Best news I’ve heard all week: If you’re a Michigan or college sports history buff, you’ve got to read this. Author John Kryk found this 110-year old piece describing the epidemic in the divided Michigan fan base, check it out.
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Turning Minutes to Hours
I have no gut feeling on what’s going to happen—I’ve had people tell me before the bowl that Harbaugh was pretty much a done deal, and for a while I’ve had word that discussions with Hoke were very serious. Prior to the bowl, the needle seemed to sway toward Harbaugh leaving Stanford and heading to Michigan. Now, the chatter seems to be the other way, with even a few speculating that he might stay in Palo Alto. Several folks close to the program, like Sam Webb, say all the talk at this point in nonsense. It’s not about the money, at least when talking Michigan vs. the NFL as Brandon will pay what it takes. I see Harbaugh as the type who’s going to value the better situation for himself and the people in his life ahead of the bucks. Guys who tweet out Gordon Lightfoot lyrics (and mean it) don’t chase dollars: If I’m Harbaugh I absolutely leave Stanford—you’ve got to move now and who knows what will happen in the next couple years. And I’ve always understood when college coaches head to the pros. No matter what happens at that level there always seems to be a high profile gig waiting for them back in college. I think Harbaugh’s a different kind of cat, as many of…
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Harbaugh Joins Colin Cowherd (Dec-1 audio)
Jim Harbaugh on ESPN radio with Colin Cowherd this afternoon. Here’s the somewhat relevant portion on the coaching talk: [display_podcast] – * Talked about and praised QB Andrew Luck. He compared him to his wife…”perfect”. * “Coaching’s the next best thing”..to playing. * Is Stanford big enough for Jim Harbaugh: “No question it’s big enough” * On addressing the coaching rumors: Harbaugh: “I’m not one of those guys that spends any time on the blogosphere.” bah! Then he won’t mind my Jimmy bobblehead. * He’s just focusing on his dad’s advice: “Just coach the team”.
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Jamie Morris on Columbus Radio on Rodriguez, Harbaugh (audio)
So I went over to the Columbus’ 97.1 The Fan website to find the audio of Rich Rodriguez’s call today, and stumbled on this. Jamie Morris, Michigan football legend, WTKA Sunday radio host and most importantly an official within the U-M athletic department spoke to the Columbus host (Bruce Hooley…Chris Spielman was away) about the upcoming Ohio State game, but also answered a few questions about Rodriguez and Jim Harbaugh. My frustration with Morris on WTKA is that he’s been such a company man towing the company line on WTKA, that it’s prevented him from offering actual opinions. But give this is listen as Morris gets candid. I don’t know if this is just Jamie measuring his words, but he didn’t exactly serve up a wild endorsement of Rodriguez and admitted that Harbaugh would be welcomed back to U-M if he were the Michigan football coach at some point beyond RR’s tenure. It’s not so much what he said, but that Morris never says anything remotely beyond the company line. Give this a listen, it gets interesting about 3 minutes in: [display_podcast] . Notes/Quotes: For starters, he referred to Harbaugh as “Jimmy” instead of “traitor”. Hooley asked for a general sense of the radio caller support for Rodriguez. Morris: “I think we’re at a 50/50 split now…” When asked about…
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Free Press: Miles spoke with Martin, Coleman Friday
Mark Snyder just reported on Freep.com that Mary Sue Coleman and Bill Martin did indeed speak with Les Miles last week. He doesn’t cite any direct sources. Two quotes from the article of interest: Miles had a phone conversation Friday morning with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and school president Mary Sue Coleman, according to several people with knowledge of the call. …. While the call between the two sides did not identify Miles as the leading candidate for the coaching vacancy, it did give them a chance to interact formally for the first time and to discuss a number of issues previously handled through intermediaries. He did get one slightly interesting quote from one of Coleman’s people: “We’re not going to be discussing anything about recruiting (a new coach) until after the announcement is made,” Coleman’s spokesperson, Kelly Cunningham, said today. While we didn’t see what the question or comment was that prompted this comment from Cunningham, what does she mean by “the announcement”? What announcement? The phrasing is peculiar here because it’s not like anyone is aware of any type of pending decision in this process, thus, an announcement. If this is true, apparently Martin and Coleman didn’t have the LSU AD’s blessing who said today: “I’d be under the assumption that the permission to speak to Les…
