As I write this, Michigan still does not have a head coach.
Rumors, speculation, bungled PR, non-communication and accusations - that stuff, Michigan has - in abundance.
If you believe half of what is being written about what happened between last Friday afternoon and the Les Miles Press conference on Saturday, I am really starting to get concerned that the powers in charge of handling the most important hire of this University since Lloyd Carr are not able to figure out how to deal with press, media, agents, and don't know how simple communications work.
A rundown in case you haven't followed it:
LSU played hardball on Friday Night - Saturday Morning with Les Miles and threw a contract at him 3 different amounts, depending on when he accepted. Before, after the game, and after the game with a win, and after the game with a loss. Now, being a Michigan Man and a Man of his word, he had not spoken directly with anyone at Michigan. However, he did tell his agent to get Martin on the phone and find out what the status was and how interested Michigan was.
Here's the confounding part: Martin couldn't be reached. Gone Fishing - Or Sailing...Whatever. Down in Key Largo while events were unfolding that would forever brandish the University he represents...on vacation. Ho Humm......
I'm not going to sit here and say that Martin should have picked up the phone and said, "Yeah, were going to hire Les on the spot and we are going to match any offer LSU makes." On the contrary, I think they could have paid Les a little less than what LSU was offering because they were offering Michigan. All Martin had to do was say to the agent, "Per my discussion with the AD at LSU, I have asked for permission to speak to Les after the game and Michigan's interest in Les has not changed."
How hard would that have been? A non-committal statement that would have at least told Les - Yes, we want to talk to you, but we are keeping our word and promise to the AD. Les' agent could have explained the situation with LSU to Martin, how aggressively they were trying to get Les to agree to a deal before the game with huge incentives and Martin could have simply said, "That's a decision that Les needs to make or address with LSU - I won't go back on my word to the AD at LSU." And then, Bill Martin, could address the press and state that he was available to discuss with Les per the AD's request, after the game. And then, Les would have made his decision at least armed with information that Michigan was still interested.
That, in my humble MMQ opinion, would have been a WHOLE HELLUVA LOT BETTER than being a man that who is supposed to be at the forefront of the most important coaching search in the country and would have at least shown that Michigan was aware of the situation. Instead, the University of Michigan looks like a bunch of bumbling idiots that don't know how to answer a cell phone...
I am not saying Les was the guy. I am still wondering about that...But I can't argue with his track record, 500 former players and associates saying he's the man, and the fact that he was a Michigan Man- they are all hard to ignore....And it's also worth speculating that LSU was not, I repeat, NOT going to let Les go no matter what....They may have decided that with Pellini going to Nebraska and with so many other open positions that they didn't want to hop on the Merry Go Round this year and said, "You know what? He's our guy...Who else could be possibly get?"
But, that still doesn't explain Martin's actions....He is supposed to be a great businessman...well, in business, you can say one thing and honor it, but do everything within the letter of the law that gets information passed back and forth...
I read somewhere that Les refused to "Dance for Lloyd" and kneel down and kiss the Championship Ring...Honestly, from what we know about him - that doesn't sound like Lloyd...It just doesn't pass the MMQ sniff test again...Lloyd is all about redemption, second chances, and facing adversity....No, this one has someone else's fingerprints all over it...And if it's NOT Bill Martin, than who???
Is he being manipulated by Mary Sue Coleman, that wants her boy Ferentz from Iowa to come to Michigan? If that's the case, and it could very well be, because she has been awfully quiet throughout this ordeal...Maybe she is letting Martin twist in the wind and it's all on him anyway should Ferentz come in and fail, he will be the guy that DIDN'T get Miles...
Or is Bill Martin just a babbling buffoon that decided to go down to the Key Largo Coral Reef Yacht Club Classic Regatta Weekend and leave his blackberry, cell phone, computer, and somehow managed to not even turn on ESPN on Saturday morning and think, "Gee, this is the guy I really want and they are saying things about him and Michigan...I wonder what's going on - maybe I should call into the office.." Frankly, Beeline hasn't produced, to date anyway, results that make me feel very confident in that hire...I'm sorry, but in case you haven't heard, Michigan Men's Basketball lost to HARVARD - and 1st year coach Tommy Amaker...Yeah, irony....
Either way, I am a concerned fan that is beginning to get VERY concerned over how this whole thing is unfolding...Whatever the outcome, I won't feel confident that Michigan "Got their Man", I will feel like we finally got someone that is as inept at public relations, background manuevering and manipulation as Martin is...Or maybe as inept as Mary Sue is making him out to be....
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