Dave Brandon Resigns As Michigan Athletic Director, A Fan Base Rejoices

Some good news for Wolverine fans, finally. Embattled athletic director Dave Brandon will resign. The press conference is scheduled for 1:30 pm. After uber-donor Stephen Ross abandoned him, it was only a matter of time. Impressively, it took Michigan less time to oust him than to respond to our FOIA request.

Brandon took over in 2010 with a mandate to improve the finances of Michigan’s athletic department. He did, but at the expense of nearly all its accrued good will. The school and the live experience were treated as a brand. Longtime fans were treated as consumers and began acting as such. Brandon napalmed the department’s relationship with students in particular, raising prices and a disastrous general admission policy. Michigan’s student ticket sales declined by more than 6,000 from 2013 to 2014. Throw in some snide comments to season ticket-holders via electronic mail for good measure.

His Michigan tenure offered a myriad of embarrassments. Some were frivolous: sky-writing over Spartan Stadium, the fireworks and the Coca-Cola ticket promotion. Some were quite serious. Michigan handled the Shane Morris concussion controversy this year and the Brendan Gibbons sexual assault controversy at the end of last season in about the worst manner conceivable.

Much of the animosity toward Brandon stems from the football team’s poor performance. But, when you’re athletic director at Michigan, hiring a football coach is the one decision you can’t botch.

The timing here is critical. This gives Michigan enough leeway to get a new AD in place before hiring a football coach in December. Lloyd Carr left few viable “Michigan Men” in the coaching ranks. But, Bo Schembechler left quite a few “Michigan Men” in administration. Expect the prominent search names to include Jeff Long at Arkansas, Brad Bates at Boston College and Warde Manuel at UConn.

Removing Brandon, specifically, is critical. The aura of controversy and the past history of meddling with football matters would not have sat well with any prospective candidate. He, personally, is rumored to have sour relationships with certain coaches who have Michigan connections, including the one most fans would want.

It’s not clear where Michigan goes from here. But, not beign a fetid PR disaster is a definite start. Hopefully, an enterprising YouTuber gives him the Tirico Suave treatment.