Michigan head coaches from every varsity sport signed a letter in unanimous support of UM athletic director Dave Brandon after the department has come under scrutiny during the first half of the football season.
Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon has come under fire recently as collateral damage from Michigan’s awful start to the 2014 football season. After quarterback Shane Morris continued to play while he had a concussion, the public and students went for Brandon’s job. But, just five days after the athletic department came under scrutiny, the head coach from each of Michigan’s varsity sports signed a letter in support of Brandon.
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The letter wrote “unanimous support” for Brandon and was signed by every coach, including football coach Brady Hoke and basketball coach John Beilein. It was addressed to new university president Mark Schlissel.
The students of Michigan proved that there was not so much unanimous support for Brandon everywhere else. A student-run online petition asking Brandon to step down. Of the 10,745 signatures analyzed, nearly 5,000 were students, but 30 had “professor” in the title and, interestingly, 110 were affiliated with intercollegiate athletics.
Brandon has been impressive in promoting the brand of Michigan, however. He has improved the athletics facilities campus immensely including the addition of lights to Michigan Stadium for the now-popular “Under the Lights” games and bringing the NHL’s Winter Classic to the Big House as well as soccer event in August between Manchester United and Real Madrid.
But now, we see Brandon’s struggles. Michigan has struggled to fill Michigan Stadium, which has been known to produce the biggest crowds in football, this season in part because the team was coming off a 7-6 season and has an unattractive home schedule. But Brandon made the mistake of raising ticket prices for students.
Michiga President Mark Schlissel has the authority to fire Brandon, but the Michigan Board of Regents that will meet to discuss Brandon do not. Brandon used to play football for Michigan and was also on the Board of Regents. He began his career at Michigan in 2010 and his contract has been extended to 2018.
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