Dave Brandon Swung for the Fences, But At Least He Got a Guy Who Will Stick Around for a Decade
By Jason McIntyre
As best we can piece together by talking to sources close to the situation – and we’ve been ahead of the curve on this one, beginning with this post – the following coaches were approached about the Michigan (in this order):
Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh
Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald
TCU’s Gary Patterson
Missouri’s Gary Pinkel
LSU’s Les Miles
Two Michigan alumns, Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles, who have talked passionately about the program, both were offered, and both passed. (Many Michigan fans are trying to tell themselves Miles wasn’t offered the job. They’re in denial. It was a money thing, more on that shortly.)
Dave Brandon told the AP’s Larry Lage that neither was offered, but the job was discussed with both of them. “The job was never offered to them. We did have different discussions with them that were helpful and positive.” Yeah, people are going to believe you had discussions and came away saying, “you know what? Harbaugh’s on the rise and Miles has won a title and put dozens of players in the NFL, but yeah, let’s only offer the guy from San Diego State.” Today, Miles signed a contract extension. Surely that had nothing to do with Michigan’s non-offer!
Michigan lost Harbaugh because of the lure of a lucrative NFL contract (we’ve been over the Stephen Ross angle). We hear Miles was close to taking the Michigan job – not as close as Harbaugh – but ultimately the money wasn’t there. (ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, who is a good reporter, couldn’t be more wrong when he writes this: “Harbaugh … never seriously considered returning to coach his alma mater …”)
NFL $ > College Football $
SEC $ > Big Ten $
If you look at this chart, three of the five highest paid coaches (the total column) in the country reside in the SEC (all $3.9 million or more). Then come the top two in the Big Ten, Tressel and Ferentz, before there’s a big dropoff. We’re hearing Michigan was prepared to come in around Tressel and Ferentz (but obviously incentive-laden) , and that’s why they lost Miles. Besides money, is going from the SEC to the Big Ten an upgrade? The SEC is the best conference in football. It has a stranglehold on the BCS.
As we wrote last week, Brandon was never enamored with Miles, the kooky, controversial 57-year-old – hence the overtures to others first – but he swung for the fences throughout the coaching search, Rob Deer style, and this was a public whiff he could live with.
Not sure what’s more troubling – that two alumns passed, or three guys from inferior programs (Fitzgerald, Patterson, Pinkel) wouldn’t even sit for an interview. Brandon, we hear, was humbled throughout the process. In hindsight, would the better move have been to fire Rich Rod after the Ohio State debacle (eating the $1.5 million they saved when the calendar hit Jan. 1), and go hard after coaches all month instead of cramming everything into one week? The only problem was that Harbaugh was the obvious December target, and firing Rich Rod that early would have meant Harbaugh would have had to deal with questions about the opening for a month leading up to the Orange Bowl (he dealt with a few, anyway). Pretty gracious move by Brandon, right? Save money and provide cover for his top target.
As for Hoke, the uphill climb begins immediately. Rich Rod’s 2011 recruiting class is weak. Rivals ranks it 38th – ahead of Maryland but behind Minnesota. Hoke’s hard sell to the kids in the 2012 class – I’m going to be around awhile, I live for Michigan, and did you guys know I recruited Tom Brady?
In reality, Hoke probably won’t be judged for a few years. Michigan wanted a guy for the long haul, and since a guy like Harbaugh or Fitzgerald would probably be very successful quickly and want to move on in 3-4 years, maybe Hoke’s the best fit, anyway.