8A Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

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Jim Hackett: 'I want
to get rid of the word
Michigan Man'

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By ALEJANDRO ZUNIGA
ManagingSports Editor
Interim Athletic Director
Jim Hackett is a University
alum, played football under
Bo Schembechler and has had
connections to Michigan for
more than four decades.
But there's a popular phrase
Hackett doesn't like, and he's
hoping to eradicate it in the com-
ing months.
"I want to get rid of the word
'Michigan Man, " Hackett said
at his press conference Tuesday
afternoon, when he announced
the firing of Michigan football
coach Brady Hoke. "There's three
reasons:
"One is we live in a world
where no business or anything
we talk about has just men in it.
So that's first.
"Second, the guy who said
that, Bo Schembechler - one of
my mentors and heroes - was
being challenged about a coach

being recruited somewhere else,
and he meant he wanted the per-
son at Michigan to be the coach.
"Thethirdthing,though, ifyou
let it stand for what it's supposed
to mean, here's what it means: If
you cut open the soul of the peo-
ple that are 'Michigan Men,' so to
speak, you find first selflessness.
This was a point about how we
stand for the team first.
"The second tyhing is the
ability to win, be competitive.
The competitive spirit in my
lifetime and with others that you
see around here that played, we
knew that we had to work really
hard. It wasn't arrogance; it was
about being competitive.
"The third thing is we want to
continue the legacy of what has
been great from a value stand-
point. This place does not need to
cut corners to win. You've got alot
of pride in the fact that you come
here; you know you're signing up
to be the best in the world without
any shenanigans going on."

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