Add it up
I keep hearing absurd arguments for the old guard in regards to the Michigan head coaching job. The first thing I recall hearing when Mike DeBord left Central Michigan to become Michigan’s totally awesome special teams coach was that he quit the head coaching job because the Chippewa program didn’t have the commitment to become a MAC power.
Funny how things worked out for the Chips: Brian Kelly revived a moribund program to win a MAC championship in his third season as head coach. CMU just won back to back MAC championships this season. So what is DeBord’s story now? Oh, don’tchya know he told the Detroit News that he put the culture in place for the resurgance taking place in Mount Pleasant?
While DeBord was rocking out the special teams units at Michigan, Terry Malone was the offensive coordinator. In 2003 Malone put together the highest scoring offense [460 total points scored ] the Wolverines had seen since Fielding Yost’s 1905 team. Then when the Wolverines had a number of injuries to key offensive lineman and Mike Hart during the 2005 season the heavy-handed commitment to the running game resulted in Michigan only scoring 345 points. Although that was more points than the Wolverines scored during the 1997 National Championship campaign the offensive coordinator was told to find a new job.
Mike DeBord was subsequently promoted [with no real coaching search] to become the offensive coordinator. In two seasons his offense has averaged 346 points, which was enough to send Terry Malone packing after one season but it looks like it could result in DeBord staying on the staff when Michigan hires a new coach.
The next comment in support of the old guard came in this Michael Rosenberg article where someone associated with the Michigan program gave more credit for Cincinnati’s resurgence to Mark Dantonio than to Brian Kelly. Here is the direct quote:
…here is another “what if” to consider: If this job had come open last November, Mark Dantonio would have been a prime candidate. Dantonio has everything Michigan would have wanted: He is highly respected by his peers, including the current U-M coaches.
Well it’s pretty easy to think of one U-M coach who would think highly of Dantonio: he’s a coach who like Mark Dantonio had Brian Kelly follow him as coach only to outperform him. Dantonio clearly did a better job at Cinicinnati than Mike DeBord did at Central Michigan, so it didn’t take nearly as long for Kelly to have the second-best season the Bearcats have ever had in their 122 years of playing football.
The new hot rumor regarding the Michigan coaching search is that Brady Hoke could be named the head coach. He’s a true believer michigan man and has compiled a 22-36 record at Ball State. To his credit that is a much better record than DeBord’s 12-34 record but his performance is being defended in much the same way as DeBord’s record at Central Michigan was initially defended: BSU just doesn’t have the commitment to develop a true conteder for the MAC title. If the next Ball State coach outperforms Hoke then you can of course expect the story to morph into the claim that Hoke put the culture in place for the Cardinals to finally dominate. Suffice it to say he’s no Brian Kelly.
At this point we can likely come to a few conclusions:
1. Les Miles has signed a contract extension and is likely to stay at LSU.
2. Lloyd Carr’s coaching tree hasn’t borne fruit to the point where there is an acceptable successor.
3. Bill Martin’s top salary outlay of $2 million to $3 million isn’t going to draw interest from candidates like Kirk Ferentz, Greg Schiano or Les Miles.
4. Based on the budget that has been reported Michigan needs to consider younger coaches who currently make less than $1 million and who’s athletic departments cannot match a $2 million+ salary outlay.
So who should the University of Michigan consider to replace Lloyd Carr? Here’s a general list of the kinds of candidates who might be interested in the opportunity:
1. Chris Petersen - head coach at Boise State
2. Brian Kelly - head coach at Cincinnati
3. NFL Coordinators such as Rob Chudzinski
4. Unemployed coaches like Dennis Green
Clearly the top two are solid candidates, so I hope Michigan will refocus their efforts on coaches who are ready to take the next step up and lead a top 15 program like Michigan to the top of the college football hierarchy.
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