8 — Friday, January 29, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Timeline: Hackett’s A.D. tenure
By JAKE LOURIM
& MAX BULTMAN
Managing Sports Editors
With
Connecticut
athletic
director Warde Manuel set to take
over the same role at Michigan,
interim Athletic Director Jim
Hackett’s tenure is winding to a
close.
In possibly the most productive
15-month
stretch
in
Athletic
Department
history,
Hackett
oversaw the transition from Brady
Hoke to Jim Harbaugh as football
coach, negotiated a record apparel
deal with Nike and extended
basketball coach John Beilein’s
contract, among other initiatives.
Hackett, a former Steelcase
CEO
and
Wolverine
football
player, returned to his alma mater
at a time of relative instability
and will leave the department in
better shape than he found it. The
Daily looks back at some of the
highlights of his tenure.
Oct. 31, 2014: Dave Brandon
resigns, Hackett named interim
Athletic Director.
Amid
mounting
public
dissatisfaction
from
students
as well as alumni and donors,
University
President
Mark
Schlissel
accepted
Brandon’s
resignation
and
announced
Hackett as the interim Athletic
Director. At the time, Schlissel
said the decision was “in the best
interest of student-athletes, the
Athletic Department and the
University community.”
Dec. 2, 2014: Hackett fires
Brady Hoke.
Following a 5-7 season that
included losses to Michigan’s
three biggest rivals — Notre
Dame, Ohio State and Michigan
State — as well as defeats against
Big Ten newcomers Maryland and
Rutgers, Hackett decided it was
time to let Hoke go.
In a statement, Hackett said:
“This was not an easy decision
given the level of respect that I
have for Brady. He has done a
great job of molding these young
men, making them accountable to
their teammates, focusing them
on success in the classroom and in
the community.
“I wanted to make sure that
Brady received adequate time
to exhibit the results that would
come from his effort and I believe
that Brady and our coaching staff
had enough time to produce those
results and unfortunately they are
not there. In the end, I feel that
moving in a different direction is
the right decision.”
In the same press conference
came his remark about the
Athletic Department’s commonly
used term of pride.
“I want to get rid of the word
‘Michigan Man,’ ” Hackett said
that day. He did so to avoid
restricting it to men, to leave Bo
Schembechler’s original remark
in context and to emphasize the
selflessness that goes along with
the term.
And thus began a coaching
search Hackett later revealed as
being called “Project Unicorn.”
You presumably know the result,
but in case you don’t…
Dec. 30, 2014: Jim Harbaugh
introduced as head football
coach.
Harbaugh was the golden goose,
the prized unicorn of Hackett’s
search. After weeks of rumors
both promoting and tempering
the
possibility
of
Harbaugh
returning
to
Michigan,
the
former All-American quarterback
was announced as the team’s
new coach. In just two months,
Hackett had already delivered the
prize that will headline his tenure.
At the time, then-redshirt
junior center Jack Miller praised
the deal, giving Hackett the bulk
of the credit. “I knew it was going
to be something special if we got
it done,” Miller said at Harbaugh’s
announcement. “Kudos to Jim
Hackett for doing that. … We
hit the home run everyone was
looking for.”
April 1, 2015: Hackett holds
fireside chat to interact with
students.
When
Hackett
took
over,
the popularity of the Athletic
Department was at a low point.
Ticket sales to both alumni and
students had plummeted, and
numerous off-field incidents had
plagued the department as the fall
of 2014 wore on. Students were
planning to wear shirts calling
for Brandon’s firing at the football
game against Indiana the day
after he resigned.
One
of
Hackett’s
main
achievements was restoring the
pride in the Athletic Department
and repairing relationships with
the students. While he achieved a
good portion of that effort just by
replacing Hoke with Harbaugh,
he also took the time to interact
with students on their views at a
fireside chat last spring.
At that point, Hackett was also
in the process of evaluating the
apparel deal that he signed three
months later. He also expressed
a desire to improve the fan
experience at Michigan Stadium,
making it less “corporate.”
“I
don’t
want
to
sound
sarcastic,” Hackett said at the
time. “What I don’t want is more
entertainment that’s not football.
I think that works in the pros, but
we’re in college. I believe college
shouldn’t be like the pros. It
shouldn’t cost like the pros.”
Another
aspect
involved
playing less piped-in music in
the stadium and using more of
the Michigan Marching Band.
In
September,
band
director
John Pasquale said he had seen
improvement in that area.
And, of course, the chat was
the first interaction with students
about Harbaugh’s hiring. The
enthusiasm
showed,
and
the
results followed on the field last
fall.
July 6, 2015: Michigan agrees
to apparel deal with Nike
through 2027.
In total fairness, this couldn’t
have been a hard decision to make.
Nike is an apparel juggernaut, and
the Michigan brand is so valuable
that the school had Nike, Under
Armour and Adidas all competing
for it. However, the deal Michigan
got was quite impressive.
The financial figures of the
deal were released later in July,
totaling $169 million over the 15
years of the contract. Over the
course of the contract, the money
will be divided into $76.8 million
in cash, $80.2 million worth
of apparel and $12 million in
up-front money last summer.
“After careful consideration,
the
right
partner
for
the
University of Michigan was Nike,”
Hackett said at the time. “This
decision, this partnership is about
more than Michigan athletics; at
the core, it is about our University
community and it is about two
great names reuniting for an
opportunity that speaks to more
than uniforms and apparel.”
In another part of the deal,
Michigan
will
become
the
first football team to wear the
“Jumpman” logo, part of the
Jordan Brand, and the men’s and
women’s basketball teams will
also join the Jordan Brand family.
Oct. 18, 2015: Hackett writes
an open letter to Michigan fans
in support of the football team.
The day before was one of the
low points of his tenure. Seeking
its first win over Michigan State
since 2012, the Michigan football
team never trailed until the
final second of the game. With
10 seconds to go, and with the
Wolverines ahead 23-21, fifth-
year senior punter Blake O’Neill
dropped the snap on what could
have been a game-ending punt.
He took a hit when he picked up
the ball, and Michigan State’s
Jalen Watts-Jackson returned it
for a touchdown to win the game.
Some Michigan fans took to
social media to express their
frustration by criticizing O’Neill
after the game.
The following day, Hackett
wrote an open letter on the
Athletic Department’s website
condemning those fans’ actions.
“Today I awake to the shocking
reality that our community who
care so much about this program
would send hurtful, spiteful and
vicious comments to one of our
students,” Hackett said. “To be
clear, such comments come from a
small minority, none of whom are
reflective of our institution.
“The people I have been
associated with my whole life
around this fantastic program —
some whom are living and some
whom have passed on — would
never, I repeat never, spread
blame.”
Nov. 4, 2015: Hackett extends
Beilein’s contract through the
2020-21 season.
Four
weeks
before
the
University announced it would
start
looking
for
Hackett’s
replacement,
the
athletic
director’s last significant action
was signing Beilein to a two-year
contract extension. The coach
said after the deal that the extra
security helps with recruiting
players and assuring them that he
will be the coach for the duration
of their careers.
Beilein, who turns 63 next
Friday, is in his ninth season at
Michigan with a 182-115 overall
record.
“John is one of the most
respected coaches in the country
and revered people within the
university community,” Hackett
said in a statement. “While he has
accomplished many great things
on the basketball court, it is his
leadership, guidance and role as
an educator that truly makes him
one of our great ambassadors. We
look forward to John continuing
to represent the University of
Michigan for many years to
come.”
Dec. 2, 2015: Schlissel begins
a search for a permanent
athletic director.
In 13 months on the job,
Hackett had accomplished more
than anyone could have expected
him to, especially considering the
circumstances he inherited. But
Hackett’s status was always in the
short term, and after a little more
than a year, the end neared.
With the football season over,
the apparel contract signed and no
open coaching vacancies, Schlissel
began another transition. He
would head a seven-member
search
committee
comprising
Hackett; his special counsel,
Liz Barry; the faculty athletic
representative,
Anne
Curzan;
women’s soccer player Corinne
Harris;
softball
coach
Carol
Hutchins; Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Hegarty; and alumnus
Stefan G. Humphries.
While
announcing
the
search, Schlissel expressed his
appreciation for Hackett.
“I could not have asked for
more from a leader,” he said in
a statement. “He stepped up
at a moment of need and has
served the institution with great
distinction. Personally, he has
been a pleasure to work with and
I will always owe him a debt of
gratitude.”
Meanwhile, Hackett, in one
of his last public remarks as the
Athletic Director, looked back on
his time in the position as a “love
story.”
“It
began
with
President
Schlissel calling and asking if I
could help,” Hackett said. “I have
another friend in business who
said sometimes you do things
for God and country. I love the
University, and I felt compelled to
come and help.”
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Interim Athletic Director Jim Hackett made significant progress in just under 15 months on the job.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Hackett had a defining moment when he wrote an open letter in support of Blake O’Neill after the Michigan State game.