I have now read the Bill Martin Retirment letter and Mary Sue's response and I am literally terrified. Anyone who hasn't had a chance to read it, I will retype the words here in order to help you understand what has me petrified in this Month of October before Halloween...Words that can only be described as "Bone chilling whispers of cold death wrapping themselves around my spine...."
To wit - from Mary Sue Coleman's Response:
"....I will personally oversee the search for the next Athletic Director with the help of a small advisory group. We expect this process will take a number of months. With this advance notice, we have the opportunity to make a thoughtful and deliberate choice and to manage a smooth transition."
A small advisory group. Why do we need a group? Why does it take a number of months? With the advance notice, Mary Sue and, no doubt, Sailboat Bill will find a way to make this an even bigger mess than the Football Head Coach Search Debacle....
But this is at least a somewhat lower profile position and it will be much easier to fill than the Football Head Coach job based on the fact that there shouldn't be too many people looking up Mary's skirt everytime she picks up the phone or flies somewhere. And the ramifications of a screw up may occur only after she's long gone...Think Tom Goss and the Halo.
But, without further ado, we need to make a short list of replacements that could work in the day to day athletic and business environment that is the Michigan Sports Department. Which, when you think about it, at any major university, may be a more demanding job than the provost or president or the University. Balancing a budget, maintaining staff, verifying NCAA rules are understood and followed, etc. It can't be easy and any AD that does it well earns their salary. Unless these first people are otherwise noted, they are currently an Associate Athletic Director.
1. Bruce Madej - Media Relations. 20 years on the job and he graduated from Western in the 70's...Maybe a long shot, but if he's been overlooked all these times, why now? 1,000-1
2. Joe Parker - Senior Associate Athletic Director. Been with Michigan since 2003. I believe he was hired by Martin and this could be a dark horse - or favorite. Did his undergrad at Michigan and graduated in 1987. Might be considered too young for the job...or maybe not. 500-1
3. Executive Associate Athletic Director - Dr. Michael Stevenson. Interim Director. Don't know much about him, doesn't have a bio listed anywhere that the MMQ could locate. Call him another long shot at 1,000-1.
4. Lloyd Carr - Hmmmmm. This one is sort of interesting. And entirely possible. IT COULD BE that Lloyd knew this moment was coming and he has therefore REFRAINED from making any comment on the current coaching staff in the event that he would need to remove said coaching staff if he were in fact able to land the AD position and the current coaching staff tanks..... After all, Bill and Lloyd are buddies. The Athletic Department is on sound financial footing with a $10M annual surplus...So he wouldn't have to worry too much about raising dough.. Mary Sue is on record saying she likes the old coach. Lloyd would probably do okay in the job...But would he interfere with the football program? Is he waiting to get his hands back around it? Is it possible this is already a "done deal" behind the scenes while Mary Sue goes through her search process? Could be....100-1.
Amendment: Immediately AFTER I wrote this, I caught this on Ann Arbor.com. Okay, so Lloyd isn't a candidate...and that makes sense. He's too old and I am not sure anyone really wants him. But my guess is he hangs around anyway.
5. At Large Unknown AD - There are a lot of good AD's in the collegiate arena that would love a job like Michigan's. It is arguably one of the highest profile positions of all the AD jobs that are out there. So, there would be plenty of resume's to choose from when considering someone for the opportunity. A proven AD at a smaller university that could click with the current staff and Mary Sue might pull off the impossible. 100-1.
6. Former Athlete -Tom Goss experiment proved this to be a BIG, BIG NO-NO. 5,000-1
I know there are no front running favorites - yet - but I will update odds accordingly and track the progress when and if I see any.
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