Tuesday, December 02, 2014

What Michigan's movements mean for Bates UPDATED

UPDATE: Michigan did fire Hoke. And Hackett will run the search for the replacement. So if Hackett doesn't become the full-time AD, the new AD is going to inherit a new coach he didn't hire. That makes the job less desirable for a guy like Bates. He would be stuck with someone else's pick for a few years. At a hyper political job like Michigan, that can be a major liability. But who knows. Maybe Bates and Harbaugh all have handshake deals in place and this will all come together in the next few weeks.

Want a sign that Michigan is probably not coming for Brad Bates this time around? They are letting their interim Athletic Director make the call on Brady Hoke's future. This reinforces speculation that their interim AD Jim Hackett will move into the role as a full-time replacement for Dave Brandon. If that happens, Brad Bates won't be returning to his Alma mater now. Even if the school decides to find a different AD, I don't think Bates nor any other AD from a Big Five conference would take the job.

An Athletic Director's job is multifaceted. However, there is one aspect that is very public: hiring and firing coaches. When Bates was hired by BC it was assumed that he would fire Spaz, but he was hired at a time so that he could evaluate the situation himself and have enough time to find a replacement. Any AD that comes to Michigan is going to have to live with the decisions Hackett makes in the next few days. Football -- especially at Michigan -- drives the bus, so everything the new AD would try to do would be hampered by a decision an interim made. That is unworkable for most folks. I think it would be especially unworkable for a methodical guy like Bates.

I don't expect Bates to be a BC lifer. He still could end up at Michigan in a few years, but now is not the time.

8 comments:

FakeShalomTfree said...

Not sure i agree with this rationale. Firing Hoke was a no-brainer and a mere formality at this point, and the decision to do so would probably not preclude any candidates from taking this job. You could argue that firing him is one less thing an incoming AD would have to do, and that the power to hire the new football coach (without firing the old one) would be a selling point in this case. I have no idea whether Bates would ultimately get the job, but i can't imagine that if Michigan called tomorrow i can't imagine he (or any other candidate) wouldn't answer because Hoke is gone

mod34b said...

if they call, he will go.

mod34b said...

Hoke Fired.

psst... coast clear for BB

ATL_eagle said...

My point is they are going to hire a new football coach before they hire a new AD. An AD inheriting a new coach he didn't hire makes the job less desirable.

Hoib said...

there is probably allot more going on here than the public knows. They've had months to prepare and I'm sure the president and Trusttees are heavily involved. It's just to important for Michigan to leave this to an interim AD. I hope we keep Bates. I love the Daz hire and early on xtian looks ok to me too. Worst case we lose Daz, which is a long shot, but if Daz gets a new AD that he doesn't get along w/ the grass can start to look greener in a hurry. I hope the status quo holds, but I'll be worried for the next month or so.

mod34b said...

Hoib, I do not see Dazz as a hot commodity.

Presently, he is more or less a .500 coach. If he puts together a few 9-3 and 10-2 seasons, then there will be some interest.

Who do you see as having a present interest in Dazz?

Hoib said...

mod

not shocked u don't agree w/ me. u rarely do. Look at what he's accomplished here in just 2 years, forget about the record. If he can get interviews w/ his organizational abilities and incredible personality, watch out.

CT said...

Well, he did parlay a 13-11 record at Temple into the BC job. He is 14-11 thus far at BC.

But I can't imagine a scenario under which a bigger and " better" program could sell his hire. At BC, you only have to wade through administrators and about 22 fans.