We all know big time college coaches in football and basketball are hired to be fired. It's the life and profession they picked.
We also know that coaches when they have even a little bit of success can work the system like no other. I truly believe when Les Miles retires he should start a Michigan scholarship fund for all the raises and contract extensions he has gotten from LSU due to "conversations" he has had with Michigan about their football openings.
We all know the Les examples, but let's take a look two other examples that involve coaches at Missouri. The first one was Purdue's head basketball coach Matt Painter who flirted with the opening at Missouri a couple of weeks ago. Was Matt really considering leaving Purdue for Mizzu? Of course not! He just wanted a raise from Purdue and got one. He was on vacation when this entire thing went down. Not too bad to be near the pool, get a couple of calls and end up getting a big raise. I hope he called the front desk and got his room upgraded.
The second comes from Gary Pinkel, Missouri's head football coach. He is quoted in this article (regarding why he didn't interview for the Michigan job) saying, “That was a really difficult situation just because I grew up in Ohio and my whole life I hear about Ohio State and Michigan. To have an opportunity like that is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing. For me it still boiled down to I just feel so much a part of Missouri now.”
“The reason I didn’t pursue it was because I feel so much a part of Missouri. I’m so committed personally to continue to build the opportunity I was given. And family, a combination of those things. So, I bowed out of it. I feel really good about it. I thought a lot about it. It got really close. But before I went to the interview, it was a matter of hours before when I decided I wasn’t going to pursue it and I wanted to stay at the University of Missouri. So, that’s kind of the conclusion I came to.”
Gary just signed a two year extension and is now under contract until 2017. Shocker! He didn't even talk to Brandon and still got an extension. We don't know any details of the search but I'm willing to bet Gary's "people" reached out to David Brandon about interviewing for the open position in Ann Arbor.
These coaches and agents have some special talent when it comes to getting more money and extensions when they names are linked with any other jobs. Bob Stoops should have Bill Gates money by now with all the jobs he has been linked to.
Not too much making news today, so I will just give you my random thoughts on a number of topics. You better hide the young children when you start to walk around in my brain.
Tressel knew too much - (about the trading of OSU gear for Tattoo's like 8 months before it was reported) Big headline which will have little impact. Of course he knew early and of course it happens at a lot of schools. The NCAA will slap someone in Columbus on their hand and everyone will move on. Maybe the "Vest" might have to sit out a instate MAC game next year. The thing to really consider is, when will OSU have done enough for the NCAA to come to Columbus with a fine tooth comb? I would guess it's probably getting pretty close. The one thing the NCAA doesn't like is being lied to.
You know what will push College Football to a Playoff System? The current Bowl System will. What? Might be your first reaction. Brian at Mgoblog did a good piece today on how Universities are losing money on Bowl Games. UConn lost $1.8M playing in the Fiesta Bowl last year and there is no way a MAC team makes any money attending any bowl. The issues is the Bowl's are making teams buy a ton of seats and hotel rooms that go un-filled. Which equals huge loses.
Back to why this will equal a Playoff System. Everyone who owns a calculator and has a business degree knows any and all networks would back up the Brinks Truck for a College Football Playoff System. It could be bigger then the Basketball Tournament. The only reason the Bowl System stays intact is due to the University Presidents liking that their 6-6 club gets to play one more game in El Paso every year. If those Presidents now are starting to lose $2M per trip, how excited are they going to be to play in those games? I'm guessing not too excited. If their "league" has revenue sharing and the top teams can play in the playoffs, split the big payday and everyone will get their share. Now the a 6-6 President has more money and can hire Rich Rodriguez next year. See how it works out for everyone? I'm sure even Les Miles could work out a contract extension or pay raise under this system.
Big Ten Coach of the Year: I don't have a problem with Purdue's Matt Painter winning the award. He was able to keep his talented team together and in the top 15 all year with the loss of Robbie Hummel on the first day of practice. With that said, the best coaching job in the Big Ten and maybe in the nation was done by John Beilein. If he gets this team in the tournament, somebody should recognize him for taking a team expected to finish 10th in the Big Ten to 4th (in a talented Big 10) and to the Big Dance.
Crying after a loss: I actually don't have a problem with it and I much rather players show emotion after a loss then joking around and talking about which clubs they are going to hit that night. People show emotion in a number of ways (watch American Idol if you question that) and showing emotion after a tough loss makes me know that you care about the game and your teammates. It sucks to lose and if you don't feel pain after a difficult loss in an important game then you don't love what your doing.
Some might say that (outside of Denard) that the 2010 Football Team could have taken the losses a bit more seriously. I have a feeling that won't be an issue under Coach Hoke.
Fab 5: I hope the new documentary is done well. I know they will have to mention Ed Martin but that time was special at Michigan and I hope they capture what the Fab 5 meant to college basketball and not about a guy running numbers and trying to get close to athletes by paying them money under the table.
I was surprised by Brady Hoke yesterday. Like David Brandon (before his search started), I didn't know Brady Hoke. He wasn't a high profile coach during his time in Ann Arbor and really only knew him as the guy that all most ruined Michigan's undefeated season in 2006, Ball State's 12-1 season, and the guy that coached San Diego State in a Bowl Game. Never heard him speak or understood his love for Michigan. Make no mistake, this guy has passion and love for Michigan. This is the same love or passion that Bo had, Gary had, and Lloyd had. For all the fans that didn't like RR, I assume this is what you were looking for. A man that "would have walked to Michigan".
The current players couldn't believe all the former players that came back to the program and were in the building. They also liked Brady's National Championship ring!
Brady has also made Denard the #1 priority by spending time with him yesterday and meeting again today. All reports seem to be that Denard is staying at Michigan. Nothing is official until Denard says it, but the players believe he is staying. Denard's high school coach is taking a ton of calls from other coaches asking if Denard is available. Memo to other coaches: STOP MOWING OUR LAWN!
With that said, Tate is out. (another reason it's important for Denard to stay). The rumors at the Gator Bowl were that Tate wasn't going to class at all which if true, probably means he has been thrown out of school. The reports yesterday were saying that he is planning to enroll at a CC to get back to Michigan. I wish Tate all the luck and hope he gets his head on straight and gets back to Michigan. Devin has been clear in saying he is a Wolverine. So we are good for next year with Denard #1 and Devin #2.
Recruiting doesn't look as dire as we thought: TomVH reports that recruits just want to make sure their scholarships are good. Here is a run down of some of our commits and guys still on the market:
Kellen Jones is still strong with Michigan. He is going to take a visit to Colorado for fun. He just wants to talk with BH to make sure they still want him.
Kris Frost hasn't heard from Auburn yet. As you might have heard, he picked Auburn at the Army All American game. The buzz after that was that Auburn was full and didn't have room for him. If I'm BH, I get on the phone with Kris and family ASAP. I want Kris at Michigan.
K Matt Goudis and CB, Dallas Crawford are starting to look around. They both will visit Miami this weekend. Both are important to this class and hopefully Brady can sell them on his staff and Michigan.
Justice Hayes is still strong with Michigan. (need to make sure Fred Jackson is on the staff)
Jake Fisher will take some visits but I think he is another guy that needs to hear from coach and will be ok. Even if he takes a couple visits.
Blake Countess seems to be strong with Michigan but needs some contact from the coaches and has a few questions.
California 4 star WR Devin Lucien is being recruited by SDSU and Michigan. So Brady should know him well. Devin would like to visit and I think we have a great chance in landing him.
I'm sure the ship has sailed with Dee Hart. I guess that is what it is. Which is too bad.
Update: reports are that the "ship as sailed with Michigan" (his words) in Dallas Crawford's recruitment. I have a hard time believe that when he probably hasn't spoken to BH or a DC or DB hasn't even been hired yet.
Brady has to work pretty much 24/7 over the next 3 weeks to secure this class. They just can't whiff on this class which needs to be 18-20 strong. When I say strong a top 20 class. Sam Webb does his thing in the Detroit News today, talking about what a good recruiter Brady is and that he does a lot of the recruiting himself. There are a couple of high profile DT that Brady was recruiting to SDSU. Interesting............
Things I'm not real happy about: Is the current status of Mike Barwis who is under contract at U of M. The reports are the Brady is planning on bringing his S&C coach with him. I understand that but I think keeping Mike Barwis makes a lot of sense on a lot of different levels. #1 - He seems like one of the best in the nation. #2 - The players would be comfortable in the off season work outs, #3 - It would help with any player wanting to stay with the program. #4 - (probably should be #1) Brock Mealer. I hope they keep Barwis and Brady's S&C guy can stay on the West Coast or will work with Barwis.
Les Miles also falls under this category for me. I don't know any of the private conversations between Brandon and Miles. I also don't know if there was or wasn't talks about the job with him. David Brandon is on record saying he didn't offer the job to him. There was a 100 reason for Michigan not to hire Les Miles, there was 2 reason to hire him (he played and coached at Michigan).
He never answers the question about if he was offered the job but he leads everyone to believe at LSU and in the media that Michigan was doing all it could to land him and he works that into contract extension. Which is now the second time he has done that. I'm sure you have your opinion of Les Miles but he really seems like a snake in the grass to me. Any time he wants a raise he should invite the Michigan AD to have dinner with him. (don't get me wrong, he had legit reason to stay at LSU, I'm just saying what my gut feelings on the situation is).
Enjoy the below videos. Please note who was working hard when coach got to see the new indoor practice field.
So David Brandon and Les Miles met yesterday afternoon. They might have even shared a BBQ dinner before David jumped on his private jet back to Willow Run. Neither Les or Dave are talking.
So the question still remains: Did they have chicken or ribs for dinner? Maybe both!
Was there a Michigan job offer? Was David there to ask a high profile former Michigan coach what his opinion is on who should be the Wolverines next coach? We don't know.
What we do know is that Les has a speaking engagement at the coaching conference today in Dallas. We also know that David Brandon is home back in Ann Arbor. If I was the Michigan AD and didn't have a coach signed up and needed to interview a number of candidates to fill my open position. I sure the hell wouldn't be at home enjoying an Izzy's Meatball sub for lunch, I would be in Dallas at the coaches convention with a card table and a sign that says two things: Our helmet has wings and I'm willing to pay $5M a year if you can coach defense.
So is Les already signed up? I don't know. I'm sure LSU will make a run at keeping him.
But we should know by the end of day. So keep hitting your refresh button and I will let you know as soon as something breaks.
A: The Domino's Pizza plane or the one that David Brandon has been using left Dallas this afternoon and landed in Baton Rouge.
B: The LSU message boards are saying that Les has signed a new $5M - 5 year contract with Michigan.
C: There is a players team meeting that was just scheduled for 4:00 on Tuesday.
D: The Pizza plane is scheduled to leave Baton Rouge in a few minutes to Willow Run.
You be the judge, but that seems like a lot of evidence that Les will only have to travel a few more air "Miles" before he is the new Michigan coach.
Update: This guy says he reviewed airport video that Les was not on the plane back to Michigan. Les is scheduled to talk at the coaching conference in Dallas on Tuesday. So I guess we continue to wait to see what happens.
11:00: Pizza Plane has landed in Willow Run. It seems that David Brandon was on the flight.
During the press conference on Wednesday (Jan. 5), I noted we would be conducting a national search for our next football coach. Some would suggest we should complete this national search in a matter of hours, but this is a critical decision for Michigan Athletics and it cannot and will not be made in haste.
Coaches are an interesting, intense group, and although this interviewing process is time-consuming and somewhat demanding, it is an honor to represent Michigan and discuss our football program's needs and opportunities with a variety of impressive candidates and/or people who can offer valuable advice and input. The process is proceeding with careful consideration as to the qualifications, commitment, effectiveness and passion that various candidates would bring to our program.
I am sure all of the news reports are interesting for our fans, but I am too busy to follow the majority of the news except to hear some pretty wild stories about "where I am and who I am talking to." The last week should be a reminder to everyone not to believe everything you read or hear. Some of the so-called "news reports" over the past week have been simply ridiculous.
As it relates to our fans, I have received the "advice and recommendations" to hire just about every football coach in America -- including some who have never coached or haven't coached in years! I am glad our fans are passionate, but we cannot hire your favorite high school coach (as one fan suggested) and we cannot hire several head coaches and have them take turns leading the team during the season (another unique approach that was suggested to me!).
Sometimes, fans who provide more level-headed suggestions do not realize that some of the people they mention are not viable candidates for Michigan for a variety of reasons. This is some of what we learn as we go through this process.
Our Michigan Athletic Department e-mail servers have been very busy! I am trying to answer/acknowledge all e-mails we have been receiving from sincere, thoughtful individuals. The department appreciates the messages from those who are simply trying to help. Those that are not trying to be helpful quickly end up in the delete/block sender file!
I would bet that in the majority of cases, fans have never met and interviewed any of the coaches they are either supporting or trashing, so they really don't have any idea what kind of people they really are! Thankfully, I am given this opportunity.
We are looking for a coach that matches our program's particular needs and objectives, on and off the field.
There will always be a certain number of people who enjoy criticizing others, and there is nothing any of us can do about them! However, for those of you who want to help bring Michigan football back to where we all want it to be, you can help by getting behind our new coach and ignoring those who enjoy creating controversy and resentment. Much of our past success was largely a result of our large number of passionate, united fans around the country supporting our coaches and players in every way. Uniting again behind one singular purpose -- to win Big Ten championships -- is what we need, and now is the time to get on board.
The most important thing everyone can do at this point to help Michigan football is to prepare to greet our new coach with all of the support, encouragement and positive energy that we can muster. Getting our football program turned around quickly is our goal, and having our fans and supporters "jump on board" early with our new coach will help him be successful -- which is what we all want!
It is time for me to get on to the next session. Go Blue!!
BHB: If I am reading this right, it's not Jon Gruden and probably Brady Hoke and he is pretty sorry for not having a coach hired when he fired RR. Maybe he is targeting Wayne Fontes at this point. Who knows.
Les said himself that he will meet with David Brandon tomorrow in Dallas. He said, that he is happy at LSU.
This is either a smoke screen and Les and David has already spoken and just dotting the I and crossing the T's and having a public meeting to address the 24 hour rule regarding notifying the LSU AD. Or David isn't really interested in Les and is just checking the box with the Michigan faithful that really wants Miles.
It's hard to tell what the hell is going on right now. I don't believe that if Les is a serious candidate that they haven't had a discussion yet.
It seems David Brandon is on his way to Baton Rouge to finalize talks or a contract with Les Miles.
As you will see from this link. A U of M plane is heading from Hilton Head to Baton Rouge. Why you ask would be the Michigan plane be in Hilton Head? One theory suggests that Lloyd Carr has a home in Hilton Head and David Brandon is there "selling" LC on the Miles hire. Lloyd and Les notably did not get along due to some past history on the recruiting trail and maybe some other past issues.
Les has always made it well known that Michigan is his dream job and probably his last job as a head coach.
I will give you my feedback on the pros and cons if the deal is finalized.
Stay tuned. There could be an announcement as early as late this afternoon or tonight.
ESPN Joe Schad tweets that he has a source that says Les Miles to interview for the Michigan job.
Just so you know, Brandon has hired a "coaching search" firm that's job is to contact potential candidates to gauge their level of interest in the job and have a high level financial discussion. Like "how much are you looking for?".
After those discussions take place, then Brandon talks to the potential candidate. If the discussion are at this stage it could mean Miles is close to being named the next Michigan coach. Of course if the discussion goes poorly the search could continue. The firm may also have a number of candidates at this stage as well.
Side note: If Michigan were to hire Miles I hope that hire would include LSU's DC John Chavis who is known as one of the best DC's in the country.
First the latest news: The Freep (which I wouldn't even trust with a weather forecast) is saying that Harbaugh is not likely to go to Michigan. ESPN and Chris Mortinson also confirmed that was the buzz before and after the game. That Jimmy is more interested in going to the NFL and competing with his brother.
RR and DB are meeting this afternoon at 2:00: Will a decision be made? There is also a meeting today with the players scheduled at 7:00 PM. This meeting was set up before the Gator Bowl.
The Miami Dolphins might be looking for a Michigan man? The Miami Dolphins are owned by Michigan man Stephen Ross (whose name is on Michigan's Business School). It seems they might have put a horse in the Harbaugh race. Michigan owner, coach, QB, and #1 draft pick Jake Long. Ann Arbor South?
Recruiting Decisions and Visits:
As you know there are only a few more official weekends left in the 2011 recruiting class. Michigan could be expecting these visitors this weekend: S Sheldon Royster, ATH Raymon Taylor, WR Devin Lucien, DT Darian, Cooper, WR Shane Wynn (tentative) QB Cardale Jones (tentative), TE Frank Clark DE Deion Barnes, TE Tanner McEvoy.
Army All American Game Decisions from Kris Frost and Wayne Lyons. Dee Hart and Avery Walls are also playing in this game who were both high on Michigan at one point in their respective recruitment's.
Michigan does not have a lot of prospect is the Under Armour Game.
Since the last 3 weeks we have been Sad Panda, I thought I would give you a little Touchdown Panda today!
Random Thoughts:
I was just kidding about scoring 70 points in yesterdays post
Can a Defense play better then the week before after giving up 65 points this week?
I had a strange feeling that Tate Forcier would win a game for Michigan this year.
I really hope Denard is ok. He seemed pretty good jumping around after the sack on the last play.
I really think Taylor Lewan is the next Jake Long, but his two penalties and specially the last one almost cost Michigan the game.
More Mike Shaw please.
Weird things that go through your mind after a win like that while watching LSU and Alabama: What if LSU fired Les Miles and he came to Ann Arbor as Michigan's new DC? I know it's a crazy thought, but talk about the best of both worlds.
I was not happy that Michigan went for the field goal in the 3rd when they were up a touchdown.
I thought Ray Vinopal and Courtney Avery played pretty well at times.
Bowl Game Baby! Bowl Game!
Enjoy the rest of your night with an adult beverage!
10. Will anyone introduce Nick Saban to a "baseball style" hat that he can wear in practice?
9.Is it possible for ESPN to get a translator for Lou Holtz? Will the SAP button work?
8. Is it me or is every program under NCAA investigation right now?
7. Why do coaches wear wind shirts in practice when it's above 90 degrees?
6. If the injury bug hits UNC and USC, will their players have to play both ways?
5. Why is it every time I see Chris Peterson from Boise State, I get hungry for Domino's Pizza?
4. Will Les Miles ever clap with his fingers together?
3. Does USC and Reggie Bush need a receipt to return their Heisman's? Or will they just get store credit for the next time USC wins one? They must have a nice credit built up with OJ and now Bush. We would like to returns these 2 Heisman's for a Walter Camp in 2012? I'm going to need to talk to my manager.
2. I know Derek Dooley as a new coach wants to have a close team. But does he really need to be in the shower with them? That can't be good for recruiting.
1. Will Denard Robinson break the sound barrier this year?
