[NU Sports] Fitz tells Michigan he's not interested!

[Eric West]

On 1/7/2011 9:05 AM, Beamsley, Jeff wrote:
> I'm happy that Fitz is staying, but I am sad at how this is playing out for what had been a premiere college football program.
>
> Michigan is supposed to be a "dream" job virtually any coach in the country would jump at.  Iinstead it is becoming another tawdry side show where the rest of the sporting world gets to watch as a whole series of coaches tell Michigan that they aren't interested.

I suppose it is sad for Michigan, but they aren't the first "premiere 
college football program" to learn the hard way that times have changed. 
Notre Dame, USC, Nebraska, Miami (and I could go on) have all been 
there. It's a symptom of what is otherwise a good thing: increased 
competition in top-level college football.

It may have started with scholarship restrictions, so the big programs 
can't pad their depth chart with top athletes the way they used to -- 
and now those athletes are playing against them week after week -- but 
some ADs (and plenty of alumni) still act like it's 1975 and have the 
same expectations. As a result, good coaches are fired, their 
replacements generally don't do much better, and other coaches start to 
wonder what the upside is to working at a place where "success" is now 
virtually impossible.

There are other factors -- increased media attention, infusion of cash 
and pressure, etc. -- but at the center lies a simple fact: the big 
programs aren't what they used to be and never will be again. Schools 
that refuse to adapt to this reality will suffer the way Michigan has 
(and other schools have before them). For me, that's fine; I certainly 
would prefer not to turn back the clock.


Eric West
e-west at northwestern.edu