The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/382426
ing and revenue streams in place, do you see any major obstacles to accomplishing the plan? Brandon: "No. The willingness of our donors to invest in the vision we have for Michigan athletics, and particularly in the facilities area, has been fantastic. Most people recognize the importance of competitive facilities to recruit great coaches, to recruit great student-ath- letes and to build a program that can be competitive nationally. "The other thing we weren't sure of, but now we are, is that people appreci- ate and are passionate about Michigan football. They're appreciative of the important role that our men's basket- ball program plays. And people love Michigan hockey. Those really high- profile sports you see on television all the time, that draw the biggest crowds and get the most fan attention, people love those. "But what's been really gratifying to see is the way people also support and feel passionate about the tens of other sports we have — the passion people have in our soccer teams, and our track teams, and our lacrosse teams, and our rowing teams, our volleyball team, our cheer and dance team. They want to make sure those facilities are just as competitive and Michigan first-class as we provide some of our more notable sports. "That's really been special to be a part of. It's been a real joy to see how our donors feel strongly about all 931 of our student-athletes, not just some of them." The Wolverine: With the football sea- son underway, what do you look for in terms of improvement over last year? Brandon: "Brady Hoke and his staff are building a program. They're transi- tioning from where it started to where we all want it to go. That requires a shift and a resetting of expectations as it relates to recruiting. It creates a shift in the culture of the program, and it takes time. "We all wish we could wave a magic wand and have it immediately reset to be nationally competitive, but it's ex- tremely rare that that happens. Most of the programs you see out there, where coaches are achieving a high level of success, if you go back and look how long it took them to put the pieces in place, before they had that kind of sustained program, it's always longer than the fans wish it would take. It has always required patience. Brandon said of football head coach Brady Hoke, "He's getting more and more of the young players that he recruited out on the field. The culture of the program is chang- ing." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL