A messy situation at Michigan will cost the Wolverines recruits, ding its image

Posted on Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 10:46 a.m.

A messy situation at Michigan will cost the Wolverines recruits, ding its image

By AnnArbor.com Staff

The "messy situation" that Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon has with the Michigan football program will cost the Wolverines, Pete Thamel writes in an analysis today in the New York Times.

Not only is recruiting hurt in the long process of evaluating football coach Rich Rodriguez, but so is the Michigan brand, Thamel writes. From his analysis:

Michigan appears to have delayed its decision so it could play in a second-tier bowl game and have another month to evaluate its coach? By keeping Rodriguez as the coach until after Jan. 1, the move saved $1.5 million in a potential buyout if Brandon does decide to fire him, but that money equates to popcorn sales at a football power like Michigan. And while the consensus was that Michigan waited on (Jim) Harbaugh so he could coach Stanford in the Orange Bowl on Monday, that strategy appears to have backfired.

Comments

J. Dean

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 12:39 p.m.

@heartbreak Agree completely (surprised? :) ). Recruiting will fix itself with a good coach and progress in the win column.

Ben

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 12:24 p.m.

I don't believe this situation will harm recruiting more than horrible seasons. I don't know any athletes who want to play for a losing team. The Big-10/12 needs Michigan to be at the top otherwise the whole conference just sucks.

Dan Blair

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 12:21 p.m.

Neither the NYTimes nor ESPN know enough to understand Michigan football. RR was hired by someone who did not know sports and was influenced by Lloyd Carr who sabotaged the hiring of Les Miles and also rejected hiring Jim Harbaugh after interviewing him in 2002 for an assistant coaching position when Jim wanted to come back to AA. Brandon knows what he's doing as a Michigan Football guy and wanted to be dignified about it. Michigan is Michigan and there are enough coaches out there who still think that's a premiere position. Just have to get the right guy who brings in a Big 10 mindset and builds on what's already there, not like RR who wanted to reinvent the wheel. Look at what Harbaugh did at Stanford!

Dan Blair

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 12:19 p.m.

Yelmonian

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 12:05 p.m.

Papabear151, I'm finding it humerous. Many posters (specifically Tater) called out MSU and Tom Izzo, because of the same thing you are complaingin about. The press started hounding Izzo for answers immediately, and Izzo said he was still thinking. Individuals like Tater then ran with that, claimed that Izzo was unloyal, greedy, blah, blah, blah. When in reality, Izzo indicated what process he was going to do, and stuck with it. The press got mad, and started writing articles that Izzo screwed the whole thing up. Now that the tables are turned, I'm wondering where the likes of Tater are? I think people inside of UM probably did tell the news that it was going to happen, but it was meant to be off the record. The press did get overzealous, and started reporting. I also think Brandon is on a learning curve. He ran a Pizza Chain before. People are not as passionate about their pizza as they are about college football. People (hence the media) want to know NOW about their team! (Good or bad). It's not as easy to control the media regarding college sports as it is a generic pizza chain. You can bet Brandon will keep everything tighter to the vest in the future.

WVU & OSU

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 11:58 a.m.

Full Disclosure: I grew up in Sandusky, OH - Loved OSU Football, hate Michigan - got engineering degree in Morgantown at WVU The win last night was great, the crushing of WVU by NC State not so good -- the crush of UM by another MSU on 1/1 awesome and predictable... That said -- As an outsider, I would love nothing more than UM to 'rise back' to their glory, for the sake of the climax of OSU UM rivalry of rivalries that has declined -- As another outsider looking in, proud UM alum and fans to look to their institution and what it stands for on its own, it is bigger than any one man.. I think UM and Brandon need to handle things. To look for a coach, while RR is a coach as a cushion of insurance, relief and security appears to be a lack of faith in your institution to stand on its own and to attract the best, as the opportunity presents itself....UM is bigger than Jim Harbaugh, it's bigger than Dave Brandon, Sue Coleman, Rich Rodriguez, and yes bigger than Bo Schembechler............................not Woody Hayes, though;) Start acting like it, and as a UM alum, fan or citizen, start demanding it from UM!

mm1001

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 11:52 a.m.

papabear come on! Let's get real here a publically funded institution taking on the media? That would be the demise of the school. My opinion is that unless the medical school has been able to bring Bo back to life we could see this whole fiasco repeated again. A michigan man? A perfect fit? Give me a break, even Bo wasn't a Michigan man when he was hired and neither was Denard Robinson before he was enrolled. Let's get 100% behind whoever RR's replacement is and move forward. I also wanted to say that the real victims in this tragedy are the players not the fans or alumni. Shame on all of you. That goes for you too Mr. Editor of the Free Press.

BillMK

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 11:50 a.m.

The newsies are mad because DB did not honor their divine right to be in the loop. Ah well, there has to be a place somewhere for people with english degrees who couldn't get into grad school in comp lit. As for the process, DB did what he said he was going to do. If JH diddled him, then that says all we need to know about JH. Fin, et allons Bleu!

Enforcer

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 11:25 a.m.

Seriously? Come on! This was an utter emabarrassment!

Papabear151

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 11:21 a.m.

"A messy situation"???? What messy situation. That DB and Michigan have said since prior to the season that they would wait to evaluate any coaches until after the bowl game. That it would be later this week. That they are doing exactly what they said? The media is now blaming Michigan because they couldn't hold back on reporting false stories and blowing everything out of proportion. Michigan has done nothing wrong, maybe they should've made an announcement after Ohio State, but nothing has changed. Everyone was fine with waiting 3 weeks ago, whats differen't now? This thing is only a mess because of the media and it's unfair to Michigan. Michigan at this point needs to consider potential lawsuits over some of this stuff. The Les Miles incident, the NCAA Freep incident, and now this. Harbaugh, Michigan, DB, MSC, RR... everyone has been quiet. Anything you have heard right now has been crap journalism and has had 0 ounces of truth to it.

heartbreakM

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 11:21 a.m.

Recruiting is important, yes, but frankly, that is a short term thing and easily correctible. National perception is much more important in many ways, however, and much more difficult to fix. Congratulations David Brandon and Mary Sue Coleman. You have managed to outdo Rich Rodriguez's performance at the banquet this year.

chimarathon

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 11:14 a.m.

The NYT is irrelevant, especially when it comes to sports

truebluefan

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 10:58 a.m.

I'm being totally honest, as a Michigan alum, this whole coaching evaluation thing is much more embarrassing to me than those ridiculous NCAA violations.

truebluefan

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 : 10:56 a.m.

I'm being totally honest, as a Michigan alum, this whole coaching evaluation thing is much more embarrassing to me than those ridiculous NCAA violations.