Well we've got no class
And we've got no principles
And we've got no innocence
We can't even think of a word that rhymes!
Alice Cooper, School's Out, 1971
The degree of a person's strength and character is best measured during moments of crisis. No better an example exists than the University of Michigan's athletic department.
Coach Lloyd Carr's announcement took no one by surprise. According to reports, it was understood as early as September that this would indeed be his final season at the helm of the Wolverines. Surely, more than enough time to enact that well-thought-out plan for finding a successor.
Being that Carr is no spring chicken to begin with, such plans had to have been conceived a year ago at least, maybe two. Right? This is the University of Michigan we're talking about here. A program that last endured a losing season during the Lyndon Johnson administration. A program that has been to 33 straight bowl games, and was 30-2-1 in the three non-bowl seasons before that.
Rarely in a situation like this does a candidate present himself as the heir to the throne as LSU head coach Les Miles had done. There was no second choice, no need for one. This was a Lou-Ferrigno-as-the-Hulk perfect fit. By now everyone knows why the copy-and-paste Schembechler clone seemed destined to don the "M" cap, so I won't rehash his pedigree and desire for the job. Instead I will focus my attention on the man who chose not to actively pursue Miles. The man who defended himself and his actions on principle yet, if the reports are accurate, abandoned said principles just a few days afterward.
Athletic Director Bill Martin, Lloyd's of London policy for Lloyd of Michigan and trusted guardian of a proud program's football future, defended his apparently casual attitude toward pursuing Miles in a statement the day after the former Wolverine player and assistant coach agreed to a multi-year extension with LSU: "I want to set the record straight as it concerns Michigan's process in its head-coaching search. We asked LSU for permission to talk to Les Miles last week and we were given permission to talk to Les but not until after the SEC Championship game on Saturday. Les Miles was one of our candidates. I did not talk to Les Miles or his agent this past week in accordance with the wishes of Skip Bertman and the LSU Athletic Department."
A March 2000 hire of former university president Lee Bollinger, first as inerim AD before his permanent upgrade five months later, Martin reiterated his adherence to these standards to the Ann Arbor News on Wednesday, saying "I committed not to talk to Les Miles, directly or indirectly before the championship game on Saturday. That's the way this process is done, or at least the way I'm honoring the process."
According to several sources, Martin was abandoning his principles the same day he was defending them. On Wednesday Martin reportedly met with Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano for several hours, sitting at adjacent tables and discussing more than the National Football Foundation's Hall of Fame dinner the previous evening. Reports said the meeting ended with both sides interested in the prospect of Schiano becomeing the next Wolverine coach, before Schiano announced this morning that he was going to remain at Rutgers (as I write this, it is not clear whether Martin had officially offered him the job).
Bob Mulcahy, the Rutgers AD, has been quoted as saying he was unaware of the meeting. More telling, he stated that he had not been approached by Martin or anyone at Michigan requesting contact with his football coach.
Martin has also offered an explanation for his mysterious disappearance last Friday, when he had the opportunity to return the previous day's call from Miles' agent, George Bass, and indicate any interest in his client (Martin admitted in Sunday's statement that Miles was indeed a candidate). "I was out on the boat (in Key Largo, Florida) with a donor, for an hour," Martin told the Ann Arbor News on Wednesday.
Forget for the moment the likelihood of flying to Florida for a one-hour boat ride in the Atlantic. My boss goes anywhere on vacation and people know how to reach him. The athletic director of one of college football's most prominent programs leaves town 13 days after the head football coaching position becomes vacant, and cannot be reached to return a call.
It begs the question: Is sailing more important than football to Bill Martin?
A look at his background is revealing if not downright creepy. From 1988 to 1991 Martin served as president of the United States Sailing Association, the sports's national governing body. He was awarded the Nathaniel G. Heereshoff Trophy in 2003 for outstanding contributions to the sport of sailing in the United States. His credentials may be impressive were he wearing Mary Sue Coleman's shoes (and if that's his desire, we'll just keep it our secret). But with no experience indicated for any non-sailing sport (much less football), Martin's biography in the Michigan football media guide seems to indicate that of a person better suited to hire the crew coach than anything else.
Now couple that with his on-the-job experience regarding the coaching positions of Michigan's high-profile sports teams. Aside from Carr, who had been given a free pass to coach until he felt like calling it quits, Martin's biggest imprint on Michigan athletics was deciding to stick with basketball coach Tommy Amaker for six agonizing seasons despite the Wolverines never qualifying for the NCAA tournament. That is, until his inexcusable misread of the Les Miles situation. And considering his inability to sell the University of Michigan coaching opportunity persuasively enough to lure a guy away from Rutgers, bigger imprints may be yet to come.
It's enough to give even the most rabid Wolverine fan a case of sea legs.
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