AD option: Tim Selgo, GVSU
One interesting option I haven't seen mentioned for UM Athletic Director is Tim Selgo, the AD at Grand Valley State University since 1996.
- Runs a consistently successful DII athletic department: 150 conference championships in 18 years. (They had 45 before he arrived.)
- Consistent excellence across multiple sports -- GVSU won the DII Director's Cup nine of the last 11 years.
- Actual scholar-athlete rather than Dave Brandon benchwarmer: Four-year basketball letterman at Toledo, team captain, two NCAA tournament appearances.
- Former head women's basketball coach, Toledo
- Former associate AD, Toledo
- Former chair of the DII Management Council
You've got a guy here who is in-state already, has proven he can run an excellent athletic department from the sports side of things, is respected among his AD peers, is a former coach and player so he can talk to those constituencies in their own language and has a great reputation among his stakeholders. I asked a colleague who went to GVSU what he thought of Selgo and whether he'd do well at Michigan and his response was essentially "Don't you dare take him, we love him."
Potential downsides are whether or not he can manage the big-ticket sponsorship things and absorb the "You're not a Michigan Man" abuse, but the former is clearly not where our issues lie and the latter goes away if he starts undoing some of the Brandon gimcrackery and wallet-wringing.
Yes, I think Warde Manuel and Brad Bates are still the obvious choices, but this guy seems like a legitimate consideration if there needs to be a Plan B.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
A D2 athetic director? Really?
October 14th, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^
Is Michigan too "big" for this guy? I really don't know, I'm just asking.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
Actual scholar-athlete rather than Dave Brandon benchwarmer: Four-year basketball letterman at Toledo, team captain, two NCAA tournament appearances.
Taking a shot like this really weakens a legit argument that Brandon hasn't been a good AD. Do you actually think a faster 40 time along with an extra inch and ten pounds when he was 18-22 would make Brandon a better AD than he is today?
October 14th, 2014 at 4:02 PM ^
THANK YOU. Absolutely true, and part of my frustration with this board's tendency to harp on stupid things just to pile on to Hoke and Brandon. Their actual resumes are enough - are we really using weight, press conference vocabulary (or reluctance to answer questions), and college athletic achievements as reasons they aren't cutting it?
Mediocre coaching and corporate overhaul of our athletic culture are good reasons to want change. And that should be enough.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:27 PM ^
Look, the real issue at the AD spot is when/whether the powers that be get rid of David Brandon. I PROMISE you that if they do, there will be NO ISSUE landing one of either Warde Manuel/Brad Bates/Jeff Long. There's no need to go scaping DII programs or D1 Associate Directors. One of that trio will come to Ann Arbor if asked. No joke.........you can BK Finest it.
This isn't the same as the head football coach.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
I just don't think whether or not Brandon was a starter forty years ago is relevant to how good he is at his job today.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:03 PM ^
It definitely impacts what he says when he sits in on film sessions. I bet you this fella can teach that Beilein guy a thing or two.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:14 PM ^
Yeah, I don't get why a guy's accomplishments 30+ years ago in basketball matters, unless the argument is that he "feels" for athletes more than Brandon, which is a massive stretch.
Brandon should be fired because he has made a number of prominent missteps, and the next guy/gal should be hired because that person is best suited based on experience as an AD. Martin didn't play a lick of college sports to what I've read, but he was a decent AD.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:31 PM ^
Except for that one time where he was making the biggest decision of his career and was on a sailboat, unavailable to take a phone call. But ya, great otherwise.
October 14th, 2014 at 8:10 PM ^
Expanding on what I meant with that particular bullet point -- I don't mean to denigrate what Brandon did athletically at Michigan, but there's both a qualitative and quantitative difference in the experience between a starter on even a MAC conference champion team and that of a reserve who appears in one game in his career. It doesn't mean that one worked "harder" than the other, but there's different demands on time, different pressures, different relationships with coaches, teammates, professors, media and fans, different experiences in class and between classes, etc.
That comparison doesn't automatically make Brandon a bad AD or mean that he's deficient, but when "Brandon played football under Bo Schembechler and was a member of three Big Ten Championship teams" is the second sentence in his official AD bio then I think we're allowed to talk about how relevant that experience was to his current position and whether or not we think that's an important background for any future leader of the department.
I think there's value to an AD (or any leader) having first-hand experience with as many of his constituencies as possible, and a guy who was an NCAA tournament-level athlete as well as a women's basketball coach at the DI level stands out to me.
October 14th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
Brandon's experience as a player ended in 1974, and you're probably looking at the same timetable for every AD candidate. I'd say whether he was a starter is about as relevant to being a successful athletic director as his GPA was to being CEO at Domino's. Someone who came up through athletics would be an ideal candidate -and coaching is a good place to start- but coaching doesn't have much to do with how good of an athlete you are. (Beilein played at a DII school with 1,200 undergrads, and Wayne Gretzky has a career losing record as a coach, for two easy anecdotes.)
Brandon having his Bo cred on the first line of his bio says a lot more about his outsized ego, Bo's place in the culture of Michigan athletics, and Brandon's lack of directly relevant experience than anything else.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
Lets put a D2 guy in charge of a top 5 athletic department in the country. What could go wrong.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
than putting the former CEO of a pizza company in charge of a top 5 athletic department.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:36 PM ^
7 years ago when everyone knew Lloyd was retiring, My brother and I were debating on the next coach. I was pulling for Kelly, my brother was pulling for a head coach from a small college that was doing a great job.
Too small of a college to "jump" to Michigan...
Not enough actual experience....
Were the repeated Cons to that.
Of course I am referring to JH.
My point is, don't be so quick to discount someone just because he does not have "big time" experience. While nothing is certain, judge the person by their accomplishments and character.
October 14th, 2014 at 6:15 PM ^
Just because someone is a good mayor doesn't mean they would be a good governor.
October 14th, 2014 at 8:12 PM ^
Cool story, but 7 years ago, Harbaugh wasn't at a small college anymore - he was Stanford's coach.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:58 PM ^
provincial we are
October 14th, 2014 at 3:59 PM ^
FIRE BRANDON!
But Selgo (or any other Division II AD) being 'Plan B' level? Only if I'm 'Plan B' material if Brian wins his U of M Regents Seat and is forced to step aside while on the BOR.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:01 PM ^
There only needs to be a "Plan B" if we get to a point where a "Plan A" failed. And unfortunately I'm not entirely sure Brandon is as "good as gone" as Bando predicted. If you remember I read the tea leaves a bit differently than most. I thought Shlissel's attendance at football practice was more circling the wagons than anything else. And I think Brandon's lack of tweeting is more someone simply telling him to be quiet and keep a low profile until all this unrest blows over than a sign of his secret demise.
I am starting to think that the prospect of Brandon being back next year is likely and if Hoke finishes above 500 I think he might be back too.
God help us all.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
Even if Hoke wins 5 games, if Brandon is back I think Hoke is back and I don't know if student protests are enough to unseat Brandon. This may truly be the darkest timeline.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
The Regents and President have had amble time to decide whether DB stays. The facts of his tenure are not in dispute. Yet, despite being told communication will be timely and transparent not a word regarding DB.
My view is unless DB resigns the Regents and President will no take any action against him. If he stays, so does Hoke. DB will not want to admit to a mistake with his first major hire.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
whether DB stays. I'd be surprised if that decision hasn't already been made. Negotiating the terms of his departure and planning the transition takes some time. If he is fired, a lot of work will have been done before the announcement.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:26 PM ^
So show some patience? No I need the blood of the current AD now (metaphorically) of course.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^
October 15th, 2014 at 8:17 AM ^
is that's he's been told to stay quiet while his departure is negotiated. That's something that both sides could have agreed on.
Not saying your version is impossible, but his following someone's advice seems less likely, especially given his famous arrogance. I can't imagine it being an order from Schlissel. How could he entrust a department with a nine figure budget and a lot of PR responsibilty to someone he can't trust to send a tweet?
I think if Schlissel was truly circling the wagons, he would have taken DB to practice with him. It would have been a friendly audience.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^
I like creative suggestions. I don't like this suggestion.
Do some research into the decision-making process that lead to the hiring of current football coach Matt Mitchell. That would be one of those situations where "even if it's a good idea, it's a bad idea."
October 14th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^
I'm not familar with the process that resulted in Matt Mitchell being named head coach, but I assume some of what you are alluding to is the fact that he is married to Tim Selgo's daughter. That might make things a little awkward if/when Selgo fires Mitchell for missing the D2 playoffs for the third time in five seasons as head coach at Grand Valley.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^
no. Selgo has done great things with GVSU, but if the football program isn't up to par (like it is this year), no one is going to call for his head.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^
a different animal than division one? Scholarship limitations. Of course budget sizes . . .Dont' get me wrong. The GVSU AD dominates at what he does. But Gerry Faust was a dominant High School football coach before going to ND.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
GVSU's athletic department expenses were $11.4M.
Michigan's were $111M. That's a factor of 10. That's a pretty significant step up in responsibility.
(see: http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/GetOneInstitutionData.aspx)
October 14th, 2014 at 4:59 PM ^
They're just numbers... just because the budget at GVSU is smaller, doesn't mean it's any less critical to maintain discipline to that budget or less stressful running the department from a financial standpoint. If anything, I'd imagine there is far less wiggle room to deal with budget overruns at GVSU than DB deals with at UM.
Certainly there are other aspects of the situations that are different, but to me, the whole bigger budget argument would not deter me from hiring a DII guy... I may view someone coming from DII as having a tendancy to be more fiscally responsible than someone coming from a place with much deeper pockets... so long as it isn't detrimental.. i.e. penny pincher AD.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
Although totally unfamiliar with the GVSU guy, he does seem to have a good resume at a lower level.
I don't know a lot about Bates, except that the FB team has improved in his 2.5 years at BC (beat NCState and USC this year). The mens BB team has gone downhill. I am not sure how much credit or blame he gets for either. But he was at Miami of Ohio a while and did play for Bo at UM. He has a doctoral degree and actually teaches (sports administration). I assume with the latter teaching, he must have some exposure to the marketing side of things. But (gulp) one of his sponsors is Coke.
I know far less about Manuel, but the UConn FB program is in shambles. True, they almost beat UM at home last year. I went to that game and was impressed by the nice, seemingly new FB stadium. On the other hand, the UConn staff piped in really obnoxious artificial noise to supplant the crowd on every UM 3rd down attempt. It was really cheezy and seemed like an admission that they have trouble generating their own cheers. So, I would have some concerns about a repeat of Brandon's gimmickry. This, of course, may be way off target and is based on a very superficial first impression.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
I've met Selgo on numerous occasions. Great guy. If this were taking over for Bill Martin, he actually may have a shot. I don't think he'll be at GVSU forever. I think he'll try to move up to a directional Michigan.
But in sitting and speaking with him, he's a great AD, sharp and knows he's stuff. I've never sat or spoken to Brandon, but from all accounts, he's a douche.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:21 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 14th, 2014 at 4:21 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
Roger that!!!
October 14th, 2014 at 8:47 PM ^
He's done a remarkable job at getting new, state of the art facilities built. In the past few years, GVSU has built an indoor football practice facility (Some D1 schools don't have that), a renovated football stadium, A new Track & Field/ Lacrosse Stadium, An indoor track, New outdoor practice facilites, an academic support center for student athletes, and they are currently planning renovations to their swimming facility. They also opperate a golf course that is ranked in the top 25 of campus golf courses. All of this came from fundraising.
Laker for a Lifetime
October 14th, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^
While I think Bates and Manuel are the most logical candidates, you cannot ignore the overwhelming success Selgo has had. GVSU is a DII athletic power house in every way, and he created it. He obviously knows how to hire coaches and run an athletic department. He may not be the best/right choice for Michigan, however I would not be suprised to see a D1 school go after him. He is in his mid-50s so he may want to stay at GVSU at this point, but if you are looking for a natural leader, he fits the bill.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
There are many, many, many legitimate criticisms of David Brandon, but the fact that he was a "benchwarmer" when he played under Bo is not one of them.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:44 PM ^
He would be a great hire. Just because he is not a household name does not mean that he could not do the job. I have lived in Grand Rapids for 25 years and Tim Selgo is very highly respected and has done an incredible job at Grand Valley.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
He kinda lucked out a little in building up the AD. Most D2 AD's don't have Brian Kelly as the incumbent coach when they take over. Brian Kelly or not, no one can deny that he has done a remarkable job of getting the rest of GVSU's sports to the upper echelon of DII. I'm a GVSU alum, and while I never met him, he was well liked on campus.
I don't think he is a bad option by any means, and if he had a few years at CMU or WMU I would give it more of a chance. Not to say he wouldn't be successful, but it is such a huge jump from GVSU to UM. The football stadium there holds 10,000 people, it feels much closer to a high school environment than a D1 one.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:55 PM ^
I agree with some of what you just said but..... If the little guy is never given a chance then how do we know if they could ever do the job? If you are good then you are good in my mind. I do agree that the Valley is more like a High School environment which would make Michigan a huge jump but hiring Selgo would be a slight gamble but could pay off big time if he could acheive just half of what he has at Grand Valley.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
October 14th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^