Tuebor

November 6th, 2017 at 2:38 PM ^

Considering the fact that he went 86-30 from 2008-2016 in the toughest conference in football during that time period?  And considering he was a Michigan guy who was coming off of 3 consecutive 11+ win seasons culminating in the National Championship in 2007?

 

Yeah, I'd say that was a bad thing.  

 

 

jmblue

November 6th, 2017 at 3:10 PM ^

I don't doubt that he would have been better than RR/Hoke, but I do doubt that we'd have gotten Harbaugh after him.  The timing lined up perfectly in 2014.  That's not always (or usually) the case. 

More likely, Les would probably still be here now and Jim would have taken another job, either in the NFL or college.

Tuebor

November 6th, 2017 at 4:50 PM ^

I have to imagine that if Les Miles comes in 2008 we probably still struggle in 2008 but make a bowl game. I'd saw we would have probably beaten at least 3 of Utah, Toledo, Northwestern, Purdue.

So long story short we probably never miss bowl games in 2008, 2009, and 2014.  

 

 

But sometimes you have to be humbled to truly appreciate what you have...

Brodie

November 7th, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^

I don't know, in the preceeding three seasons RichRod won 10 games every year and was a missed field goal away from playing Les in that 2007 National Championship. Les also accomplished most of his biggest feats in the pre-Saban period. 

Past results absolutely do not dictate future results and there is no real reason to believe that Les would have done any better than Rich. 

Tuebor

November 7th, 2017 at 3:29 PM ^

RRod was a hot name, but he was a massive cultural shift for the program that Les Miles would not have been.

 

How much that cultural shift from 2008-2010 has an effect on us today is up for debate.  After four years of Hoke, who was in over his head but fit the old Michigan culture, and now in Harbaugh's third year I think our woes today are a result of Hoke's ineptness and not in any way a result of RRod's cultural mismatch.   

Mpfnfu Ford

November 6th, 2017 at 5:49 PM ^

Yeah that was a bad thing to not hire Les. Would have been much preferable to what ended up happening with the next two coaches.

The idea of hiring Les Miles when Hoke was floundering was insane because it was clear he was already on the downside of his career. But he had quite a few excellent years at LSU after 2007 and would have been able to hit the ground running with the Michigan roster as it existed then instead of going through a painful tactical transition twice. 

mGrowOld

November 6th, 2017 at 4:13 PM ^

92.3 sports talk radio here in Cleveland plays the MSC halftime speech EVERY DAMN DAY at 6:45pm.  Every day.   I'm pretty sure I could now give the speech myself by memory I've heard it so many times.

And BTW.....her claim that it was the echos of her hearing her own voice that caused those speech patterns?  That's 100% Columbian bullshit IMO.  I know that voice - and I've spoken that voice many, many times in my life.  And it wasnt stadium echos that caused it.

Tuebor

November 8th, 2017 at 11:16 AM ^

If I recall my Bacon correctly, Martin had a plan and was going to offer Miles after the season.  But he didn't communicate that with Mary Sue, although as athletic director he probably thought the hiring process was up to him.   Then Mary Sue paniced when some donors expressed concerns about recroooting since we didn't have the next coached hired that instant.  So she took it upon herself to start a search committee and Martin was on vacation and didn't answer his phone.  

 

So yeah, Martin should have communicated to his superiors what his plan was.  But Mary Sue micromanaged her AD and the results were disastrous.

oriental andrew

November 6th, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^

That was a pretty splashy and exciting hire. Maybe a bit out-of-the-blue, but don't let hindsight change reality. Sure, there were questions about the defenses, the style of play, the strength of schedule at WVU, but on balance, people were excited. Per our own MGoBlog...

http://mgoblog.com/content/profiles-heroism-rich-rodriguez

There were three, maybe four, obvious A-list candidates who seemed feasible going into the year: Miles, Tedford, Rodriguez, and possibly Schiano. After flailing about for a solid month, they locked down an A-list candidate. There are no complaints from this sector. There is an apology pending.

Rodriguez is a proven winner and offensive innovator who will drastically alter the culture of the program.

Rodriguez is everything a Michigan fan could want in a hire; to get him after the month-long disappointment train that was the coaching search is manna from heaven.

 

 

LSAClassOf2000

November 6th, 2017 at 3:27 PM ^

Agreed, but this question will always get asked even though most people who are highly engaged within the fanbase have long known the answer. It is almost as if some folks still cannot believe that we would not have asked Les Miles, but given the people in charge here in Ann Arbor at the time, I can totally believe we would not have asked Les Miles.....or indeed a lot of other people who possibly would have done well at the time.