Schlissel got it Right

Props to all parties involved.  After years of bungling, this restores my faith in U-M's ability to once again be "leaders and best."

I wonder how Schlissel decided on Hackett, perhaps Carr, other alumni or even Brandon advised him? Making the appointment, getting out of the way, letting smart people be smart is good leadership. Well done Schlissel.

The planets aligned for this to happen - from Schissel to Hackett to Harbaugh.

I already did this a couple weeks ago. At the time there was grumbling that it was early. I don't see any duplicate threads after a search. This is just to point out, again, Schlissel's role in the turnaround since late September. On September 30th, after two months on the job, with limited experience in oversight of large athletic departments, he stepped in on the toxic cloud of adverse PR surrounding M football. For Halloween, with minimal drama and fanfare, and with the calm authoritative tone of adulthood for which fans had been starved, he maneuvered Brandon out and gave us JMFH(ackett) as a Halloween present. Before the swim lanes and ninja search process, there was only Schlissel. MMFS.

starting with Schlissel.  He decided to reinforce Michigan's role in big time athletics, rather than shy away as some suspected he might.  Hiring Hackett was genius, then made better by letting Hackett do his work.  Finally, kudos to the unsung heroes in this process, the alums who stepped up with the cash that effectively took money as an issue off the table.  The process became all about Michigan vs. a life in the pros.  In that comparison, Michigan wins with Harbaugh.  Well done by all.   

since the late summer.  As the season started I think that some people realized how bad our department had gotten and the product on the field sped up the process of needing to get a new athletic director to make a good run at Harbaugh.  My question would be how much the big donors were in Schlissel's ear to find a new athletic director to go hard after Harbaugh?  

To Schlissel's credit, he listened well when he did not understand our infatuation with athletics

People are raising good points in here. I wonder if Schlissel has changed his perspective on college athletics as a result of this. I mean, I don't know if he expect applications to increase, or if that's even a major concern of his, but there's no doubt that excellent athletics permeates and bolsters the prestige, cachet, and recognizability of the school. Schlissel's obviously not dumb, and I think he recognizes that. Or, this was a just a circus to him and now he can move onto things like the hospital, the graduate programs, etc.

Schlissel has been showing since taking over.  I thought it was interesting too that he wasn't at the press conference.  Maybe he was out of town.  But, my guess is he wanted to keep the focus off of him and on the athletic department.  The day belonged to Coach Harbaugh and Jim Hackett.  Go Blue!