 at this time.
We know that David Brandon hasn't played a single down, blocked a single punt, or thrown a single pass within the last four years and neither did Hoke, but who do you think naturally should get the blame (or credit) for hiring Hoke? I know that "I" had nothing to do with it, and most likely "you" didn't either. So that takes us back to .... David Brandon.
That is why we're looking in his direction for creating this mess and for being the one who can fix it. If not him then the next AD that is likely to be put on hold because of politics from the Millionaire's Club. IMHO!!!
Great comments all, I love the passion!
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