Above the Fold - Captain Billy is still accepting resumes

The Michigan coaching search seems to have reached...Well, it's somewhere, I have no God damn idea where though. One thing is clear. The Wolverines are no closer today to hiring a head football coach than they were the day Lloyd Carr retired.

Any names we hear associated with the job are just rumor and innuendo, with the only things we know for sure is...

Greg Schiano turned them down.

Ron English had a //gulp// second interview.

Les Miles has signed his contract extension, and the LSU athletic director had been talking smack ever since.

Captain Billy has been dry docked, and was in contact with Les Miles last Friday.

The fan and alumni base are embarrassed, pissed off, and are hoping against hope that Michigan hires a qualified coach...Soon.

Everything else is just conjecture.

That's not stopping anyone in the MSM or blogosphere from adding to the conjecture, rumors, and innuendo. Why? Because it's fun! (There's also the fact that the block M isn't saying a damn thing...)

The Freep's Mark Snyder tells us that Miles appears to still be interested in the Michigan job, and was in contact with the Michigan powers that be, despite the LSU chest thumping.

Miles had a phone conversation Friday morning with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and school president Mary Sue Coleman, according to several people with knowledge of the call.

Michigan received permission Nov. 28 from LSU athletic director Skip Bertman to speak with Miles, as long as it was after the Dec. 1 SEC championship game. So asking LSU again for permission was not an issue; U-M is believed to have initiated Friday's call.

LSU isn't very happy about that...

Bertman said Monday night he didn't know if Miles had had contact with Michigan. But he said he doubted anyone could sway Miles to leave LSU.

"He and Bo Schembechler were real close," Bertman said. "If Bo Schembechler were alive, I doubt he could have got him to go to Michigan. It's hard for people who don't live in the South to understand."

LSU'a AD isn't backing down. From his tough talk, he is either just talking a good game to ease the fears of the fanbase before the national title game, or is an elitist prick who doesn't think we Yankees understand southern fried football.

WDFN's Jamie Samuelson has a Freep blog, that to his credit, is updated fairly regularly. He bangs the drum for Cal's Jeff Tedford, as he says, correctly, why target "a guy who ALREADY TURNED THEM DOWN" in Les Miles.

So the answer is no, do not wait for Les Miles. I keep banging the drum for Jeff Tedford from Cal but nobody seems to listen. The only knock that I hear against him is that he might not want to leave the west coast. Hmmmm, last time I checked, Miles didn't want to leave LSU and Greg Schiano didn't want to leave Rutgers. Yeah, I can see why Tedford would be a bad candidate.

That's why this search just seems so fucked up. The candidate that the vast majority of fans, former players, and alumni want, held 2 press conferences professing his love for LSU, with Miles' brand spanking new contract being salt in the Wolverine wounds. If Miles does go back on his word, and on the contract he signed, by bolting for U of M after the Sugar Bowl, he will have out-Sabaned Nick Saban. That'd be quite an accomplishment...

As Angelique Chengelis covers the exact same ground as the above mentioned Freep article, let's see what Terry Foster has to say over at the Detroit News. He must have seen the same Pro Football Talk You Tube clip I did (I posted the clip on TWFE Saturday), as he parrots their claim that Marvin Lewis is in the mix at Michigan.

The Wolverines are obviously in no rush to fill this position and Lewis could be a nice fall back. Lewis turned down coaching opportunities at California and Michigan State because he wanted a shot at being a head coach in the NFL. Now he is in trouble and he is one of those guys who wants a fall back. Do not be surprised if he resigns before the Bengals fire him and he is in line for the Michigan job in the blink of an eye.

I think Captain Billy, Mary Sue, Lloyd and the rest of the Michigan Mafia are in no hurry to fill the position because: (Pick one)

(1) They are waiting for Les Miles.
(2) The quiet time for contacting recruits starts after this weekend anyway, so they have no reason to be in a Hellbound rush to make a decision.
(3) Brady fucking Hoke is playing hard-to-get.
(4) They don't have a fucking clue.

I seriously doubt it's because they want Marvin Lewis, Cam fucking Cameron, or any other NFL head coach.

At the MGoBlog, after lying low all weekend, Brian has burst forth with a flurry of activity. He profiled Brady fucking Hoke, shooting holes into his joke of a candidacy. More interestingly, he lays out, point by point, exactly what is happening on the Les Miles front...

The set of things that seem most likely to be true at this time:

* Miles has an offer for $2.5 million a year.
* He's got a few days to consider it.
* The main hangups appear to be assistant pay and the role of Carr in his program.
* Martin has been at least partially usurped.

Thing which seems completely implausible but given the sailboat thing cannot be ruled out -- nothing can be ruled out anymore:

* The anti-Miles faction in the AD is pushing Brady Hoke heavily.

Thing as of yet undetermined:

* If Miles will accept the offer.

A few things are worth mentioning.

Does Lloyd deserve the Bo-like respect the university seems to be giving him? Why should he have ANY role in the program, other than as a goodwill ambassador? Just give him an office in the basement, like Milton in "Office Space," where he can play with red staplers and playbooks all he wants, while not hurting anything...

The thought that Brady fucking Hoke is seriously being considered is absolutely flabbergasting. If he is given the job, there will be riots in A2, riots the likes we haven't seen since Michigan State won something. The shit will hit the fan with extreme force, resulting in a mess that would damage the school's reputation (And upholding their rep is more important than ANYTHING else), let alone fuck over the football program.

Doesn't an offer of 2.5 million per seem cheap? Especially for a football program that essentially prints money for the university? Jesus Christ, loosen the damn purse strings, if only a little. Who's running the program, Scrooge McDuck? Monty Burns? Pay the man!

It's all this clueless shit that has my head spinning, and shit is going to keep coming.

Michigan Sports Center thinks it's all a little too quiet on the coaching search front. SHHH! Be vewy vewy qwiet, we're hunting Elmers ducks wabbits Cajun coaches!

The most likely and best scenario that could happen if Miles was offered and accepted the Michigan job is for everyone to be honest about it. Many would call him 2007's version of Nick Saban, but when you look at each situation side-by-side, that would be untrue. Honesty in this case, would be the best policy. Miles could come out and say he's accepted the Michigan job, and although the press likely would criticize him, it's just a person that finally got a chance to take his dream job. According to Miles on Friday, Michigan still had yet to talk to him, so when he said he would return to LSU next year, that would have been true at the time. Things change, though, and instead of being another Nick Saban where he lied and left for a lot of money, Miles would simply be returning home. Money isn't even going to be an issue as it's expected that Michigan won't offer him a big contract.

If the theories about Miles are true, he must weally really love Michigan to but up with all this bullshit. He's going to be crucified in the media, while agreeing to a lesser deal with his alma mater. That's fucking love!

The Hoover Street Rag is asking for the unthinkable, that everyone remain calm! CALM! Craig, despite all the missteps and boat rides, is giving Captain Billy the benefit of the doubt...

I want to trust Bill Martin. You don't get to his position in the business world by being dumb. But yes, I know, the world of intercollegiate athletics is not the same as the business world. Well, Martin's learning. Martin also is facing down several factions, each pulling him in different directions, all having some level of power over him, if not in reality, perceptually. So he must try and find a way to make this work, and right now he's kind of stuck. He'll get it right, I'm sure of it. It just may take some time. I'm so sure, in part because I want to believe he will. But I think the biggest factor here is, Martin needs to get some spin control out there. He needs to be talking to people and taking control of this situation, because the longer he lets the situation percolate without resolution, the worse the speculation becomes, and the hotter the temperature becomes. (Heck, even just saying Mike DeBord will not be the head coach next season would be a huge step towards turning the temperature down, but he can't do it for fear of offending Coach Carr.)

No kidding! Throw us a bone! Just tell us that DeBord is out, and we'll feel one Hell of a lot better about this coaching search thing. Again, why all the fear of offending Lloyd? That Miles is still in the mix is more than enough to offend the old curmudgeon, so why not go all the way, and keep DeBord, English, and Brady fucking Hoke out of the conversation?

UPDATE 2:10 PM: Terry Foster posted new information, along with bringing up said info on the radio, about an hour after I wrapped up this post. On his WXYT radio show, he claims a Michigan representative flew to Louisiana Saturday to meet with Miles. In his blog, Foster says the following...

Bertman is doing the same thing, saying LSU football coach Les Miles has no interest in the Michigan job and never wanted the Michigan job. He sounds quite convincing. The problem is Miles is still interested in Michigan and it seems as if Michigan has opened some of the pipe lines and if the Wolverines are really serious Miles will be their coach after the National championship game.

School president Mary Sue Coleman and Athletic Director Bill Martin have read your emails and they are going to make a push for Miles. The key is how can they make it seem like they don't want him until after the national championship game?

My guess is everybody is now trying to keep it low key so LSU has no distractions prior to its game with Ohio State in January.

He also claimed (On his show) that Cam Cameron is no longer an option, Marvin Lewis is still on M's radar, and something I find hard very to believe, that Urban Meyer may be willing to listen to an offer. From the blog...

Now here is another name to chew on.

University of Florida coach Urban Meyer has a near perfect situation. He has great facilities, a great program, great recruiting base and can remain a top 10 program just about every year he is there.

I was told the door to Meyer is not wide open. However, there is a small crack because his relationship with UF AD Jeremy Foley is not the best.

What harm can a phone call do?

Urban Meyer? That's a bit if a stretch, you think? Brady fucking Hoke has a more realistic shot at the coaching gig.

When all is said and done a month from now, if I was a betting man, or at least had the money to spare to bet, because I am a betting man, I'd bet that Les Miles is the Michigan coach a couple of days after the Sugar Bowl.

The speculation is quickly spinning out of control. It's not going to stop anytime soon. May God help us all...

That's "Above the Fold" for Tuesday 12-11-07!