The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/447116
BY CHRIS BALAS E arly in the search process for Michigan's next head coach, interim athletic director Jim Hackett received criticism from some national pundits who said the Wolverines were "botch- ing" the search. There was no plan, FoxSports.com's Bruce Feldman (for one) reported — just former coach and current athletic department em- ployee Mike DeBord making phone calls on U-M's behalf. Those involved, however, knew better. In their defense, NFL reporters such as Feldman and ESPN's Adam Schefter (who in early December said there was "no way" San Fran- cisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh would return to Michigan) were kept out of the loop for a reason. This was a covert operation in which several pieces had to fall into place in order for the Wolverines to land Harbaugh, widely considered one of the best coaches in the country at any level. "He was able to do it in a way that every single day you didn't have things being leaked," former head coach Lloyd Carr said. "It's pretty clear Jim was the lead candidate from the beginning, but there were a lot of things going on." A former CEO of global furniture manufacturer Steelcase in Grand Rapids, Mich., Hackett used a busi- ness mentality to aid him in laying out the framework for the process and stuck with it throughout, a strategy that enabled him to stay in constant contact with all of those in- volved. He formed an advisory com- mitted that included former U-M greats Jon Jansen, Derrick Walker, John Wangler, Curt Stephenson, Marlin Jackson and Jarrett Irons, along with input from Brian Griese, Charles Woodson and Marcus Ray. There were dozens of possibilities, and while there was a search firm involved [Korn Ferry, with an office based in Chicago], Hackett already knew everything about each one of them, from the types of offenses they ran to how much money they made. Nothing he did was impulsive, Ste- phenson said. First, Hackett had the difficult task of determining Brady Hoke's future. He replaced A.D. David Brandon on Oct. 31 with an GETTING HIS MAN How Jim Hackett Landed Jim Harbaugh