The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/144506
tive? Will the team and the energy that exists be lifted by the new leader, or in some cases, will the new leader actually come in and have a detrimental impact on the momentum you have? "There are a lot of risks. You try to minimize those risks as much as you can, but those risks are there. When you bring in somebody from the outside, it's just an additional risk. "If you have an internal candidate who you know and is a part of the culture and helped build it, and has a strong connection to it, you just eliminate one of the risks. If you've got somebody internally who is prepared to move into that spot and have there be a more orderly, less risky transition, that's always better, in my experience." The key is having someone ready to go, he added. "If you don't have somebody who is qualified, capable and ready to move into that spot, then you have no choice," Brandon said. "You take the risk, you go to the outside and you bring someone in. "For a long time, Michigan football went from Bo [Schembechler] to Mo [Gary Moeller] to Lloyd [Carr], and that culture just moved along with the leadership that grew into those jobs from internal promotion. But you look at men's basketball, and it's been exactly the opposite. We've never really had that opportunity, or at least it's been rare that we've had that opportunity, to really nurture and grow an assistant coach into the head coach job and have it be a sustaining relationship." Bottom Line: Improve The key to everything, Brandon underscored, involves getting the most out of every program and providing the greatest experience for the studentathletes who come into any of Michigan's 31 varsity sports. He revels in the national titles by the swimmers of head coach Mike Bottom and Kurt Golder's gymnasts. "We all root for one another," Brandon said. "We all try to help one another. Whether it's men's swimming and diving winning the national championship or the men's gymnastics team winning the national championship or the men's basketball team getting to the final game, or whether it's our cheerleading team winning the national championship … all of these things are to be celebrated. They're all things to be proud of. We share and share alike in the pride we feel when Michigan goes out and does a great job." And, he noted, a rising tide lifts all ships. "My dream is to get these facilities done and have our athletic campus be among the best, if not the best, facilities in the country for the benefit of our coaches and our studentathletes," Brandon said. "My second dream would be to win the Directors' Cup, and really show that Michigan can be the very best program in the country, in our top-10 men's and women's sports. "My job is to put our student-athletes in the best position I can to earn that championship and leave here with that championship ring on their finger." ❑