Bacon Juwan Watch Update: While Warde would rather keep Juwan, he now seems less inclined to bring him back
I don't know why this is even a question but here we are.
Warde needs fired but people that think JH would still be here is asinine. He was as good as gone no matter who was the AD. HE EVEN SAID IT HIMSELF
That may very well be true, but where a lot of people are upset over this is that it seems like the AD dragged its feet for months on getting Harbaugh's extension in front of him. Even before you take Sign-Gate into account. It just seems like they didn't really try their absolute hardest to keep him.
If the AD were proactive and moving quickly about getting the contract in front of Harbaugh that he deserved, and he still said "thanks but no thanks, I want a Lombardi Trophy," I don't think anyone could've had any legitimate gripe with Warde over any of this. If you put your best foot forward and Harbaugh still turns you down, what're you gonna do? No one could've reasonably faulted Warde in that situation.
But that's not what happened.
People are upset because it doesn't seem like Warde tried very hard to keep him. He dragged his feet for months, when truthfully this all could've been handled before the season, and then when it looked like Harbaugh might actually take the job with the Chargers, that's when he finally rushed to put a worthy contract in front of him. Not impossible that Warde already knew at that point that Harbaugh was gone, but Warde may still have done it just to save face and so he tell the public "Hey, we tried!"
Maybe Harbaugh would've turned it down no matter when it was put in front of him. But we'll never know. Harbaugh is the best asset this program has had in maybe a century, and from the outside looking in, it sure looks like Warde did not do everything he could've, at least as quickly as he could've, in order to keep him.
Likely correct, but I would have liked to see Warde do more to keep our legendary Coach.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:01 AM ^
While I agree Harbaugh was probably gone regardless, it would've been better to see Michigan make an all-out effort to retain him. Instead, Warde came across as dragging his feet on an extension.
March 13th, 2024 at 11:04 AM ^
"Warde all but shoved Harbs out the door and slammed it."
Dude I hate Warde as much as the next guy but this is silly. Warde actually re-signed Harbaugh when most of this lot wanted him gone.
Goddamn when will this stop. Nothing short of Michigan being promoted to the NFL was keeping Harbaugh here. No matter how many time people say it, Warde had as much to do as Harbaugh leaving as I did and I'm a fucking nobody.
So keep riding your fucking magical unicorn to Cloud Cuckoo Land and believing that Harbaugh was desperate to stay but Warde pushed him out. You would think three years of JH all but begging to get an NFL job would finally get through to you but guess not..
It’s happening?
"Nobody knows anything" is like the norm with the Athletic Department.
Maybe Warde just woke up from a 2 month nap.
early spring, hibernation over? i'll believe it when i see it.
He had to figure out where Harbaugh was first. Now he's reading about the basketball team.
Why would any AD stick with Juwan when other viable options exist? Enough evidence is in: he can't coach worth a lick. He's no different than Kenny Payne or Jerry Stackhouse - a former player with no head coaching experience who gets a Power 5 job based on NOTHING. Go get someone who has come up thru the ranks and has earned the opportunity: Nate Oats or Scott Drew fit the bill.
Sorry--nice idea--but Scott Drew is never leaving Baylor.
If you were Scott Drew, would you willingly leave Baylor?
Likewise, if you were Nate Oats, would you really want to come back to the state of Michigan (he coached HS basketball here at one point) to clean up the mess of another?
We're on the outside looking in, but I think that, given the supposed posture of the AD on this right now, the more compelling question would be this - what, other than perhaps personal sentiment or loyalty, keeps Howard here at this point? What are the metrics being used here?
March 13th, 2024 at 10:06 AM ^
Scott Drew at Baylor is interesting only because the Big 12 is not part of the Big Ten/SEC that could breakaway very soon. I know most the focus is on football, but this impacts hoops as well.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, nobody of significance is coming to Michigan until we fix the issues with NIL and getting transfers.
Fine with that - it’s lazy recruiting.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:57 AM ^
What’s lazy recruiting? Getting all Americans to commit only to have admissions take away credits they earned?
This right here. Warde needs to get the NIL and transfer issues (accepting players) fixed before anything else. Fix those issues and give Juwan a year to show he make an improvement. We probably wouldn't have gotten all of the players who didn't make it here, but probably most of them. If Warde doesn't fix NIL and the acceptance stuff in the next [month] he should be fired. In fact we should probably just fire him and bring in someone who can fix those issues.
What are the acceptance/recruiting issues?
NCAA-The Argentinian Kid had an issue with paying back his [$1200] per diem with the NCAA. This is mind boggling. Why someone didn't throw him a $50k NIL immediately is beyond me. (Are foreign players not eligible for NIL?)
Transferring Classes--I know people who transferred from CC, Western and other schools (30 years ago) and none of their classes transferred. I get academic integrity, but I think this is largely a money grab. Athletes have tutors who could help them with any gaps in their knowledge. ...and while many athletes go on to be doctors, lawyers, etc., you can't tell me that the English class from [Stanford/North Carolina/Texas Tech] aren't good enough for a sports communications degree.
NIL--Other schools are openly paying players (See OSU/Miami bidding wars in football). Michigan gets dinged for cheeseburgers so we can't play like that with inducements, and I agree with the ideas that you want teams and not mercs, but there is no reason we can't have players tell recruits what their NIL situation is like. I don't know if we are really behind in NIL or not beyond message board chatter, but if we actually are, and Warde doesn't have something up his sleeve, he should be shown the door. NIL and the transfer portal are the biggest changes to college sports ever. Michigan should be the leaders and best....
March 13th, 2024 at 10:02 AM ^
Once again to the un-informed….Michigan had more composite Top-100 players on its roster this year than most teams in the B10 - still think it’s an NIL/portal issue?
March 13th, 2024 at 10:44 AM ^
"Warde needs to get the NIL and transfer issues (accepting players) fixed before anything else. "
1) Schools cannot be involved in NIL (NCAA rules) and using NIL to entice high school players is illegal (not against rules - against state of Michigan law).
2) The AD has no power, at all, to effect admission or transfer credits. In fact - on the subject of transfer credits - that is a decision by each individual department, which neither the AD nor the University president have any power to change.
So... given the above two facts - what is it you want Warde to do?
Oats and Drew would not be a culture fit at Michigan. Why would Drew leave Baylor?
Yeah you’re right, they’re not a culture fit for the basketball program. They win and they don’t punch people. And their players haven’t completely quit on their team.
So yeah you’re right, our culture is so amazing we can’t dare and bring in a guy who doesn’t fit it.
I hate the high horse that people sit on around here
I don’t know if you’ve look at Oats, but look up Brandon Miller and see if you think Oats is a better culture fit than Juwan.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:35 AM ^
Then when that research is done look up Terrance Shannon Jr. at Illinois...
Yes I am aware of the Brandon Miller situation. And I don’t blame coaches for what their players do outside of the court, it’s how they respond after it happens. And what he did is not suspend a guy who wasn’t charged with a crime when he did not have all the facts. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.
And to answer your question, yes I think his culture would be way better than Howard’s. I’ll repeat myself, he wins and doesn’t punch people. So an emphatic yes to that question.
Both are shady and use whatever it takes to win at all costs. Michigan isn't that school that wants a dirty coach. They're not an option at Michigan for this reason. Michigan wants a squeaky-clean coach like Beilein.
Do other viable options really exist though? What top level coach would want to come into this situation over other vacancies?
This roster is a product of the infrastructure and administrative and NIL handcuffs. We all know that admissions cost us Love and TSJ. All of our NIL manpower has gone towards football. CC has had the zinter, those who stay, one more year, and MPower campaigns. I can’t think of a single one for basketball. You get what you pay for
Dickinson, Love, and TSJ were each 1st team all conference and on an all American team this season.
Dug, Love, TSJ, Reed, Dickinson would’ve been a lethal 5. But, were left with a roster with 0 all conference nods. Not even a single honorable mention.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:16 AM ^
I would be beating down the door of one Jay Wright if I were Warde Manuel.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:35 AM ^
Good luck luring him out of retirement.
He had a good thing going at Villanova when he left. Villanova was a program that was more or less at the top of its game. They certainly didn't force him out. Not sure why he'd want to jump back in and have to completely rebuild a program from the ground up. This is not a 2019 situation where he could step into a program loaded with all of Beilein's guys, one that has a winning culture, strong leadership and is ready to compete immediately. This is a program in complete disarray, all the way down to the foundation stones. Whoever steps in here has to rebuild everything. Talent level, fundamentals, attitude. Everything. Jay Wright is absolutely a guy who would be up to snuff. I just doubt he wants any part of it.
I wonder if he's in the Beilein mold as well, where he saw the writing on the wall with what NIL was going to turn the college landscape into, and he decided he wanted absolutely no part of it. If that's the case, he's not coming back to coach college hoops, period.
If you want to give him a call and at least force him to tell you no, then that's fine. Worst thing that happens is he tells you no. I'd just tell you don't even remotely get your hopes up.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:46 AM ^
1) The administration can't handcuff NIL. NIL collectives are private, don't involve the university, and can do whatever they want - no matter what the university thinks.
2) Admissions has nothing to do with credits transferring, and neither the AD nor the University President can make individual departments change their credit transfer policies.
Oats and Drew? Any other perennial Top 25 power conference coaches we should consider? Or maybe just get Jay Wright out of retirement.
I absolutely can’t see Oats working out here especially after the gunplay in Tuscaloosa last year. It’s a cultural mismatch.
Wright and Drew would be great pickups, but why would they leave home for us? Jay retired at that top and Scott Drew is in an ideal spot. The michigan job is too much of a headache right now.
Maybe they can get an NIL roster bump, but they’d have to rebuild and admissions won’t help them with that.
I know sarcasm is hard to pick up on sometimes but I thought the "perennial Top 25" comment helped and that the Jay Wright part put it over the top.
The original comment said Oates and Drew (who won a national title) have "come up thru the ranks and has earned the opportunity."
I mean, come on, of course I was making fun. I'm sure Drew would be happy to know he's finally earned the opportunity to land a job where he could accomplish what he's already accomplished.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:02 AM ^
I wooshed. I’ll blame it on still working through my coffee.you never know though. You have people on here that believe the Beilein and John wooden are begging Warde for the job
March 13th, 2024 at 10:18 AM ^
Agreed. There's now a comment above mine talking about Jay Wright that I believe is sincere.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:41 AM ^
"Why would any AD stick with Juwan when other viable options exist?"
Because big money donors want to keep him?
In the end - what the big money donors want is what the AD does.
If true, it would be mindblowing for Warde to think that. The bottom has dropped out ever since the last of the Beilein guys left.
If the rumors of an athletic article are true, it'll force Warde's hand and it might force out Warde too
What are these rumors?
March 13th, 2024 at 12:13 PM ^
Twitter rumors about a Brendan Quinn article coming out on HR or office politics issues in basketball and/or hockey. Could be nothing. But certainly a believable premise based on what we know of Mel, Juwan, and Warde
Bacon is great at using a lot of words to say nothing at all.
What if the NIL and Transfer Portal work for Michigan football but at the same time don't work for Michigan basketball?
Based on the title I thought this was going to be about Juwan's wrist jewelry
Guys, Warde has already done a lot. He's eaten two whole pies and a milkshake. Let's give him a break here.
The fact Warde is doing more to keep Howard than he did to keep Harbaugh is mind-blowing. We can have the Chargers/Super Bowl discussion until we're blue in the face, but fact-of-the-matter is Harbaugh is still our coach if Harbaugh didn't hate Warde with every fiber of his being.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:11 AM ^
but fact-of-the-matter is Harbaugh is still our coach if Harbaugh didn't hate Warde with every fiber of his being.
I don't think we can definitively know that and personally suspect Harbaugh was going out on top even if Sarah Harbaugh was the AD but it doesn't matter - even if that's so, while he might've been fine during the early 2000's Warde is not up to the task of being Michigan AD at this particular point in time.
March 13th, 2024 at 10:58 AM ^
If Sarah was the AD Jim would likely need more chickens
March 13th, 2024 at 10:26 AM ^
If Harbaugh said, "It's me or Warde. He stays, I walk. Make your choice," then Warde would be jobless. This is just a stupid take.
March 13th, 2024 at 12:14 PM ^
I mean, I very much doubt that's the case. Jim wanted to go back to the NFL and I don't think anyone was stopping him.
More hedging from Bacon? I don't believe it!