Courtesy of: ESPN
Please note that this is not an official press transcript of David Brandon’s press conference regarding the firing of Rich Rodriguez. It is however, word for word what he said.
Ah, the wonders of DVR right!?
The questions were muffled of course, but I did my best to give you the general feel of the question. All of Brandon’s answer’s are here.
Dave Brandon: Good afternoon. Yesterday I met with Rich Rodriguez for several hours, and conducted a thorough review of our football program. I had prepared my evaluation of the program fundamentally examining the following performance measures: Performance in competition, recruiting and retention, academic performance, leadership, university image as it relates to our players, and university image as it relates to our coaches.
Rich and I agreed at the start of the meeting that we would have an open, honest, and direct exchange on all of the issues connected to these performance measures. We agreed that this meeting would not conclude with any specific go forward decisions, or conclusions. I wanted the opportunity to reflect on the meeting, and take the evening to reflect on the conversations that we had, and we agreed that we would get back together today to further discuss any next steps.
It was a professional, helpful meeting that afforded me the opportunity to review the entire program with the coach, and gather all of the information I needed to make an important decision.
I met with Coach Rodriguez this morning, and informed him of my decision to relieve him of his responsibilities, and to pursue new leadership for our football program. I believe this is the best decision for the future of Michigan football.
Now, I don’t intend to do a public performance review of our coach, or our football program here today; I don’t think it’s the time or the place. I will simply say that Coach Rodriguez has faced many challenges and difficulties over his three years here, and I wanna state for the record that I appreciate the hard work and effort that he and his staff have put forth.
Rich Rodriguez is a good man. None of us are pleased with the results that we have achieved over the last three seasons, but I don’t believe this was a result of lack of effort.
I wish Rich, his family, and his staff good luck in the future. I’m confident that he’ll be a successful coach at another program, and accomplish many things.
I now intend to conduct a national search to determine the best person to come to Michigan and lead our football program.
What questions do you have for me?
Question number one: I’m sure even Brandon had a hard time hearing this, but I think it had something to do with Rodriguez’s staff. Either way, we have the answer.
Brandon: Rich and I met this morning, and we’re having meetings right now over at Schembechler Hall, and having one on one discussions with individuals so that they all are aware of how they’re affected by this change, and we’ll let that process continue so that I don’t get ahead of any of those discussions.
Question Number Two: Muffled, muffled garble. But, I think I heard the word future, and short list? Let’s take a look at the answer at least.
Brandon: Well, certainly I’ve given some thought to this and tried to do some planning around it, but knowing that this decision is very fresh I have a lot of work to do. So, that’s where we start immediately following this session today.
Question Number Three: Some mumbled garbage, thankfully Brandon has a microphone!
Brandon: No I don’t intend to create any comities. Certainly there are people out there that are close to the program whose judgment and whose experience I value, and all of them have constantly, since I got this job in March, reached out and made their advice available. So, I’m sure there’s no lack of advice in this job. But, certainly it’s my job to pick out those folks who give me the best advice, and can help me make the best decision for Michigan football.
Question Number Four: This guy spoke much louder! His question was about the importance of getting a coach in as soon as possible for recruiting purposes.
Brandon: Well, this is job number one. It’s very important that I move as quickly as I possibly can, but I think what we’ve learned in the past is these decisions last a long time. So, my job is to get the right coach, and to engage in a process that affords me the ability to do that.
Clearly when you go through a transitional change like this it’s a disruption to recruiting, and anybody who says it’s a positive is lying. It’s a negative I get that. The faster we can bring a new leader in the better, but I’m not going to be motivated by those circumstances. I’m going to be motivated by making sure I get exactly the right person to come in and be successful.
Question Number Five: Harbaugh question of course:
Brandon: There’s been a lot of Jim Harbaugh noise out there, and I’m not deaf to hearing it. Jim has a lot of contacts with this program, the Harbaugh family does. Jim Harbaugh is real close to Michigan. I think Jim Harbaugh is in a position where he’s making ya know important decisions as relates to where his career is going.
I personally believe that Jim Harbaugh is headed to the NFL, but that’s my opinion as opposed to any qualified judgment I can give you on that.
Question Number Six: I made out the word approximate, and it was all downhill from there. Did snag the word shortage at the end though, so let’s see what Brandon had to say about the approximate shortage apparently.
Brandon: I do not believe we will have a shortage of interested candidates. I think that this program is still one of the most premier programs in the country. When you look at the facilities here, when you look at the fan base here, and the passion that exists here for Michigan football, the role that it plays in the athletic program here; the Big House and everything that comes with it is something that a lot of coaches aspire to be a part of. So, I believe that there will be very qualified, interested candidates out there, and it’s my job to select the right one.
Question Number Seven: Roughly the question was: How important is it for the Michigan fan base to get behind the next coach?
Brandon: Yeah, I started in this position in March, and one of the first things I said the first day was that one of my objectives was to try to bring the Michigan community together again. We’ve been divided to a large extent. We continue to be divided based on all the various inputs and opinions that I get. And, clearly if we want to be successful, if we want to be successful as a football program, as an athletic department, and we want our university to really represent what we’re all about; we need to rally around our new coach, don’t find fault, don’t make hasty judgments before they arrive on campus. What we need to do is rally around our coach, support him, and do everything we can do to help him be successful, and I hope that’s what our fans, our alums, and all of the folks who are connected with Michigan are prepared to do.
Question Number Eight: Ah here it is. How important is it to get a “Michigan Man”?
Brandon: There are advantages and there are disadvantages to a variety of things on that job description. Whether it’s a Michigan Man, quote unquote, or not; what clearly is important is that whoever it has a clear understanding of what Michigan is all about. And, this is a unique place. It creates unique challenges, it also provides unique opportunities, and what I know and believe is that whoever comes into this job has to understand that clearly and be well suited for it.
