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Phillips, Manuel Among The Names Mentioned As Potential Candidates For UM AD Position

The Univ. of Michigan "has targeted" Northwestern AD Jim Phillips as a candidate to succeed Dave Brandon, who resigned Friday, according to a source cited by Joe Schad of ESPN.com. This "is an indication that Michigan will seriously consider candidates without university ties." Some "logical candidates also likely to be considered" include UConn AD Warde Manuel and Boston College AD Brad Bates, both of whom "do have Michigan ties" (ESPN.com, 11/1). In Hartford, Paul Doyle reported UM officials "had not contacted Manuel" as of Saturday. Manuel said, "I'm in a great job. Obviously, my alma mater means a lot to me, but I love it here" (HARTFORD COURANT, 11/2). Meanwhile, in Michigan, Drew Ellis cited sources as saying that Central Michigan Univ. AD Dave Heeke "was contacted by Michigan" last week to "gauge his interest." Heeke, who has been in his current position since December '05, "was contacted prior to Michigan’s press conference on Friday announcing that Brandon had delivered his resignation" (OAKLAND PRESS, 11/2). FS1's Bruce Feldman also named Arkansas AD Jeff Long as a potential candidate, as he "has a lot of ties there." Feldman: "In terms of getting an AD, they can't really rush into it too much. You got to remember that the board is getting elected this coming week. The new president really does not know much about sports. That's another issue, and his No. 1 priority for a long time was the medical school. So now they’re kind of dealing with internal politics to get this sorted out” (“America’s Pregame,” FS1, 10/31).

TERMS OF THE SPLIT
: In Detroit, Chengelis & Beard reported Brandon "surrendered his position" last Wednesday, when he met with new UM President Mark Schlissel. After "considerable turmoil surrounding the athletic department in recent weeks, he opted to resign, and a day later to sign a separation agreement that will pay him" $3M to "leave the job he loved" (DETROIT NEWS, 11/1). In Michigan, Nick Baumgardner cites UM's settlement agreement as showing that the school "will owe" the $3M fee "over the next four years." Brandon "will be paid $700,000 through June 30, 2015; $950,000 through June 30, 2016; $750,000 through June 2017 and $600,000 through June 30, 2018." The amount "is equal to the buyout he would have received had he been fired from Michigan." The agreement ensures that UM "will pay the cost of COBRA health care for himself and his dependents through June 30, 2015." Brandon "will retain the current use of two automobiles provided by the university until Dec. 31, 2014" (MLIVE.com, 10/31). Also in Michigan, Brendan Quinn noted back when he was "installed as Michigan president in September, Schlissel noted that the world of big time collegiate athletics was new to him." On Friday, he "must have felt like it revolved around him." Schlissel, when asked how he views football and athletics at the school, "made clear that he's still trying to grasp how a marriage of major college football and major academics can exist." He said, "Football is extremely important to our community. You can tell by -- we're sitting here wringing our hands that maybe there will be 95,000 instead of 110,000 watching a football game -- it's really important to a lot of people in lots of positive ways. I think the sport of football and college athletics in general is certainly a matter of discussion and debate around the country." He added, "I certainly have learned something that intellectually I knew on the way in the door, but, boy, did I sense the passion of all the fans and the alumni and the supporters of our athletic programs in general and football in particular" (MLIVE.com, 11/1).

Brandon's critics said he struggled to connect with
people in the UM community
BRANDON'S DOWNFALL: MLIVE.com's Baumgardner wrote Brandon is a "wealthy businessman who has spent the better part of the past five years rubbing everyone around Michigan athletics the wrong way." Baumgardner: "There was no way he was going to survive this. Any of it. And he had no one to blame but himself. Brandon pushed the envelope with off-field tactics constantly. And almost never backed down, conceded or apologized for any of it. ... He never knew when to stop" (MLIVE.com, 11/1). In Detroit, Bob Wojnowski wrote Brandon "did great things with the non-revenue sports, and with finances and facilities." But he "was imperious and occasionally pompous, and ran the department like a corporation." He "was better at making a dollar than making people connections, and it cost him" (DETROIT NEWS, 11/1). ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said from an "outside perspective, (Brandon) didn't do a good job at Michigan." He was a "very successful businessman who tried to run an athletic department like a corporation." Herbstreit: "He might have been able to create a lot of funds, a lot of revenue, but look at the product on the field. He has to be accountable for that" ("College GameDay," ESPN, 11/1). In N.Y., Marc Tracy wrote while Brandon "was considered the new model" for an AD at a major university when he took over the position in '10, his resignation reveals that a "modern college sports department might be a more complicated business than a multinational company" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/1). In Detroit, Drew Sharp wrote Brandon "is gone because his prickly personality and haughty arrogance overshadowed his many achievements in more than four years" as AD. Sharp: "Brandon didn’t merely burn bridges. He took a flamethrower to them, unceremoniously turning U-M athletics into his own fiefdom, surrounding himself with handpicked loyalists he thought would provide the necessary firewall from external criticism. ... The Block M became a marketing icon under Brandon. Sold to the highest bidder. Football became a consumer product. It was no longer a program" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/1).

TOO BIG OF A DISCONNECT: In Detroit, John Niyo wrote it "took outraged fans -- mostly students -- no-showing for football games or chanting for Brandon's dismissal when they came, it took them rallying on the Diag and then marching on the president's house on campus, to fuel what ultimately led to this fire." A planned, student-organized protest -- dubbed "White Out, Dave Out" -- was "threatening to overshadow the traditional homecoming festivities." Brandon "had alienated so many of his customers, including the next crop of Michigan alumni, with his heavy-handed approach to sales and marketing, with his jacked-up ticket prices, and with his occasional trampling of traditions, his defenders weren't going to win this fight" (DETROIT NEWS, 11/1). Big Ten Network’s Lisa Byington noted it "seemed there was a little bit of disconnect between the athletic administration and the student body." Byington: "They're sick of seeing Michigan football in the headlines in a negative vein. If this is the change to move things forward in a positive direction, they're all for it." She added it will be "interesting to see if they go kind of the corporate route and another business leader, or maybe someone who has some direct connection in working with an athletic department.” FS1's Stewart Mandel said, "It's really rare to see an athletic director create that much animosity that it would lead to this" (“America’s Pregame,” FS1, 10/31). 

HOWARD DEFENDS BRANDON'S RECORD: ESPN's Desmond Howard, who won the '91 Heisman Trophy while playing for UM, said Brandon did a "very good job" at the school. Howard: "Dave has done a tremendous job raising hundreds of millions for the athletic community. Not just for the main sports, but the non-revenue-generating sports. He had a strong emphasis on women's sports and developing their facilities. We're talking field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, the list goes on and on. But Michigan's football team, his No. 1 hire, Brady Hoke, the head coach -- they've struggled on the football field. Big opportunity, people took advantage of it. They started all the mob mentality and then now because they struggled on the football field, he resigned.” Howard added, "When he brought in Brady Hoke, I thought he brought in the right coach. He's not responsible for the product on the field. So it's like them calling Dave to task for the whole concussion thing. They tried to blame Dave Brandon for that. ... There are some things he's responsible for and some things that he’s not. But they tried to link him to it just so they can get him out” (“College GameDay,” ESPN, 11/1). A DETROIT NEWS editorial appears under the header, "Brandon Served The University Of Michigan Well." Brandon made "changes and improvements to the department that butted up against some of the more hide-bound traditions of the university, which has resisted the kind of change he introduced." Brandon "raised impressive amounts of money for the department, which led to facility improvements and an expansion of the whole athletic campus." He also was "able to increase attention to women's athletics and non-revenue sports that often get overlooked." His downfall, "in part, was his aversion to pander to former athletes, alumni and other constituencies that are used to being courted by the university" (DETROIT NEWS, 11/3).

MOVING FORWARD: In Detroit, Mitch Albom wrote as UM begins searching for its new AD, the "sentence 'he played for Bo' cannot be the deciding factor." Albom: "Nor can the phrase 'A Michigan Man.'" Brandon during his college years played football at UM under late coach Bo Schembechler. Albom: "What I care about is that the traits that rubbed people the wrong way about Brandon -- a sense of arrogance, money over everything and an inflated belief in Michigan's greatness -- aren't repeated in the next hire. A dose of humility would be nice" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/2). The DETROIT NEWS' Wojnowski wrote UM now "needs an unquestioned leader." The program "needs someone who inspires something -- passion, cohesion, even fear." The only thing that "will unite Michigan’s huge and disgruntled fan base is restoring order in football, and it will take a strong, fiercely competitive leader to do it." Wojnowski suggests former UM QB and current 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh (DETROIT NEWS, 11/1). Meanwhile, the FREE PRESS' Sharp writes Schlissel "must understand that college football is now a flourishing democracy," as the "old, defined class system is gone." Sharp: "Schlissel no longer can simply sell 'This is Michigan' to prospective candidates. That doesn’t work anymore" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/3).

Hackett has not been ruled out as a possible
candidate to replace Brandon as UM AD
HACKETT'S HISTORY: Big Ten Network's Byington noted Schlissel "did not rule out" interim AD Jim Hackett as a "possible candidate" for the permanent position ("America's Pregame," FS1, 10/31). In Detroit, Kim Kozlowski noted Hackett is a "longtime corporate executive" who played for Bo Schembechler at UM before his '77 graduation. His ties to the Schembechler era "could soothe students, alumni and donors upset by the football team's poor record this season." Beside his career at Grand Rapids-based furniture manufacturer Steelcase, Hackett "has been a board member for Northwestern Mutual Life, Fifth Third Bancorp and Ford Motor Co." (DETROIT NEWS, 11/1). MLIVE.com's Quinn noted Hackett's "immediate duties" are filling Brandon's seat and "bringing stability to a department in flux" (MLIVE.com, 10/31). In Michigan, Shandra Martinez noted Hackett "is credited with steering Steelcase through difficult times, including a major reorganization that shed half the company’s Grand Rapids workforce." Craig Mutch, who played at UM with both Brandon and Hackett, said of Hackett, "He fits exactly what needs to be there right now. He’s a very calming influence, a very thoughtful leader. I think that is what we need right now in the athletic department" (MLIVE.com, 10/31).

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