After his inexplicable month-long exercise of allowing Rich Rodriguez to twist in the wind, we all couldn’t help but think that David Brandon had some sort of master plan and that the plan in his head was to simply hold off on firing Rich Rodriguez until the day he could let Jim Harbaugh sail in and declare to the Maize and Blue nation that all will be right again. Newsflash folks, Brandon got played. I have no doubt that throughout December Brandon had some sort of behind the scenes agreement with Harbaugh that he would become the next head coach at the University of Michigan following the Orange Bowl. However, business savvy Mr. Brandon failed to have the foresight to see the NFL vultures lurking and Michigan’s decision to not apply more pressure to Harbaugh to skip coaching his bowl game arguably lost them the hottest coach on the market in years.
In my personal opinion there is no doubt that Harbaugh could have been a great fit at Michigan and restored the program to the once proud place it held amongst the nation’s elite. That said, I think it is ludicrous how NFL teams chased after a man who has had one truly great season as a head coach. At least guys like Spurrier and Saban had won national titles prior to the NFL taking a huge interest in them. However, Harbaugh is no longer important now. The important thing today is the University of Michigan.
David Brandon said in his press conference on Wednesday that Michigan is bigger than 1 player (see: Denard Robinson) and 1 recruit (see: Demetrius Hart). Brandon continues to try to sell us all on the fact that Michigan will recruit itself and that great players are still banging down the door to come to Michigan. Sorry Dave, the Michigan you once knew is dead. Michigan may be bigger than one individual recruit and player but NO program can withstand the loss of virtually an entire recruiting class. After failing to secure a replacement prior to Rodriguez’s firing, Brandon has left the recruiting class to hang out to dry. In the past week alone Michigan has seen an already below-average recruiting class become absolutely decimated. Decommitments and players re-opening their recruitment have been a very common theme for the Michigan recruiting class over the past week.
Brandon needs to find his man and it needs to be soon. We are less than one month from signing day and the new head coach will need to do a years worth of work over the next month trying to retain existing players and get new players to jump on board with their program. Also, there is that pesky little problem that a new head coach will need to assemble a full staff before he can truly hit the recruiting trail. I will jump into a breakdown of this past week’s recruiting disaster sometime over the course of this week but for now the important thing is who is going to be the next head coach at Michigan?
Brandon has declared the following three criteria as paramount to his search:
1. Michigan Man – Most misused term in sports. Bo did not mean for the Michigan Man term to exclusively describe those who played for or coached at Michigan.
2. Head Coaching Experience – This more than likely eliminates any of the hotshot coordinators such as Gus Malzahn.
3. Midwest Ties – This is crucial, as Michigan needs to be able to go door-to-door against Brian Kelly and Jim Tressel in the Midwest to recruit the high quality talent that exists throughout the region.
The only two currently available head coaches on the market that meet these criteria are the two suspects that the media has covered extensively: Brady Hoke and Les Miles. Lets take a look at each of these men and the pros and cons that they could bring to the University of Michigan.
Brady Hoke
Background: Hoke started his coaching career with the University of Michigan as the defensive line coach form 1995-2002. He was a part of the staff for Michigan’s only national title in the last 40 years. He left Michigan in 2002 to take over his alma mater, Ball State. Ball State had been a program in shambles prior to Hoke’s arrival. Hoke took the Ball State program back to the top in his sixth year while going 12-0 over the course of the regular season before finishing the season with losses in the MAC championship and his bowl game. It was the most wins in school history. Following his sixth year at Ball State, Hoke made the move out west to take over a struggling San Diego State program. Hoke went 4-8 in his first year with the Aztecs but righted the ship this year while compiling a 9-4 record and leading the school to its first bowl game since 1997.
Pros: Hoke has obviously shown that he is able to rebuild a program. Being the head coach at the Ball State or San Diego State football programs would not be considered anything close to a premier job. One could even argue that winning at Ball State might be one of the most difficult jobs in the country with all the other regional programs that Ball State has to compete with for talent. Hoke has constantly been praised by his former players as a man who can get people to “run through a wall” for him. His former players, along with many different analysts, consistently praise him as a fundamentally sound football coach who preaches on doing the little things right in order to win football games. Hoke is only 52 and the Michigan job is his dream job so we know that if he were to be successful the program would be set at minimum for the next decade.
Cons: My primary concern with Hoke revolves around his ability to recruit. In an area of the country where you have to compete with Notre Dame and Ohio State you cannot fail to be dynamite on the recruiting trail and maintain an elite program. Hoke also has only had 3 winning seasons in eight years as a head coach and even at programs as down as Ball State and San Diego State it concerns me that he has not had more success. One other concern with Hoke is his public personality. Hoke is undoubtedly a “players coach” but we all know that the head coach at the University of Michigan must be extremely comfortable in public and willing to rub shoulders with big-money donors. Lets just say previous live interviews I have seen with Hoke have not led me to believe that he could be the “face” and personality of the Michigan football program.
Les Miles
Background: Four-year offensive lineman at the University of Michigan under Bo. Miles coached offensive lineman under both Bo and Gary Moeller at U of M from 1987-1994 before getting his shot to be the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 1995-1997. Miles had a brief stint (1998-2000) as the tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys before returning back to Stillwater and serving as the school’s head coach from 2001-2004. Despite taking over a program that was 13-20 in the three years prior to his arrival, Miles racked up a 28-21 record in his four years while also achieving two big-time upset wins over Top-Ten Oklahoma teams. In 2005, Miles moved on to LSU to replace departing head coach Nick Saban. At LSU he has compiled a 62-17 career record. During his tenure on the Bayou, he has won a national championship (2007) along with two SEC-West division crowns (2005, 2007).
Pros: Les Miles is a winner. As the head coach at LSU, he has led the Tigers to four 11-win seasons in six years and is also the fastest coach in team history to reach 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 victories. He is doing this all while playing in the toughest conference in the country. Miles is an absolutely dynamic recruiter. While being in charge of a program in the talent-rich south, Miles has consistently pulled in Top-5 recruiting classes. Even more importantly, Miles has consistently pulled in absolute studs on the defensive side of the ball based on the fact that over the past few years you have seen LSU Tiger defenders going off the board in the first round on an annual basis. Miles has also proven that he is able to surround himself with a great supporting staff as evidenced by men like Bo Pelini who have been hired by other schools to be a head coach after successful stints under Miles.
Cons: CLOCK MANAGEMENT (no more needs to be said). Miles and LSU have recently admitted to multiple recruiting violations that could not happen if he were to become the coach at Michigan due to the programs current NCAA probation. Miles has also indulged in the common over-signing process in SEC country and this is something that he will not be allowed to do at Michigan. Some of Miles’ biggest detractors point to his age, currently 57, as being a huge obstacle to him becoming the head coach at Michigan.
What should Dave Brandon do?
No matter what the Detroit media will have you believe the Michigan football job is still one of the best jobs in the country. The school has the best facilities in the Midwest and has the big-money donors and far reaching fan and alumni base that will always make Michigan a national story whether they are winning or losing.
When comparing the two candidates above it is obvious that if David Brandon wants to restore Michigan football to its’ place amongst the elite in the country that he will pull the trigger on a deal that should have been done three years ago. Hoke simply hasn’t proven himself on a big enough stage yet to justify a job of Michigan’s magnitude.
Miles has won a national title and put together an astonishing record despite competing in one of the most talent-rich conferences in the country. Miles will play by the rules at Michigan because it will be both his and his alma mater’s reputation at stake and the man simply loves Michigan too much to let hard times fall on his beloved school.
Miles age is not nearly as relevant as people are making it out to be. Miles is 57 and could easily coach for 8 more years. In this day and age of college football getting 8 years out of a head coach is not bad at all. If Miles stays in place at Michigan until the end of his coaching career it likely means that Michigan will be back at the top of the Big Ten year in and year out. Given Michigan’s reluctant track record for leaving the Michigan coaching family to find a new head coach, Miles excellent track record of developing hot-commodity assistants makes it virtually certain that Miles could develop a big-time head coach in waiting on his staff to carry on once he ultimately decides to retire.
Get this done now Dave and bring the Mad Hatter home where he belongs.
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