Dave Brandon resigning as UM AD Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News 11:19 a.m. EDT October 31, 2014 (Photo: Detroit News file photo ) 1084 CONNECT 217 TWEET 1 LINKEDIN 18 COMMENTEMAILMORE Ann Arbor — Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon, who has been under intense fire and scrutiny particularly these past five weeks, is expected to resign Friday. The announcement will be made at 1:30 p.m. Friday during an on-campus news conference with Michigan president Mark Schlissel, a source confirmed to The Detroit News. Brandon, whose contract had been extended through June 2018, is not expected to attend the news conference. According to his contract, if he is fired without cause, the school must pay the remainder of his base salary, which is about $3 million. An interim athletic director is expected to be named. Brandon became athletic director at his alma mater on March 8, 2010, taking over while the football program was being investigated for rules violations by the NCAA, and since then has upgraded facilities for all Michigan’s teams, brought major sporting events to Michigan Stadium, and fired a football coach and hired another. But it has been a downward spiral for Brandon since the mishandling of a serious player safety issue in Michigan’s football game against Minnesota on Sept. 27 and the subsequent public relations gaffes. Quarterback Shane Morris, later diagnosed with a “probable mild concussion” remained in the game one play after taking a hard hit in the fourth quarter and then, because of what later was described as sideline confusion, returned for one play.
More info: We wrote earlier this week that sources close to high-level football coaches – coaches Michigan would certainly want to talk to – would be interested in the job, as long as Brandon was gone. And now that shoe has dropped. New Michigan president Mark Schlissel is admittedly unfamiliar with managing a major athletics department, leading one to believe the Brandon’s replacement will be one that has total control over that side of the university. We said yesterday that Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione is the name to keep in mind here. For what it’s worth, the other name that coaches tell us has been actively working on the job is Warde Manuel (UConn’s AD).
I remember the recruiting of Warde Manuel, a little info on him....... Manuel played high school football at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans. He was a first team high school All-American. He enrolled at the University of Michigan where he played defensive tackle for the Wolverines from 1986 to 1989 before suffering a career-ending neck injury. Les was at Michigan when Manuel was there as a player. Les was at Michigan from 1987-1994
Shakeup at Michigan begins... 67 minutes ago It's no secret that LSU head coach Les Miles is a "Michigan Man", playing and later coaching under legendary coach Bo Shembechler during his time in Ann Arbor. It's also no secret that Michigan has come calling to test the waters with Miles twice during his stay in Baton Rouge, and both times Miles remained firm with his stance as LSU's head coach. Now in his 10th season with the program, Miles has rebuilt a team that looked all but done and helped position them as a 7-2, top 20 team with three regular season games remaining - and a good shot at hitting double-digit wins, which could be argued as his best coaching job to date. With the Tigers on a bye week, it's been relatively quiet around Baton Rouge, but the chatter will likely soon pick up in regards to what's going on in Ann Arbor. On Friday, ESPN reported that Michigan AD Dave Brandon is stepping down from his post with the university, meaning he won't oversee the future of the football program any longer. The expected move by most is that head coach Brady Hoke's dismissal will come soon after, and the Wolverines will start fresh with a new athletics director and new head coach. Will Miles get a call when the search committee starts crafting up their wish list? Time will tell, but the first domino has fallen, and if Michigan is searching for a new start, one of the first names that always pops up on the public's list is the Mad Hatter.
Charlie Hanagriff and Jimmy Ott agree that if Manuel makes the call and Les agrees to meet "out of courtesy" that it it will be a lot more serious for Les than the previous meetings.
Yep, this could move Fla up with letting Muschamp go. UGA game might turn it up. Mullen is a name, like I said before, his perfect storm. The AD at MooU, will be removing cow bells from the fans this weekend, turning them in to a scrap yard to boost up the Mullen pay.
