The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/575020
THE BUSINESS OF MICHIGAN ATHLETICS or, 'I want to come to Michigan,' on his end. It was talking about the phi- losophy of different things. "He's so disciplined. He would not tell me, but later came about what he was dealing with in the other job. He was just so loyal to everybody. "I wouldn't tell him what I was thinking about with Brady. That built a good relationship. When it was time to deal with that, I wasn't court- ing two different people. I was mar- ried to one, and if that didn't work, I would have to start over." The Wolverine: What would you have done if he'd said no? Hackett: "I had a backup plan. It was called a walk-away. You have to have this when you go into nego- tiations, because you can fall in love with an idea and throw more money at it. It's what would make me walk away? "In this case, it was the time — how much time would I have to com- pete with others in the NFL? I had some surprising candidates, and I've protected them. I think the number two candidate would have surprised everybody. "These are successful people today. The fact that they wanted to come to Michigan just blew me away." The Wolverine: Successful college head coaches? Hackett: "And pro. We had more than one pro coach that wanted to talk … Michigan is a plum job. "A lot of them could really have whatever they wanted where they were. But this is such a unique plat- form with a storied history, a place in the world where more games have been won than anywhere else. "They were looking at a chance to come in and fix it. "The great news is we got the guy we needed." The Wolverine: You played for Bo and you know Jim well. What traits do they share? Hackett: "Incredible integrity. The candor is so refreshing. When you look in the eyes of those two men — they can't lie. The candor is so star- tlingly authentic. They don't change. "I've been frustrated by some of the press coverage of Jim in the last month, because they want to describe him as idiosyncratic. I say, imagine a grade school teacher saying, 'Hey Picasso, you're painting outside the lines. You don't understand. You're supposed to color in the lines. We can't understand what you're doing.' "It turns out, it's a masterpiece. "Jim's not being idiosyncratic. He's painting outside the lines. He knows how to compete, and that's why he's so successful. "Bo was like that. Everyone thinks everyone does the same thing, and then there are cheaters. That could be true, but then there are people who are so innovative — Paul Brown was like this. He invented facemasks and playbooks. It was just so counter to the culture. "The world saw them as odd. In fact, they're all leading. What Jim did with the camp program … he had