"Insider" rumblings Pettiti's near-term future is ominous as B1G AD
I'll start first with the disclaimer: I cannot speak to the level of "credible insider" the reporter is; so until it becomes more substantiated by credible publications, it's best to assume this is just posturing/speculation.
Matt Broder is a former Michigan Baseball player and is now a beat reporter covering the Detroit Lions for Woodward Sports (I know, little to no credibility as a sports journalism outfit; it's Detroit Sports Radio that streams a YouTube channel). He had an interesting/cryptic tweet related to some significant, systemic changes anticipated from some within the Michigan Athletic Department:
While I'm not a huge fan of the way he teases these implications could suggest Harbaugh is in any real trouble of being removed from his HC position (he is about to sign a deal making him the highest paid coach in the B1G), it is the first piece of "credible" speculation I have seen from an actual reporter rather than message board posters and internet sleuths. Given Matt's history as a UM athlete and a credentialed member of the Detroit Sports media - albeit credentialed for the Detroit Lions, not UM - I thought it's at least plausible that some close to the situation have reason to believe Pettiti won't make it in his position through the balance of this year.
Segment below is his commentary on Ermani & Edwards sports talk radio show:
November 15th, 2023 at 9:26 PM ^
yeah the logical outcome is that either a school employee or the commissioner will get fired but not both.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:29 PM ^
Petitti? Does that describe his dick?
November 15th, 2023 at 9:56 PM ^
Hey Greg, don’t say ‘Dick’ in front of the g-i-r-l-s
November 15th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
Pet titties?
November 15th, 2023 at 9:31 PM ^
“Insider” rumblings= poster's secret hope (insert rumbling here) happens
November 15th, 2023 at 9:32 PM ^
I don't know who has the authority to remove the comish and what the procedure is. I'm sure it must be followed to be effective unlike his making shit up as he goes.
Sounds fake to me because I assume he has a contract and that can only be terminated by some kind of majority vote from member schools and I have yet to hear one defend M.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:36 PM ^
Sounds like he’s saying the other schools are telling Pettiti either wack Harbaugh or we wack you.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
It was revenge for Jimmy Harbaugh...and a lot of other things. And there was nothing that they could do about it. Harbaugh was a made man, and Tony wasn't.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:42 PM ^
Click bait... BUT, I would believe fox sports bras aren't happy with ESPN being the first to break news to the public.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
ESPN sucks
November 15th, 2023 at 10:32 PM ^
November 15th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
Not real nor spectacular.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:45 PM ^
What stupidity is this lol … is the B1G going to give Jim the death penalty of no further coaching in the conference? It sure as hell ain’t the university that’s going to tell Jim that he’s out of a job …
November 15th, 2023 at 10:02 PM ^
If that rumor is true or the rumor I'm hearing often that the playoff committee will be keeping Michigan out of the 4 team playoffs, even if they defeat OSU and win the B1G title. If either is true, then it's time to leave the B1G conference.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:30 PM ^
Time to establish a brand new conference. Hell with the B1G.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:47 PM ^
Everything I hear is the CFP said they aren't holding Michigan back. They don't answer to the NCAA for the playoffs!
November 16th, 2023 at 8:19 AM ^
Unless there’s something brand new, I’ve heard absolutely nothing of the sort regarding the CFP committee wanting to bar Michigan from the playoff.
At least as of a few days to a week ago, they essentially said, as long as Michigan is deemed eligible by the NCAA, they’re not going to stand in anyone’s way.
And I don’t know why they would. Michigan being in the CFP is good for business, and really stinking good for TV revenue.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:46 PM ^
Not buying it, but I would not be surprised if there is a UM-friendly person at that level who is willing to speculate from an anti-Pettiti standpoint.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:47 PM ^
Conditional statements are not news and are 99 percent of the time clickbait
November 15th, 2023 at 9:51 PM ^
I'm a little confused by this like everyone. The B1G can't fire Harbaugh unless they leveled some massive penalty where he's suspended like 3 years, which would be a massive reach and they would lose in court.
I have to assume that means Pettiti would be fired, which yeah, he will be soon. He can't recover from this and he's crossed his Rubicon. The other schools will probably dispose of him soon after this.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:53 PM ^
His contract may include a terminal stupiditti clause.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:53 PM ^
The report is probably far-fetched rumor.
But just for the sake of argument, let's assume for the moment that there's a tiny spark of fact in it somewhere.
Let's say Michigan has been sniffing around and discussing possibilities of getting a divorce from the conference with certain highly placed people at networks, rival conferences, etc.
After putting together a 7 billion dollar media deal two years ago, it wouldn't shock me if certain Big Ten members at a higher level than mere coaches and ADs got a call from the people who put together that deal informing them that if Michigan leaves, the deal would be subject to renegotiation.
If a 7 billion dollar deal blows up, you can bet on Pettiti finding himself in some pretty deep shit for his bonehead stunt.
This scenario is obviously a guess on my part. But 7 billion dollars is a lot of coin to put at risk. I doubt the networks would sit still and just let it happen.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:36 PM ^
I doubt the networks would sit still and just let it happen.
They won't. At a minimum, I'm quite sure that last week's rumor about the Board of Regents beginning discussions about leaving the B1G got those TV network execs to pick up the phone and find out if it was true or not. I can also imagine that some of U-M's very influential alumni might have had a word or two with some of those same network executives.
One of my Dad's favorite sayings is "Money talks, and bullshit walks." U-M represents more money to the networks than any other B1G member not named "OSU." That will do a lot of talking on our behalf.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:02 PM ^
Let's also point out that Michigan is worth at least $1 billion of those dollars. The 2 big football programs bring in the most!
November 16th, 2023 at 4:46 AM ^
Absolutely. In fact, the president of Fox Sports is a Michigan alum and is reportedly pretty pissed at Pettiti.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:45 AM ^
When the ratings are reviewed and it is Michigan and Ohio St with by far the largest viewership in the conference and many of the conference members only getting ratings for games against Michigan or Ohio st, that tells the value of both programs and the rivalry itself. Michigan's resurgence has been great for the conference and in part led to the ridiculous tv money. Even the graph showing the number of games with 4 million viewers the last three seasons you see that osu is only slightly ahead of Michigan and then consider how horrible our non conference schedule has been and that a marque non conference opponent would have added major numbers over the ecu/unlv/bgsu schedule this year or uconn/hawaii/coloradost schedule the year before. That and nobody expected what happened in 2021 so by the last half of that season the ratings from casual fans poured in..
If Michigan were to leave the BigTen, Ohio st's ratings also suffer not to mention without that game, the largest viewed regular season game in cf annually is gone. A massive financial impact would be felt in tv contract negotiations.
So the preface of is Pettiti in trouble, I'd suggest there are behind the scenes conversations telling him, He better know what he is doing. I'd bet Fox, CBS and NBC have called and said WTF are you doing. Pure speculation on my part, but any and all conversations to date would have him seeking a way out without destroying this seasons cfp hopes for the conference and with as little lasting consequences to the relationship the conference has with Michigan. The latter part is not irreparable but that is going to take a long time to repair. And even that is based upon how things go.
November 16th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
I also don't believe that it was a coincidence that Michigan's response to the B1G was that they consider a suspension of Jim Harbaugh without due process a breach with regards to B1G policy. To me that was a shot across the bow warning the league they will pursue separating from the B1G if the league keeps pushing in that direction. Discussing a breach, would indicate Michigan considers the contract broken and therefore free to move on if necessary.
Whether that would hold up in court, who knows, but I don't think it was an accident that they added that phrasing.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:53 PM ^
Last we heard was The Athletic was going to put out a big piece on another B1G program, still waiting on that one.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:57 PM ^
No way that Harbaugh is going to be fired. I hope he signs his big contract and does not leave us for the NFL.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
I love that NOW is the time that Harbaguh "may" be out of a job.
The BIGTEN fucked around and found out. You kick Harbaugh to the curb you better be ready for WW3. We are 100% behind coach from top to bottom.
Tiny Peepee on the other hand.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:09 PM ^
Who's tinier, Tim or Tom?
November 15th, 2023 at 10:11 PM ^
This came out a day or two ago and wasn't worth a post then.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
Terrible hire to begin with, give him his walking papers. Take Warde with him.!
November 15th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
I’ve gone though the comments and am sure a few others have said this either directly or indirectly, but “Harbaugh or Petitti could be out of a job” strikes me as a completely empty declaration. Sure, maybe. But more likely, neither will be.
It’s not binary or either/or like “Michelle Pfeiffer will return my many persistent emails and phone calls—or not.” Or “Schrodinger’s cat is either dead or royally pissed off at being left in the box for so long.”
November 15th, 2023 at 10:41 PM ^
Aren’t you leaving out the pissibility of entangled pirs here? Meaning…
What if it’s actually Michelle’s cat? DID YOU CONSIDER THAT???
November 15th, 2023 at 11:12 PM ^
stringer, thanks. That’s it! I will save the cat and Michelle will say “perrrfect!” She was Catwoman, after all.
Then there will be that scene on the piano in the Fabulous Baker Boys. Whoopee!!!
November 15th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
This whole "either/or" scenario is idiotic on its face. Harbaugh is an exceptionally important member in good standing of our particular tribe. He's going nowhere involuntarily.
Petitti is the Star Trek ensign in the red uniform beamed down to surface.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
Hey there, don’t be dragging Starfleet. You have to be trained and qualified to be an Ensign.
November 16th, 2023 at 10:27 AM ^
No, no - any Navy CPO will tell you the Ensigns are the most expendable / least knowledgeable part of the crew, while not even available to do the grunt work of an enlisted apprentice. (I was an Ensign and they are pretty much correct - you have to be a sponge those first two years. The XO pretty much talks past you to the CPO.)
November 16th, 2023 at 11:08 AM ^
So anytime you were beamed down to planet with Kirk, Spock, and Bones you were lucky to make it back to the ship. And... perhaps rightfully so?
November 15th, 2023 at 11:01 PM ^
They can’t make us fire Jim. However, they could choose to fire themselves and walk away from the Big Ten. We wouldn’t miss them. Better they leave than us.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:09 PM ^
If this whole Harbaugh "saga" has taught me anything, it's how glad I am to not be following a bunch of fake insiders peddling news of unverified voracity on the internet. These guys can only aspire to be correct twice per day like a broken clock.
November 16th, 2023 at 1:10 AM ^
Did you take a picture of a tweet and post it rather than imbed the tweet? Just...wow.
November 16th, 2023 at 7:38 AM ^
I actually prefer that to a link with no preview. I hate Twitter, I'd rather not see the tweet than go look at the original. Blech.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:28 AM ^
Agreed. I quit Twitter for a reason.
November 16th, 2023 at 2:37 AM ^
I guess I'm confused, One of the biggest scandals in college football history ( 🙄) , The big ten has enough evidence ( I'm not convinced ) to justify a suspension but gives Harbaugh game day(s) only suspension. He can work 6 of the 7 days.. what am I missing?
November 16th, 2023 at 7:55 AM ^
Popcorn (or antacids).
November 16th, 2023 at 4:59 AM ^
“Due to pressure from member schools, Harbaugh could be out of a job”
This is where I question the credibility of this information. The Big Ten doesn’t have the authority to fire Jim Harbaugh. Michigan is not going to fire Jim Harbaugh because the other members of the conference have a case of the feel-bads. In what world is Jim Harbaugh’s job in jeopardy due to pressure from conference members?
November 16th, 2023 at 5:32 AM ^
Due to intense pressure from voters, either the Republican Party or Democratic Party presidential candidate could be out of a job a year from now.