The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/418536
"I would imagine that the interim athletic director will be intimately involved in, in charge of the evalua- tion of football. These things have a cadence, and we'll figure out how to move forward as we would for all of our sports. "The interim AD is the athletic direc- tor until we hire a permanent AD. As you know, I feel comfortable hiring deans and provosts. I'm not the guy to make a decision about a particular coach. We have an athletic program that I delegate that authority to." Schlissel has garnered immense in- put in the few months he's been at U-M regarding the importance of foot- ball in the athletic niche of the Uni- versity. The driver of its $150-million athletic budget, and a huge point of pride and focus for donors — such as Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, who donated $200 million to the University, split equally between the academic and athletic interests — foot- ball cannot be ignored. Nor does Schlissel desire to do so, even if he has engaged in some pon- dered-aloud misgivings about how big-time athletics and the University community as a whole line up. "I experienced the excitement of sitting with 110,000 people at a foot- ball stadium, something I have never experienced at Brown, certainly, and it was joyous," Schlissel said. "At its best, athletics is just so deeply ingrained in the culture of the Uni- versity, and really does serve to bind us all together, bring us through the generations, develop memories and associations that feed back and help support this great University. "But at our core, we're at an aca- demic institution, and we do other things as well that are important." That said, Hackett's Job 1 involves making sure all is well with Michigan's golden goose. Schlissel has received enough impassioned input to harbor no illusions along those lines. "I certainly have learned something that, intellectually, I knew on the way in the door," he said. "But boy did I sense the passion of all the fans, the alumni, the supporters of our athletic programs in general and football in particular. "I am not willing to address spe- cific questions about the future of the football program, other than to say, like everything else we do at the Uni- versity, we desire to do it at a level of excellence, a level of competitiveness, in a way that excites and involves our entire community." Ron Simpkins, the All-American linebacker and one-time teammate of Hackett, believes the new AD is pre- cisely the sort of individual who can assist in that process. "Michigan football is a revenue-pro- ducing sport that takes care of all the other non-revenue-producing sports," Simpkins said. "At the end of the day, Michigan football has to be success- ful for the athletic department to be deemed a success, in any way, shape or form. "His job is to steady the ship right now. He'll evaluate Brady Hoke and where he is right now. If it feels like he's the guy to keep on and build the program, you stick with him. "If not, you go through the pro- cess of trying to hire somebody, then