I 0 W. a - -w -w 4B WednesdaySSepBeme r 2 2 D3/The Sta-em F OF In February 2006, Domino's Pizza CEO Dave Brandon thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could rent out Ford Field the week of the Super Bowl?" So he did. He threw a company party at the Lions' stadium days before Super Bowl XL came to Detroit. The company would celebrate each time Domino's stock hit a new high, and one time he ordered kegs of beer and brought them into the office. Years prior - when Brandon was CEO of Valassis Communications, Inc., a promotions company - there was an old, vacant airline hangar at Willow Run Airport in Ann Arbor. With Brandon leading, it was turned into the site of a party. Employees dressed as pilots and flight attendants, there was ambient lighting and a B-52 aircraft gave rides to pleased workers. "He always does everything with panache," said Domino's Executive Vice President Lynn Liddle. "Big into celebrating wins and throw- ing parties. Fireworks, there's always fireworks. Wherever there can be fireworks, there are fireworks." Fans in Michigan Stadium the evening of Sept. 7 might say that Brandon has brought a similar approach to his job as athletic director at the University. The second night game against Notre Dame, Under The Lights II, brought the fireworks. It brought Beyonce to the video board, a light show at halftime and flyovers - plural, a handful of flyovers. The celebrities of the Michigan athletics world turned out for the event, too. Those football fans may also recall a man flying out of Michigan Stadium at halftime via jetpack during the Central Michigan University game. They'll recall the Big Chill - an outdoor hockey game, played under the lights, at the Big House on Dec. 11, 2010. As Brandon begins his fourth academic year at the helm of Michigan sports, his administration can be characterized as one of "more." More staff members: After an initial reduction of staff from 275 to 190 upon replacing Bill Martin, the former athletic director, the number of department employ- ees has expanded to 308. More money: Compared to $96 million in revenue in 2008-09, the last full year before he took over, Brandon projects $146.4 mil- lion in revenue for the upcoming year. More facilities: Though renovations to By Neal Rothschild Crisler Center and Yost Ice Arena stemmed rience in the rat race of college sports in its from plans during Martin's tenure, a pro- earliest stages: playingunder Bo from 1971-73. posal for a redeveloped athletic campus Eaton and Brandon, both playing defen- was approved a year ago. The plans, which sive end, were grilled. They were quizzed include a tree-lined "Walk of Champions," on assignments and flawless preparation are expected to exceed $250 million. was demanded. They didn't play perfectly, More teams: Men's and women's lacrosse but their supreme dedication would lift the were added to the Michigan sports buffet as Wolverines above the also-rans. That was of the 2012-13 school year. Bo's belief. But Brandon's This was in the entry into cut- heat of the tions on Twitter. "They just established such a work ethic and such a perfectionist attitude," Eaton said. "Everything was discipline and work hard: Do every little thing correctly." Brandon and Eaton were schooled early on that Michigan held a special place in college athletics. They learned that the University was not subject to the same standards as all the others - Michigan deserved more, Eaton and Brandon said in former interviews. It deserved the fireworks. His hire in 2010 as athletic director may have been his first foray into athletic admin- istration, but Brandon was in the University's power circle dating back to 1998 when he was elected to the University's Board of Regents by a statewide vote, a position he held until 2006. As a regent, he played a significant role in bringing in University Presi- dent Mary Sue Coleman in 2002, who in turn hired Brandon as athletic director. Compared to Bo's era, Bran- don's present world is differ- ent, but the need to retain the edge remains constant. Just as competitive as Schembechler, Brandon refuses to fall behind in the race of college sports. Fan happiness and the traditional, simple joys of Michigan sports are fine, but the modern Athletics Depart- ment is out for something else. It needs the most money to build the best facilities. It needs the best facilities to land the best recruits. The best recruits to win the most games. Win the most games to build the best brand, so the cycle restarts - over and over. Brandon has played the role of car- nival barker, calling out for all to come see the big-tent circus in Ann Arbor. A smartphone app was introduced to promote steadfast loyalty from Michigan students to the athletic teams. As the department admit- ted last week, skywriters were hired to draw Michigan-positive phrases in the air on game days. Games have been marketed with tag lines, new jerseys have been introduced and the Michigan Legends uniform number system was implemented, in which current players deemed deserving are given the jer- sey of a Wolverine great from yesteryear. Branding hasn't been the only thing cur- poratized about Michigan athletics. Michi- gan is remarkably vigilant in controlling its message. Media access is limited, and play- ers are coached to be tight-lipped. You won't find Michigan coaches or players straying from the company line. "It's no secret that Dave is creating a cul- ture with the Athletic Department that is very defined and is important to his suc- cess," Basketball Coach John Beilein said. His polarizing nature But recently, Brandon the businessman has made some decisions to alienate seg- ments of the student body, some of which have led to backlash against Brandon per- sonally. First, there was the unilateral decision to change the football student seating to a general admission format. That came along with a price hike. There was outrage against the new policy and outrage that the depart- ment hadn't bothered to consult the students about the dramatic policy change. Most recent was the change in the basket- ball student ticketing policy. Season tickets were oversold, and a new policy for claim- ing games was instituted just over a month before the season began. Students were no longer guaranteed all the games they paid for. Their only recourse: geta refund. There was considerable pushback from stu- dents, but ultimately, the department found a way to get more seats filled for more games. Despite his successes, there's some resentment from students towards Brandon, stemming from the "money-grubbing athletic director" perception they've developed in response to recent changes. But the flipside of that coin is a magnanimous leader, one in touch with the world out- side Michigan athletics and intent on making someone's day. There's the gesture of invit- ing Grant Reed, a 12-year-old cancer survivor that named his tumor "Michigan," to be Brady Hoke's guest for "The Game" against Ohio State in November. Then, there was Cooper Barton, the five-year old Oklahoman who was forced to turn his Michigan shirt inside out at school. So Brandon invit- ed him to Michigan Stadium to be intro- duced at halftime last year. Of course, there's the cynical view that Brandon knows a good publicity opportunity when he sees one. But it's hardly all a front. One thing Brandon can't be accused of is act- ing out of character. Just a couple weeks ago, an employee at Domino's suffered the loss of their toddler. It was a difficult week for the entire company, where Brandon serves as chairman. Though Brandon was busy preparing for Under the Lights II, he found the time to attend the funeral and put a sympathetic arm around the pained parent. Domino's also suffered a rough period earlier in the decade. Sales were up, but the company wasn't meeting its profit targets. That meant no bonuses. Brandon went to the company's board and explained how morale was down. The employees needed a win - something to feel good about. Brandon was able to convince the board members to get everyone an extra paycheck. "People were in the lobby crying because Dave got us an extra paycheck," recalled Liddle, his Domino's co-worker dating back to the 1990s. "I think he really does care a lot about people and he wants to help them cel- ebrate when they win and he wants to shore them up when they're not winning." Just Dave When Liddle came to Domino's for an interview, she mistook the lobby for a phys- ical therapy clinic. It looked nothing like the pala- tial corporate rise, Frank Lloyd Wright-style complex. "That lobby has the stamp of Dave Bran- don all over it," Liddle said. "He actually worked with designers and got all of us involved and jackhammered the whole cen- ter of the building." The remodeled lobby moved the CEO suite from the outskirts of the complex to the floor above the lobby. Front and center, where he could be visible to everyone. He wanted to be an accessible CEO. He'd come into the company and made his presence felt. The differences were tangible and often hard to ignore. When he came in as CEO in 1999, he changed the conservative culture. It was no longer suits for the men and skirts for the women. He wanted everyone comfort- able and happy when they came to work. When addressed as His decision-making was just as precise. "There must always be avision and a strat- egy and a way to measure and know how you're doing so you can benchmark against yourself," Liddle said. "He's got somewhat of a formula that he uses that is consistently results producing." Perhaps the most scrutinized choice Brandon made was Domino's self-critical ad campaign. As the Brandon administration wound down to give way to new CEO Patrick Doyle in late 2009, the company launched a mar- keting crusade against its very own product. Commercials showed consumers complain- ing about the quality of the pizza. A new recipe would be introduced. Domino's was admitting that the product it had cooked all these years was deficient. The employees in charge of the menu would come to Brandon with improvements, and they'd be sent back. He'd tell them to go back to the drawing board. Domino's needed a distinctive change, and he wouldn't accep the new recipe until there was a true, notice- able difference. It wasn't the safe move for Brandon, as the campaign would affect his legacy as CEO. But the company knew the pizza could be better. What began with tweaking the recipe, ended up changing the crust, changing the sauce and changing the cheese. The commercials showed that Brandon had no qualms about making the big move. He was going to do what he wanted. As Liddle explained, Amef& ica was at a point where the banks were folding and nobody trusted corporate America. People were losing their houses. It was a nasty time, and nobody was just saying it like it is. "He will look at a prob- lem unemotionally," Liddle explains. "He will say, what's the right thing to do? He'll think through how will this affect my organization, how will this affect the competition, how will this affect the industry, what are the financial implications? And then he always tries to put a creative spin on it." Fighting the three-front battle It's said that athletics is the only business with two bottom lines. At a place like Michi- gan, there may as well be a third. There's the winning and the money-mak- ing, but then there's the demands of being at a public research university with a rabid faan base that treasures the idea of Michigan ath- letics just as much as it treasures the teams themselves. There are those who see a problem in turning the enterprise of amateur athletics into big business. As John Bacon, a prominent University sports historian, points out in his recent Continued on Page 6B throat college 10-year war athletics - and Univer- between Schembechler sity athletics, specifically - pre- and Ohio State coach Woody date his arrival as athletic director in 2010. Hayes. Paranoia was high between the two legends, the fear that the other team would Brandon s roots wth Bo win the slightest advantage. Any edge one coach could deploy was considered crucial. Don Eaton remembers the football posi- Though he saw game action just once in tional meetings as part of Bo Schembechler's his career, Brandon was brought up in this teams in the early 1970s. Before becoming an crucible - before big money was involved athletic director, Brandon had first-hand expe- and before commits signaled their inten- playground it Mr. Brandon, he resembles today. would correct, "just Now, it's an open space with Dave." glass walls and low, round glass tables He was never one for corporate speak. with ergonomic white leather reclin- He prefers his messages in plain English, ing chairs. Strategically placed Domino's so everyone can understand. He's a pro- logos prohibit you from forgetting where ponent of the catchphrase: "Change isn't a you are. There are LED displays and a criticism of the past. It simply means the rotunda in the middle of the lobby. Look future is going to be different." "If it ain't down the rotunda and you see a training broke, break it." "Don't talk the past, cre- kitchen, visible from all floors of the low- ate the future."