On November 20, 2007, Lloyd Carr announced that he would be stepping down as the head coach of the Michigan Football team effective
after their bowl game. Bill Martin, U of M’s Athletic Director at the time, then began a somewhat erratic search for a replacement outside the program. His search ended December 18, 2007, with the announcement that Rich Rodriguez would be taking over at U of M.
What happened exactly between those two dates has been exaggerated several times over. Several coaches names were mentioned during the time frame that were no where near getting offered the position. As much as I would like to point the finger solely at the media and websites creating “views” with their rumor-mongering, some of the responsibility belongs with the candidates.
Les Miles created the belief that Michigan was after him, leveraged him returning to his alma-mater, and scored a contract extension in the process. I still remember to this day hearing multiple insiders say that Miles was a non-factor in the search, only to see Kirk Herbstreit reporting that Miles coming to U of M was a done deal. Who do you think told Herbstreit this fairy tale?
Well today John U. Bacon wrote that Michigan never contacted Les Miles in 2007 and didn’t return his phone calls. Now how could a prominent “Michigan Man” like Miles, who was about to win the national title, not even be given the light of day. To put it eloquently, this wasn’t the first time Miles had used Michigan as leverage. To put it bluntly, if even a fourth of the stories I’ve heard about Miles are true and came to light, not one of you would consider him a “Michigan Man.”
David Brandon, U of M’s current Athletic Director, said during yesterdays press conference that he has been taking suggestions from everyone around Michigan Football. I would assume this includes Lloyd Carr. Martin took suggestions from Carr back in 2007 and never entertained Miles candidacy for a second. The writings on the wall, Miles is staying at LSU.
Question: If Martin never entertained Miles candidacy for a second, why did he officially request through the LSU AD to speak with Miles?
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3132538 LSU athletic director Skip Bertman confirmed Wednesday night through spokesman Herb Vincent that his Michigan counterpart, Bill Martin, has officially requested permission to speak with Les Miles about becoming the next coach of the Wolverines.
Bertman requested that the meeting not take place until after LSU plays Tennessee Saturday for the SEC championship. Martin told Bertman he will comply.
[...] I would take my chances with Hoke over Miles right now. Miles is getting dumber and dumber as each year goes by. I did think Michigan would take a shot at getting Miles, but I don't think so and this is why: Dear Les Miles Supporters… | UMGoBlog.COM [...]
[...] this in the Around the NCAA forum. Interesting stuff about Michigan and Miles. Dear Les Miles Supporters… | UMGoBlog.COM __________________ "Everyone thinks I'm the best damn coach in the country. But (Neyland) [...]
Funny thing is I think the Bacon article might be a shaded attempt by some boosters (or former employees) to discredit Miles again.
There are MULTIPLE articles, including press releases you can find from LSU, that state that LSU was contacted by Bill Martin – to talk to Miles about the position in 2007. Why would the LSU AD, and school, lie to force their own coach to a contract extension – thereby paying him MORE money?
The Bacon article is a lie – it may be true that Miles mentioned the Michigan vacancy early in his contract talks with LSU, but there is also no denying Michigan contacted LSU for permission to intervew Miles in 2007.
I don’t think Les Miles has the power to go back and plant ESPN quotes, and fake press releases from LSU going back to 2007.
This isn’t revisionist history. I’m not denying for a minute that Bill Martin contacted LSU to speak with Les Miles. Martin contacted many schools for permission to talk to their coaches while putting together his initial list of potential candidates. Much like how David Brandon contacted Northwestern for permission to speak to Pat Fitzgerald last week. Now years from now, will we argue that Fitzgerald was offered the job or even spoken to, no we won’t. Just because Martin asked for permission doesn’t mean Miles was ever interviewed or offered the position. Martin put out feelers to MANY universities, put together a potential list, took it back to the football brain trust at the time, including Carr, and narrowed their search from there. Miles didn’t turn down in Michigan in 2007, he never had the opportunity. Choose to believe what you want, the funny thing about this post is that in our forum, it was treated as old news, while on Twitter and in this comment section, everyone thinks I’m making it up.