Dave Brandon on HUGE Show

[tpilews]

DB weighs in on RRs job security...

http://www.zshare.net/audio/7904139977901094/

[Sten Carlson]

"People think there is a 'magic number' for Rich Rodriguez to keep his job...have you ever discussed that with him David?"

DB: "No...I think that's silly..."

"It's a program moving forward, winning games, you have the renovated Big House...you know...you've never said, 'you need to win 7 or 8 games in order to keep your job?'"

DB: "No..."

Well, there you have it, from the man who will make the decision himself. I know Nut is going to chime and say,
"what do you expect him say..." or some other blather like that. But, I will go back to what I said in another post about my conversation with the UT booster, and his comment concerning Michigan and RR.

RR is BY FAR the best coach that Michigan could get right now. If he were fired after this season, there is not going to be anyone even IN THE SAME LEAGUE as him that is going to want to take on this project (and trust me, if he leaves it WILL be a project FROM HELL). The turmoil, the transfers, the infighting, the entire mess will repel any of the names that people have bandied about. If you're a successful coach at another school, and you have seen and heard (and maybe even spoken to RR in person) about HELL that he has gone through at Michigan so far, are you going to want to leave your position, up root your family, to walk in the mess that is left behind? Nut, et. al., can claim that RR is not a great coach, but you're wrong, and many other people (including your boy Herbie) disagree with you. He's been the victim of an historic and totally unprecedented valley in the talent and development level of a once elite program, nothing more.

Further, as in relation to the financial aspect of the situation, DB is a VERY successful businessman. He's a former football players, CEO, and NOT going to be one to bow to "pressure" and make a decision that will impact Michigan for years to come. Even if Michigan were to suffer a few more poor seasons, it would PALE IN COMPARISON to the problems that would arise from the decision to fire RR anytime soon. Michigan has shelled out an ungodly amount of money to get RR, to keep him, to renovate every athletic facility on campus -- the LAST thing they're going to do is fire RR, pay him his buyout, buy out some other coach's contract, and then try to start ALL OVER AGAIN! It's insanity and would be financially irresponsible, and would be akin to PROGRAM SUICIDE.

Everyone that thinks that there is a number floating around, or keeps saying that there are no more excuses, just hasn't grasped the enormity of the hole into which RR walked. DB certainly understands it, and that is why he going to stick with RR until he's pulled the program out of the hole. The hole, however, IS NOT wins and losses -- contrary to what people think. Carr was winning at a higher rate than RR, but he was doing so while digging the hole. DB is WELL AWARE of this fact. He knows, from being a player himself, that no matter the brilliance of the coach, if you hand him a lot of underdeveloped players and underclassmen, he's going to struggle. To stop digging the hole, the depth chart MUST be rebuilt -- simple as that. If that is not done, the hole is still being dug. DB knows this -- it is the haters/trolls and doubters that cannot seem to understand this simple fact. DB knew the problems BEFORE RR got here, and part of the reason that he help CHOOSE RR is because of his resume of REBUILDING programs from the ground up. DB KNOWS this -- it is everyone else that is out there foaming at the mouth than cannot seem to grasp these points.

Accept the truth -- no matter the success or failure this season...RR is here, and DB is going to stick with him until the hole is filled completely.

I have said this a number of times and I truly believe it -- accept the adversity, don't fight it. It is different for us Michigan fans, but enjoy the newness of being somewhere that we've not been before (or for a very long time). Enjoy watching these young me grow and mature, and watching this team come together, and watching the program reshape itself and be reborn into something new. When you're parent, it is sometimes painful to let you child try to walk, knowing they're going to fall...but the joy comes from them DOING IT ON THEIR OWN, and seeing the brilliance in their eyes as after 10 failures, they are finally VICTORIOUS! I know s many of you out there are hurting because of what is going on, but I am LOVING IT! I love the thought of what DR might be in the future, and what Gardner could be in a few years. Watching Tate rally last year was one of the greatest times I've ever had as a Michigan Man, but then so to was the sadness and pain I felt for him when he came up just short vs. MSU. I think people are looking for something that is not there and never will be. Enjoy the process, and don't let the results influence your love of it. I am loving this time for Michigan football because it's new, it's different, and full of potential. RR is a great coach, and someday we'll see that. He will bring greatness back to Michigan -- I promise you DB has faith in him -- but it a hole that size cannot be filled overnight, or even over 2-3 seasons. We're getting closer, maybe past 50%, but it's not quite there yet. Enjoy the ride guys, it is these times that make the better times that much more enjoyable.

Go Blue!

[1OSUNUT]

What did you think he was going to say ' RR has to win 6 games or I will fire him" ? Get real. He is going to say all the right things and watch everything closley. College football is big business - and Michigan is no different. If the Wolverines have another season like they did last year and lose to most of thier rivals - RR will be evaluated at seasons end. The alumni has more power then most of you give them credit for and Im sure DB will feel the pressure to do something if the program struggles again. If DB wants to really show RR support - give him an extention ? Why has that not happened ?

DB will continue to say everything correct so he does not shed any negitive lite of this up coming season. He will not rock the apple cart or add to the distractions that the program already has around it. He will play things down the middle this season.

Could you imagine the stories and attention the school would get if DB came out and said "RR has to win X amount of games". That is the last thing this team needs to hear entering this season. But don't be so sure that DB is 100% behind RR.

[Mich97c]

May not matter what DB says. Now WV just got the NCAA smackdown from when RR was there.

[rickyleach]

gee nut thanks for your stupid insight , MAYBE YOU SHOULD READ AGAIN WHAT YOU JUST POSTED AND BY THE WAY HAS ANYONE TOLD YOU THIS ISNT BUCKNUTHOLE.COM THIS IS HAIL VICTORS, IM STILL LAUGHING AT YOUR POST..

[Sten Carlson]

What did you think he was going to say ' RR has to win 6 games or I will fire him"?

Yes, that's exactly what I'd expect him to say if that were his sentiments. If the menacing cadre of disgruntled alumni that you claim are pressuring DB to do something about the situation are as all-powerful as you claim they are, you'd think he'd be more inclined to placate them than RR's supporters, right? Wouldn't that be the saying "all the right things" to the people that actually matter?


College football is big business - and Michigan is no different.

REALLY?!? You don't say! Now...I KNOW I've heard that somewhere before...where was that? Oh yeah, I've been making this EXACT point in multiple posts, as was the gentleman that I was quoting. Obviously, you know very little about business, let alone BIG BUSINESS. In business, throwing money at something and hoping it changes is considered "hackish" and is commonly known to CAUSE more problems than it typically solves.

I will explain this slowly, so that you can understand: In 2008 the Michigan program was an historic low -- it was coming one of the most embarrassing losses in college football history, it has been incapable of beating its bitter rival, it lost three of its greatest record setting players, it's facilities were in desperate need of renovation, and its long time coach retired. Since the day Carr announced he was leaving, Michigan has spent TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars on its football program. It has renovated every facility, it has hired a new coach, and bought out his contract from WVU. Smart business understands that investment is for FUTURE returns, not necessarily instant returns. Just because Michigan not seeing the return on its investment today, does NOT necessitate the expenditure of MORE MONEY to hasten the arrival of the returns. Michigan is NOT an impulsive impatient institution. Because you're focused five inches from your face, are the poster-boy for the disease of "instant gratification" that has infected our poor nation, and suffer from a myopic lack of long-term vision and planning, you're inclined to snicker and belittle their decisions and expenditures, and thump your chest and say, "how's all your investment going so far LOL LOL LOL?!?!" in some misplaced effort to get our collective goat. What you're failing to see (not surprisingly) is that Michigan has accepted the fact that this is a rebuilding PROCESS that was needed, and is going to be seen through to fruition. Nobody expects you to "get it". Money is NOT going to fix the problem, only time, patience and perseverance can do that.



If DB wants to really show RR support - give him an extention ? Why has that not happened?

He's not given him an extension because at the end of this season, he'll be 50% of the way through the term of his existing contract. Typically, you don't extend someone contract until their at least half-way through their term. This is a hedge of the bet Nut -- if they extend now, and RR doesn't work out, it's just going to cost Michigan MORE money to buy out his EXTENDED CONTRACT. Now, I've said, if it were me, I would extend it -- but I don't profess to have business acumen that DB and MSC possess. 6 years is what he's been contracted to coach for, and I believe that he'll get his 6 years. I think that the powers that hired him, at the time they hired him, were WELL AWARE of the problems in the program, and that he was going to struggle and that the rebuilding period was going to be painful. I think they hired RR SPECIFICALLY because of his resume of rebuilding, not because they thought he was going to step in and instantly put a winner on the field. That is why we've NEVER ONCE seen nor read any type of panic mode, or negative press coming from the Michigan administration. Everything against RR is coming from disgruntled players and fans, or from outside the program. From what I've heard from people inside the AD, he is universally loved and his position is secure. Further, from inside the AD, I've heard that the people close to the program KNOW that it was left in shambles -- why do think I have been so vehement about that position? It's not, as many of you claim, because I have some affinity for RR, it's because people that I know within the AD have told me that there was a HUGE problem, and that App. State was the last straw for the Carr faction. The AD had had it with the way things were going, and decided to tear it all down and start over (maybe Carr was FIRED). Savvy business people know when to do that. Michigan was at the top for a decades (in popularity, and in revenue generated by the program), slipped a bit, and is now going to reinvent itself for the FUTURE, for the decades to come. Reinventing yourself doesn't happen with the flip of a switch, and the people who experience the change, and don't rationally understand what they're witnessing can be very upset and confused. We were basically the same program for from 1969 - 2007, that is a very long time. But, Carr was not Bo, and it was time for something new. I know you're going to make some snide ass comment like you always do like, "you wanted a change, and look what you got...". You're going to get a glimpse of what we got this season, maybe a little better glimpse than last season, but still just a glimpse. And that is OK with the powers that be, they expected as much, they're not panicking -- they're patient, they're intelligent, and they're planning for the future...maybe you should take a lesson from them.


But don't be so sure that DB is 100% behind RR.

You do realize that he was part of the selection committee right? You have this attitude that somehow DB feels that RR isn't his guy...DB was tapped for the AD position well before the RR hire, and was in on every aspect of the transition. Being a football guy, he has the ability and the experience to analyze the roster and KNEW EXACTLY what RR was walking into. He was under no delusions (like many fans are) that RR was going to have anything but a rocky road to start. Further, because DB is a former player, he is able to witness and understand the things that RR does (that none of us outsiders ever see or hear about) that make him a great coach. He see the nuances, and is able to draw comparisons between his own experience with Bo. Like Rick Leach has been saying since the beginning, "there is a lot of Bo in RR..." Brandon knows this, he sees it, and he knows that it's just a matter of time before he has the tools in place. You can comment all you want, and claim anything you want to claim, but you're not there, he is. You don't have the experience, he does. He's done spending money, its time to let the machine run for a while -- let it crank through it's paces, develop, grow, and get into a rhythm. When it does that, in time, it will be very very hard to stop.

[1OSUNUT]

Many coaches are given raises and extentions with many years left on thier contracts. If DB was 100% behind RR and thought he was the right guy and that he will turn Michigan around - he would prove it to him and the media by extending him. He will not do that because his future is in doubt and there is a strong chance that he will not work out at Michigan.

[amazinblue]

Nut,

What do you do for a living? Oh yeah, you work at a Honda dealer.

I'll see if I can put this down the right way. Let's say Honda's are in demand and hard to get - much like Harley's were about a decade ago. So, you've got a Honda with a six year unlimited mileage warranty. And, so far, you really really like the car - but, you've only had the car for two years.

Now, you know that the Honda / Harley / football coach is in demand - but, you really only need to place an order for it one year before it needs to be delivered. And, when you place the order - it is a "binding contract" - you can't get out of it - so, you'd be committed to purchase the vehicle whether in fact you needed it or not.

You're suggesting that DB put the order for the new Honda in RIGHT NOW - when, in fact, he would have at least two more years to see whether he liked the car he's driving right now. It's ludicrous.

If, by the END of RR's fourth year of coaching, DB hasn't offered RR an extension - then, as a recruit, I might have a question or two to ask. So, Nut - stop trying to create an issue or cause or problem where none exists. You do seem pretty desperate. And, lol, the good part is - your desperation is just beginning. When Michigan starts rolling - and should they defeat OSU this season - what argument will you pose then?

LOL - think about this one - RR - who's first full recruiting class will be TRUE SOPHOMORES - many players in just their redshirt freshman season - would have defeated OSU with it's Heisman candidate QB and a roster full of returning players. And, I do believe that RR would be offered an extension prior to the start of spring ball.

[Wolvrin704]

Many coaches are given raises and extentions with many years left on thier contracts. If DB was 100% behind RR and thought he was the right guy and that he will turn Michigan around - he would prove it to him and the media by extending him. He will not do that because his future is in doubt and there is a strong chance that he will not work out at Michigan.

Yeah I can think of one right away, Charlie Weis. How many years were left on JT's contract that he got extended this off season? Oh thats right there were only 2 more years left. Get a clue NUT, dumb decision makers give extensions way too early before sustained success is achieved, smart decision makers wait.

[1OSUNUT]

Coaches worth extending get early extentions and Michigan will not beat Ohio State this year - nice try.

[Wolvrin704]

Coaches worth extending get early extentions and Michigan will not beat Ohio State this year - nice try.

Right......how many coaches get an extension 2 years into a 6 year contract? Only idiots like ND with Weis do that.

As for UM/OSU, on paper of course OSU should win. Again that is why they play the game.