The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, January 6, 2011 - 9A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 6, 2011 - 9A Brandon reveals his . criteria for next coach Players talk about Rodriguez's firing By JOE STAPLETON Daily Sports Writer Though the press conference yesterday was called to relegate Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez to the past, Athletic Director David Brandon fielded mostly questions about the future - specifically, who would be the next coach. Several names have been floating in and out of the conversation. Jim Harbaugh of Stanford, Brady Hoke of San Diego State and even North- western's Pat Fitzgerald have been suggested as possible replacement candidates. And though specula- tion about Rodriguez's job status is over, speculation about who will be his replacement is just picking up steam. Brandon addressed only Har- baugh specifically, saying it was his opinion that Stanford's coach will end up in the NFL. Bran- don didn't offer much in the way of naming who would probably replace Rodriguez, but he did talk about what he is looking for in a replacement. "This individual is a very high- profile person who becomes, to a large degree, a name and a face that's very important to the Uni- versity," Brandon said. "This indi- vidual has to be able to compete at the highest level. The expectations here are extraordinarily high .... (and) that puts a coach in a position where they have to have the abil- ity to stand up to that pressure and perform against it." He added that the head coach of the football team becomes a "sig- nificant spokesperson for the Uni- versity." Another thing Brandon made clear was that he feels no pressure to find a coach who runs a similar offense to Rodriguez - though he is looking for a coach who is will- ing to modify his schemes to fit the players available. "One of the things I look for is a coach who can modify their approach and their attack based on the personnel they have," Brandon said. "We know who our players are, and we know what we have, and we know what they're used to, and we know what their experience has been." One of the knocks on Rodri- guez has been his inability to do just that. Many fans have pointed to the transfer of quarterback and potential NFL first-round pick Ryan Mallett to Arkansas, soon after Rodriguez came to Michi- gan, as an example of a coach who couldn't adapt his system to the tal- ent around him. Mallett is not seen as a run-option quarterback. That seems to indicate one major change. The other: Brandon wants defense. "Is there a thought of getting a defensive-minded head coach?" Brandon said. "There's a thought of getting a defensive-minded every- thing. I want the ball boys to be defensive-minded." This would be a sharpbreak from Rodriguez, a coach who focuses almost exclusively on the offensive side of the ball. Michigan's defense statistically was one of the worst in the country this year. Brandon went on to say that he feels the candidate must have head coaching experience. "My personal belief is that the requirements of this job really lend themselves to someone who's led a team," Brandon said. "And who has head coaching experience and who has recruiting experience and recruiting roots." When asked if he thought the coach had to be someone from a BCS school, Brandon said he didn't think so and replied, "Is (Ohio State coach Jim) Tressel a bad coach? I think he seems to be doing pretty well down there, at least against us." By TIM ROHAN publicly said that they would like Daily Sports Editor to have Rodriguez back as their - - coach next season. As junior wide Ryan Van Bergen and Kelvin receiver Darryl Stonum sees it, Grady stood behind a sea of tele- the players lost their father. vision cameras and reporters, "It was pretty emotional, but waiting to hear what Michigan he was like our dad. We were his Athletic Director David Brandon kids," Stonum said of Rodriguez on had to say about the fate of their Wednesday. "He told us to all stay coach, Rich Rodriguez. in contact ... We're like all family, Brandon announced soon after and we're going to miss him." that Rodriguez would not be back The whole family atmosphere to coach their senior seasons. The that Rodriguez preached couldn't players were losing their leader. have been more exemplified The Michigan athletic direc- than his relationship with Brock tor did have the players in mind Mealer, the brother of Michigan based on the timing of his evalu- offensive lineman Elliott Mealer. ation - he waited until after the Rodriguez was close to Brock as bowl game to give the players he rehabilitated himself after frac- their best chance at winning on a turing his spine in a car accident. national stage on New Year's Day. "I think he's always been just But Rodriguez didn't survive shown as a villain, and he's noth- his third season. Then, with ing like that," Brock said. "He's the program's future in limbo one of the greatest guys I've without a coach, Brandon told ever met in my life. And I wish the players of his decision dur- people would acknowledge that, ing a team meeting at 4 p.m. on and whether or not he works out Wednesday afternoon. Rodriguez as Michigan's coach is maybe a also addressed the team. totally different story. And as Players started exiting Schem- little as I know about football, I bechler Hall about 45 minutes know his character is much dif- after the meeting was sched- ferent from what people played uled to start, and most declined him out to be." to comment on the fate of their For as much as the players coach. Previously, some of the may have liked Rodriguez, they players, like Van Bergen and learned first-hand that big-time junior nose tackle Mike Martin, college football is a business. "They do whatever they can (that's) best for the program," senior cornerback James Rogers said. "I mean, of course, every- one's down on themselves and stuff like that. They're a little mad, I mean, as we found out as players it's abusiness." Added Stonum: "(Brandon) told us why he did it. He told us his reasoning. What he's going to look forward to - what we're moving forward to. And for us to continue what we've been doing - working hard, going to class and being 'Michigan Men.' So that's all we're going to do." With Rodriguez gone, ques- tions started about whether the players he recruited will stick around. Stonum said there had been no talkoftransferringand addedthat all of the players were Michigan Men who would stick together, even as the program potentially faces upheaval. And as they did after the Wolverines' 38-point loss in the Gator Bowl, the players took responsibility for their poor per- formance this season. "We just didn't get it done," Stonum said. "So we just got to keep working hard. It's on us, we talked about itbeingonus. Every- body wants to blame the coach, it's on us." EVALUATING MICHIGAN'S POSSIBLE COACHING CANDIDATES BY RYAN KARTJE DAILY SPORTS EDITOR After firing head football coach Rich Rodriguez, Athletic Director Dave Brandon officially opened the Michigan football program's second coach- ing search in three years. And with high-profile, highly popular candidate Jim Harbaugh likely off to the NFL, the Wolverines are looking at an even shorter list of possible coaching candidates. Here's a short list of possible candidates for Michigan's newly vacant coaching position: BRADY HOKE. SAN DIEGO STATE COACH GARY PATTERSON, TCU COACH San Diego State coach Brady Hoke is a former Michigan assistant coach and has said Michigan is his dream ob Why Michigan would want him: Hoke seems to be the name on everyone's radar as far as Michi- gan's head coaching position goes. He's definitely a "Michigan Man," having coached under Lloyd Carr as his defensive line coach and associate head coach from 1995-2002. Hoke took two relatively irrelevant teams in Ball State and San Diego State and transformed them into competitive teams. The Aztec coach loves defense, and wouldbring a defen- sive mind to Ann Arbor. He also employs a spread offense, which would mean less of an adjustment from Rodriguez's system to the new scheme. It's also a breath of fresh air that Hoke has spoken on end about how Michigan is his dream job. Why Michigan wouldn't want him: Hoke doesn't exactly unite a fan base like Harbaugh would have, and the reaction around Ann Arbor seems lukewarm atbest when it comes to hiring the San Diego State coach. Hoke hasn't really done that much as far as his coaching pedigree goes - he's just 47-50 in his career. The jump from San Diego State to Michigan is a pretty hefty one, and Bran- don may be better off hiring a more proven coach. Likelihood that he's Michigan's next coach: Tough to tell. There's no reason why Hoke wouldn't take the Michigan job, having turned down the Minnesota job a few weeks ago and speaking pub- licly on his hopes of coaching the Wolverines. Bran- don made it clear that the coach should be a proven one, preferably from a better pedigree. However, until any other names come out of the woodwork, Hoke looks to be the favorite. TCU coach Gary Patterson led his Horned Frogs to a 2119 Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin on New Years Day. LES MILES, LSU COACH Why Michigan would want him: Patterson is fresh off a Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin, and he'll probably be one of the hottest commodities in the country after his Horned Frogs finished the 2010 season undefeated. Patterson is a defen- sive-minded coach - one of the most respected on that side of the ball - who will surely garner some respect from his players, and the work he's done at TCU is hard to ignore. Michigan's job could be an impressive next step for Patterson, where he'd get a few more shots at beating Big Ten teams, like he did in the Rose Bowl. Why Michigan wouldn't want him: Not much. Patterson is an all-around great candidate and would probablybe welcomed with open arms in Ann Arbor. He's not a "Michigan Man" per se, and he doesn't have many Midwestern ties. But Patterson's head coaching experience and ability to recruit quality athletes out of Texas to a small school like TCU is a significant detail. Likelihood that he's Michigan's next coach: A long shot. Patterson has turned down jobs before, including rejecting an offer from Min- nesota to coach in the Big Ten. He doesn't have Midwestern roots, and he'd be going to Michigan because he thought it was strictly abetter job and had more money than TCU. But at this point, he might be better off just staying put. KYLE WHITTINGHAM, UTAH COACH Why Michigan would want him: Whitting- ham has been part of the same list of mid-major candidates destined to move up for a while now and for good reason. He has a 58-20 record at the helm of the Utes and has coached in a BCS bowl. He's done a great job of continuing Urban Mey- er's recruiting excellence at Utah, and he could bring some of that to Ann Arbor. Whittingham, a defensive-minded coach, would definitely amp up the Wolverine defense, as the Utes always rank pretty high nationally on that side of the ball. Why Michigan wouldn't want him: The Utes started to struggle down the stretch this year, and they've definitely had some rough patches. He doesn't have many Midwestern ties, and as far as recruiting goes, he might not bring the most attractive pipeline pedigree. Whittingham is a pretty well-accomplished coach though, and Michigan wouldn't be in dire straits with him as coach. He might not do much to incite a passion in the fan base. Likelihood that he's Michigan's next coach: Not likely. Whittingham has stayed at Utah for a while now, and with the team moving to the Pac- 12 next season, Whittingham has plenty of reason to stay. Again, the Michigan job may not be that much of a forward move for the Utes' coach, and there aren't many reasons he'd take the job aside from it being a wealth-inducing career move. Why Michigan would want him: Fonrmer Ath- letic Director Bill Martin wanted Miles and he wanted him badly when the Wolverines were look- ing to find a vacant coaching spot in 2008. Miles has won a national championship, and he's a "Michigan Man" by any definition of the phrase, having played and coached in Ann Arbor. Miles is an inventive play-caller to say the least, and his defenses at LSU have always been the strength of the team. Giv- ing him a quarterback like Denard Robinson could open up his playbook in very exciting ways. Miles is also a notably good recruiter. Why Michigan wouldn't want him: He may be an inventive play-caller, but he's also made a lot of head-scratching calls as coach at LSU. There's a reason they call him "The Mad Hatter," and Miles could cause an awful lot of heart attacks in Ann Arbor. A great deal of people think Miles is over- rated, and they may be right. For a program that's having an awful lot of problems with gaining sup- port, Miles could anger a lot of fans and higher-ups, and for Brandon, that might notbe worth the risk. Likelihood thathe's Michigan's next coach: A decent shot. If Miles is willing to leave the Bayou, then Brandon would probably jump at the chance to hire his fellow Schembechler product. Michigan fans seem to be pretty leery about Miles, especially after he spurned the University and made the Wol- verines into a laughingstock the last time around. We won't know anything until after Miles' bowl game on Friday, but Michigan would probably take him if he's willing to move. t e OTHER POSSIBLE CANDIDATES: Chris Petersen, Boise State; Mike Trgovac, former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator; Dan Mullen, Mississippi State; Jon Gruden, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach; Mark Bradley, Penn State defensive coordinator.