BLUE

...the joy and despair of being a Wolverines fan.

November 20, 2007

WHY LES MILES?

The Michigan faithful stand at the edge of a chasm.

They, along with their new coach, are going to make a jump for the other side, for continued success. At the bottom of the pit lies failure, prolonged mediocrity. Notre Dame.

The winningest football program in history is replacing one of its top coaches, and the stakes are high, particularly when the formula for avoiding descent into mediocrity seems so elusive. It doesn’t appear to be money, track record, or name. Sometimes the NFL works. More often it does not. Sometimes big money works.  Sometimes it gets you a lot of coach, but not a lot of wins.

While Lloyd Carr frustrated many with his conservative style, the University of Michigan holds the record for consecutive years going to a bowl, now at 32, soon to be 33. As many Carr supporters have pointed out, don’t be too quick to sneer at Carr’s typical 9-3 record or you might find yourself staring at 3-9.  Nonetheless, the change is upon us, and those passionate about Michigan football wonder how we avoid the fates of Alabama, Notre Dame, Nebraska, UCLA, Miami, and more.

This problem puzzled me. Why is Tressel successful? And why wasn’t John Cooper? How is Stoops different from Callahan?  Where has Weis gone wrong?

And I puzzled three hours, `till my puzzler was sore. Is it scheme?  Is it recruiting?

Then Meeechigan Dan thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe a National Championship," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."

"Maybe football...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

I am happy to report that I have the answer, but Tom Osborne gets part of the credit.

Tom Osborne was on Jim Rome shortly after Nebraska gave up 76 points to Kansas…and not in basketball. Osborne, appalled by a season that has turned Husker nation into distraught vegetables, discussed the many reasons why Nebraska had fallen on hard times. In my opinion, he finished with his most important reason: the demise of the walk-on program. Most are aware that Nebraska had a great tradition of Nebraska boys walking on to be part of their dream school. Rudys at heart if not stature who would die for Nebraska football and suffused the program with a sense of its importance to the state of Nebraska and all the Cornhusker faithful.  Callahan, in hopes of squeezing another four-star into the locker room, whacked this program quicker than a Vernon Gholston sack. Osborne had the temerity to suggest that those missing unrated Nebraska kids, many whom never saw the field, were the reason Kansas could run up 76 points his beloved team.

And that’s the answer: the tradition and the team have to be bigger than the coach. Callahan cut the heart out of the Nebraska football, and all those four-stars, when confronted with adversity, packed it in because what did it matter at that point? No Nebraska kid would ever pack it in.

Michigan has its bowl streak and its success year in and year out because the school is bigger than the coach, the motivation of the kids here is not to win for Coach Carr or win for their NFL resume, it is to win for Michigan and for their teammates who are living that tradition. All the recruiting prospects interested in Michigan talk about this tradition, the winning, the program. And given the way Carr has recruited…

Donovan Warren on Coach Carr's methods: “I like the fact that when a lot of coaches try to recruit you they throw out the negatives about each school, but Michigan didn't throw out the negatives about any school. They were just straight up with me. They laid it all out … the facts. They said this is a good opportunity for you. That was pretty much it.”

…you end up with class kids who don’t have quit in their vocabulary. And while here, Bo’s "Team" philosophy becomes part of their make-up. Without trivializing our heroes in the military, a man will go further in support of his brothers in his unit…or on his team…than he ever would go on his own behalf.

So after Appalachian State and Oregon, they can still rise up and preserve the streak. Tressel is mocked because of his milquetoast demeanor, but that is what you get from a man who elevates the tradition of Ohio State football above his ego. Weis, on the other hand, has functionally dismantled Notre Dame tradition to build an altar (or a Golden Corral) to his greatness. Those kids who have left the program have spoken volumes about how tradition no longer is pre-eminent. I saw a weary ND team coming out at halftime and more than a couple kids did not even bother to slap the “Play Like A Champion Today” sign over the exit to the locker room.

This is obviously not the only element in college football success – sick talent (USC) and brilliant tactics (Kelly) can temporarily overwhelm the importance of football tradition – but it looms very large. The best chances for bringing the right players, the passionate team players, to your program year in and year out is for the program to be revered above all else.

And so, we come back full circle to the old adage about Michigan always hiring a “Michigan Man.” Now it is clear why. A Michigan Man knows how to communicate his passion for the program to recruits, so that the right ones come – the Donovan Warrens come and the Ronald Johnsons don’t. A Michigan Man cherishes the tradition that he was a part of, because he once lived the glory and was part of a unique team. A Michigan Man understands what the greatest rivalry in sports is all about: the two greatest teams battling each other with honor.

Les Miles played for Bo Schembechler. Les Miles bleeds Blue. He may have a crazy edge to him, a scary passion, but his regard for Bo and for the University of Michigan will carry the Wolverines over the chasm to the other side.

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