Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Wolverine Wednesday: Time to Seriously Consider Canidates

First, a quick shout out to the basketball team last night with a nice win over Syracuse.   That is a very difficult zone to break and Michigan looked good and bad against it.  Spike had a great game and I really like how Ricky Doyle is coming along as a freshman.   This team still needs to get better down low and we need more out of Donnal and Chatman.   I would like to see Donnal shoot some more baseline and mid-range jumpers and Chatman shoot a lot less of everything. 

Since Brady was let go yesterday it's time to seriously consider candidates.   Some of you maybe worried about this search firm that Michigan is hiring, don't be.   Their purpose is to talk to agents and discuss compensation. Its a way for Michigan to test the water before having serious talks with a coach.  A great example is the RR hire, they vented his interest through one of these firms and then he met with Sailboat Bill and Mary Sue in Toledo when they knew he wanted the job.   Is this worth $100,000?  They must believe the bad PR hit of candidates turning down the job is worth the money.   Another example is what just happened to Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss, Florida tested the waters and Hugh's agent turned it into a big raise.   Florida never offered the job, Hugh was considering Florida's comp package and turned into more money at his school .

#1 Jimmy Harbaugh - The NFL insiders are saying he is not coming and the Michigan insiders are saying he does have serious interest.  It's hard to know who to believe as I see Jimmy as tight lipped and probably doesn't tell many people anything. 

#2 Les Miles - I heard on ESPN radio this morning that he has turned down the job twice.  FALSE.  He has never has been offered the job.  The first time he was tied up winning the national championship and the second time around Brandon had already mentally hired Hoke and just flew down to have dinner with Les and get his opinion.  Yes, Les turned both into contract extensions and raises as he should.

Lets talk about how half the people in the athletic department hate Les.   At this point, I don't give a damn what they think.   We need to put that feud between Les and Lloyd away and move on.   Les is 61 and will not coach this program forever.  Give us 5-7 years, recruit like he does at LSU, beat OSU and MSU, win a few Big Ten Titles and pick the next guy.    If Jimmy isn't coming Les has to be the choice.   You don't need a search firm to validate that.

Listen, I think Les is a bit strange and would be my second choice behind Jimmy.   He recruits, he hires great coordinators, plays great defense, and wins a ton of football games.    We need a brand name hire and he is one that will accept the job. 

Let's put it this way, is Les one of the top 5 coaches in college football?  I think most would agree he is.   Then you have to hire him.  (Let's also not forget that he will accept the job!!!)

#3 Dan Mullen -  Is a good coach, I don't know if he is a great one.   He has had a nice year and worked for Urban Meyer at Florida.   UF hasn't made him a candidate for their opening and they seem to be trying to find out how to handle the $7.5M  buyout for Colorado State’s Jim McElwain.

After these 3, I don't like any of the possible candidates.  I don't think Big Game Bob is going anywhere, Gundy and/or Patterson are not great hires in my mind.   If Michigan gets to this point, I think they should call Tom Brady and get the full scoop on Josh McDaniels.   We know he is New England's OC and had a short stay in Denver as their head coach.   He also worked for Saban at MSU.   He would be a risky hire but if we get past Mullen on the list, I think any hire is a risky one. 

Greg Schiano probably made the worst career decision of his life when he turned down Michigan the first time.  He of course would take the job now but if we get to this point then pretty much everyone else has turned down the job and there is someone at U of M that won't write the Les Miles check. 

The list should start at Jimmy and end at Greg. 

Michigan can't wait for Jimmy if he is not coming.  He has the worst timeframe for hire then any other candidate.  He is worth the wait if he is coming and many Michigan fans would support taking a hit in recruiting this year.   The worst possible scenario is if Jimmy tells Michigan he is very interested in taking the job and the after the season decides to coaches the Jets.

Since none of the other candidates are going to the college playoffs, I think they would jump on board fairly quickly.  

11 comments:

Scott K said...

Crazy thinking.... but imagine Miles coming to Michigan with Cam Cameron running the offense and Bo Pelini running the defense...

Another candidate that hasn't been mentioned is Pat Narduzzi. It sounds crazy, but Bo was hired out of the ohio state staff. Clearly we'd need the best OC in the NCAA to come along with him.

Here's to hoping this search is concluded before the media starts publishing stories about how Miles turned us down for a third time, Harbaugh has no interest in MI, etc, etc, etc... perception becomes reality.

Bob said...

Scott, I think Pat will be a head coach very soon, I'm just not sure about Michigan. I think they need someone with head coaching experience.

Just a quick point, Bo was hired from Miami of Ohio where he was the head coach. Prior to Miami he was an asst. at OSU.

Thanks for reading!

Scott K said...

Correct... I mis-typed Bo was hired out of the ohio state coaching tree, is what i meant.

Rob said...

I heard Mattison packed up his office in prefunctory fashion last night and cleared out already. Any corroboration to that rumor?

Big35Hurt said...

Narduzzi is interesting to me, but I'm not sure he could bring in the talent from a recruiting standpoint to go toe to toe with the best of the best. Harbaugh and Miles could definitely do that. Stoops too.

Dan Mullen's stock dropped dramatically in my mind watching Hugh Freeze outcoach him by a large margin last saturday.

Renegade said...

Josh McDaniels ... oh please NO. He made a big mess in Denver.

Jim W. said...

I would like to see a proven winner with head coaching experience. There are exceptions, but typically coordinators do not fare well if their first HC gig is a major team.

I agree with Bob. The powers that be need to put aside their ego's and offer Les the job if Jimmy has no interest.

Why settle for an up and comer when their is a proven commodity that would most likely come if offered.

Squashman said...

A Les miles team would never beat Ohio or Michigan State. Or Wisconsin. No.... He is not a top 5 coach in the nation. He won a national championship with Sabin's recruits. He teams under achieve. He doesn't have the gas in the tank to bring a new energy to the program. Please don't hire him. He is a bone head and would continue to make Michigan a national laughing stock.

Big35Hurt said...

That's ridiculous. His teams compete EVERY year. His teams look Bama in the eye and go toe to toe with them EVERY year. He recruits equally as well as Saban or Richt or Meyer.

Scott K said...

Les has a 10 year average of 10-3 in the SEC. He clearly can't compete... really?

Judging Dan Mullen based on being out coached in one game isn't fair.

Let's just hope Hackett doesn't drop a duce on this hire.

GO BLUE.

Unknown said...

When Les Miles was on the UM football team, he was in a fight on campus and almost bit someones' ear off-THATSTHE KINDA FIRE-IN-THE BELLY WE NEED!!