There certainly a glaring difference between the former director of athletics Bill Martin and the current one in Dave Brandon. I have to admit, I wasn't aware Bill Martin was Michigan's athletic director until I saw the press conference with the removal of the Fab Five banners from Crisler Arena some time ago. Mr. Martin seemed to be a very reserved man and from comments of other Michigan fans, it also seemed he was more interested in keeping the Michigan athletic department budget in the black as opposed to monitoring the success and failures of the sports teams who bring in the revenue. Dave Brandon has been the complete opposite since he has taken control over the athletic department.
When you hear him speak, he speaks with passion and values the importance of success for the athletic teams, not only on the field, but in the classroom as well. We have seen Dave Brandon in press conferences, you are able to follow him on twitter, heck, you can even email him at his email address at the university. He also takes the time to reply to fans who follow him. What a guy, huh??
Let me play devil's advocate though for a bit. Now I firmly admit I follow what goes on at Michigan more now than what I did maybe ten years ago, but I have seen Dave Brandon on TV so much over the last 18 months or so, it makes me wonder why. Going back to the firing of Rich Rod. Even with the speculation swirling in Ann Arbor leading to his dismissal, Dave Brandon squarely put himself in the spotlight of the Michigan football program. Whether this was coincidental or intentional, that is debatable.
Then, look at the hiring of Brady Hoke. At the press conference, Dave Brandon took the stage first and seemed to take an awful long time to finally introduce Brady Hoke as the new Michigan head football coach. Did Dave Brandon steal Brady's thunder?? Or is it pure coincidence?? The ultimate question, "Is Dave Brandon too visible when it comes the Michigan athletics program, and the football team in particular? In my personal opinion, I do not feel he is too involved with the athletic department from the public eye standpoint. Not everyone shares my opinion on this subject, so I thought this would be a great time to bring up the issue. Dave Brandon has a passion for Michigan as a whole, especially the football program. Brady Hoke is his guy and wants to be sure his choice was correct. As Michigan fans we all hope so too. As long as Dave Brandon lets Brady Hoke coach football and doesn't become like Jerry Jones, things will be fine.
