I have zero faith in Warde Manuel to get his right and I fully expect the next coach to be
someone like Val or Porter Moser and the program will have another decade from hell. Of course it could all turn out much better than that, but I am conditioned to think the worst about sports lately.
IMO, itās debatable on whether Michigan or the Cleveland Cavaliers run by Dan Gilbert is a better job for him. It depends on what you value. Expressing that doesnāt mean Iām casting him as a villain, but learning more about him affects how you view him and how heāll be viewed by others.
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Why zero faith? He made a good hockey hire.
That was the most obvious hire of all time and it was handed to him on a plate. Every connected person I have talked to in Ann Arbor has less than great things to say about Warde and the few decisions we know about as the public have not inspired much confidence.
Warde eschewed bigger names and better coaches to get the guy who the Michigan establishment wanted. It wasnāt a home run hire.
I get that the perspective whether the Cavs or Michigan being the better job is subjective. Regardless it is not hard to put yourself in a place that reasonably views the Cavs job as better.
I had a harder time with the notion that you put forth that he doesnt care about his legacy at Michigan. Legacy may not be his highest priority but he definitely left a very good one at Michigan. When emotions are a bit more settled I believe that this will be crystallized more.
Also, I will note that I dont have a high level of faith that we will be satisfied with who we end up with, but that blame should not fall on JB but with Warde.
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Come on, Pearson was a winner at Tech, not a simple thing to do. This past season was disappointing but heās a good coach. This is the only data point we have on Manuel and it doesnāt justify having no faith in him.
The same very tight knit group that helped land Harbaugh also helped land Warde. He has hired one coach to date that seems to appear to be a good one. Lets see how it plays out before trashing the guy.
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As others have said, that hire was made for him. And Pearson was the 3rd or 4th best resume on the market at the time.
youre an ultimate competitor, started as a high school coach and slowly moved up the ladder for 30-40 years, all while following every rule while others cheat, you have a health scare, the kids get harder and harder to recruit and keep, the ruling body shown guilty people in front of them turns a blind eyeā¦ you have a chance to coach in one of biggest leagues in world, build your own roster with equal rules and reduce your work schedule, working at the highest level
it makes complete sense
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It was absolutely a home run hire. The wish list was basically: Jim Montgomery (no shot), Norm Bazin (meh), Nate Leaman (would have been great, but turned down overtures from Boston U) and Mel Pearson. Mel was tied for second best candidate for the job IMO. I would have been very happy with him or Leaman.
Debate can be had about how much actual work Warde had to put into that hire, but it was a very good hire.
Iāll note that Warde has made great hires with the Lax programs. Theyāre both in very good shape.
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so a frozen four, followed by mass attrition and a disappointing year is a let down? didnāt JB go from elite 8 to barely in tournament?
letās not rush to judgment on mel
Fwiw the menās lax search may have ended decently but was seen as disaster in lacrosse circles.
Lets not ever talk about hockey on this forum. Makes me sick lol
I donāt know enough about them other than the end result. Womenās lax coach is looking like a home run for sure.
But admittedly, a basketball hire is a whole different animal. A ton of factors to consider and much bigger consequences from a national perspective.
What has Warde done besides extend Kevin Ollie (whichā¦ come on, he had to after a championship) that make people think heās some awful AD? Is it all based on Samās list on 247? Because we should probably wait until, ya know, something actually happens before declaring him inept.
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Idk about all you guys but I can live with damn near every name being thrown at Michigan outside of Moser. I like him but heās had 1 good year and he was literally one possession away from losing in 3 tourney games from not even being a name mentioned here. Everyone else has at least something good going for them. He needs to cut his teeth at a place another notch above Loyola before Iād want to give him a shot.
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That could beā¦heās always raising the bar for his teams, I guess that would also apply to his career. You have to admit he will have a great chance to coach some of the best ballers in the world. Tonightās lottery will start the next phase of the process.
Yeah I donāt think people remember just how improbably lucky Loyola was in the tourney run. 22nd in the entire NCAA in close game luck for the whole season too.
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