The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL as a win-at-all-costs involvement, and a very narrow focus, while Bran- don argues for a broader-based per- spective. That is in part why he's seeking to rebuild Michigan's athletic facilities across the board, in the amount of some $350 million. "We're supporting 31 teams here," he said. "The revenues we bring in are amortized across 931 student-ath- letes, 31 coaching staffs and 31 teams. We choose to spread that investment around and give a lot of access and opportunity to young people, in many cases in sports that don't have huge fan interest, but provide enor- mous opportunities for the young people. "You can go to other conferences and universities where they may have 17, or 19, or 21 athletic pro- grams. Their student-athletes may number 400, 450, virtually half of the number of student-athletes we sup- port here. "That's a decision the institution makes. The NCAA doesn't govern that. That's the philosophy and deci- sion of the institution. In some cases, you just have to look a little bit be- yond who is out there cheating and really look at, okay, what are their priorities, what are their philoso- phies and what kind of policies are they following to do what they do?" Brandon isn't apologizing for Michigan's approach in the slightest. "I am particularly proud of the fact that we're a broad-based pro- gram," he said. "We provide a lot of opportunity, high academic stan- dards, and we really work hard to do the right thing for people to pre- pare them to be successful in life. We don't just focus on one or two programs and make sure those pro- grams are always on the national scene. "Winning is really, really impor- tant here, but winning the Michigan way is equally important." ❏ Miscellaneous Notes • Michigan was 6-10 in true road games under head coach Brady Hoke with no victories over ranked teams heading into an Oct. 25 contest at Michigan State. The Wolverines were 2-2 in 2011 with wins at Northwestern and Illinois and losses at Michigan State and Iowa; 2-3 in 2012, winning at Purdue and Minnesota, but losing to Notre Dame, Nebraska and Ohio State; 2-3 in 2013, beating UConn and Northwestern, while falling to Penn State, Michigan State and Iowa; and they stood 0-2 with losses at Notre Dame and Rutgers this year. • Michigan ranked 100th or worse (out of 125 teams) in 13 different catego- ries after seven games. The Wolverines were in the bottom 11 in interceptions thrown (11, 117th nationally), punt return defense (14.38 yards per return, 115th), turnover margin (minus-1.86, 125th), turnovers gained (three, 124th) and turnovers lost (16, 119th). • On the plus side, the Wolverines ranked No. 2 in fewest penalties per game