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Nice Guys Finish Last
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4 CommentsBill Martin gave his side of the story to Jim Carty today about what happened with the whole Les Miles situation over the weekend. What we know from Martin’s comments is that he made a big mistake, he was down in Florida and was sailing at one time, and unless he is really cooking something up behind the scenes, seems absolutely clueless.
The original rumor that alluded to him sailing included that as the reason no one could get in touch with him. Since he would have been out on the water, a cell tower likely wouldn’t be within reach to give him a signal. That means that Martin wouldn’t have even known about the calls Les Miles’ agent made to inquire about where Miles stood as a candidate in this process. Contradicting that claim, Martin made it clear that he did receive a call from Miles’ agent but decided not to call back. Why?
He said when he received permission to contact Miles from LSU last Wednesday, he agreed to wait until after Saturday’s Southeastern Conference title game between the Tigers and Tennessee, and believes that promise to wait extended to Miles agent as well.“I did (call), Sunday morning,” Martin said. “Why Sunday morning? I committed not to talk to Les Miles, directly or indirectly before the championship game on Saturday. That’s the way this process is done, or at least the way I’m honoring the process.”
As Carty goes on to explain, LSU A.D. Skip Bertman told the Detroit News last week that Martin could go ahead and talk to Miles’ agent, but apparently Martin never saw those comments. Even so, that’s no excuse at all. I know that integrity is important to Martin, but what is so bad about simply answering your phone? Heck, why not just call back and say that he got the message but doesn’t want to begin actual discussion until Sunday? It literally is that simple. Instead, Miles’ agent got the impression that Martin obviously didn’t care that much, which led to Miles accepted the contract extension – since there was not even the slightest hint that Martin was interested in Miles.
Like I said, Martin obviously values staying true to his word when it comes to things like this, but I just do not understand how talking to the coaches agent is that bad. Even if he was under the impression that the agreement to get in contact with Miles included not getting in contact with Miles’ agent, these types of situations require that you bend your own rules. College football is not about sitting back and being nice to everyone. This is a cutthroat world and the nice guys, as the phrase says, finish last. In this case, Martin did finish last as Miles still is LSU’s head coach.
Although the aforementioned rumor about Martin sailing wasn’t completely accurate, it was definitely close.
The Michigan athletic director confirmed that, yes, he was in Key Largo, Fla., Friday and Saturday. At times, he admits he might have been hard to reach, because he was in meetings with donors.Yes, at least part of the time he was sailing on his boat in the Atlantic Ocean.
“I was out on the boat with a donor, for an hour,” he said.
Even if Martin was in Florida or was out on a sailboat, to me that doesn’t mean he was out of touch since he knew of the message left by Miles’ agent. Still, there was just no need to mention this:
He explained that at least part of the problem was he had switched from a Treo phone to a Blackberry and was having some technical problems.
I’m a little confused on what point Martin was trying to get across. He says that he got the message but didn’t want to make contact until after the SEC title game. I understand that. It makes sense since Martin is the kind of guy that sticks to an agreement. However, what do technical problems with a cell phone switch have to do with anything? Either you got the message or not, regardless of cell phone problems. If you tried to return the call but couldn’t because of cell phone issues then that is understandable, but I’m just not getting what cell phone issues prevented at all.
I’m going to withhold any further criticism of Martin until this process plays itself out. He now may realize that he made a mistake and could try to fix it, or in reality this wasn’t really a mistake at all. When all is said and done, if Martin does screw this coaching search up, then trust me, there will be lots and lots of criticism. Until then, though, I’m going to hope that he knows what he’s doing and understands that his job is on the line when it comes to hiring a new football coach.
I love the fact that Les Miles is still in Louisiana because Bill Martin couldn’t figure out his cell phone. I’m imagining him on the sailboat with some other old dudes, complaining about kids these days and their gul-durn beepily boops. Can’t a guy go sailing without always having to get phone calls and mess with all this technology?
After this debacle is over, Coleman, Martin, and Carr should all be shown the door. This coaching search has the look and feel of a Division III bottom-feeding program, not one of the top Division I programs. Coleman and Carr preferring Ferentz because he’s a nice guy first and a competent coach second is ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as Martin not wanting Kelly because Kelly’s not always been nice as he moves up the ladder.
This is turning into a real joke. One of the biggest ?programs? in the country is trying to make its most important hire arguably in their history and this guy is sailing? PLEASE!
Like I said yesterday, if they were serious about getting Miles then Martin should have been in Atlanta. If you want to proclaim yourself to be one of the biggest dudes on the block like U-M often does then you need to play like one of them.
I just get the feeling that we should prepare ourselves for a Ferentz, Hoke, English type hire. You know; someone with the kind of character and stubbornness of Carr. Someone who can carry on the great tradition of third place finishes and 4-5 loss seasons; but that?s ok right? As long as they do it with the ?integrity? of a ?true Michigan man?. PLEASE!!!
Why are we so stuck on Miles? If he was “the guy” he wouldn’t of done what he did. If he really wanted to come to UofM, his “dream job”, he would’ve waited for Martin and UofM. But he didn’t. He was working his alma mater for more $$$money$$$ from LSU (low class), because if he was never interested and never wanted to leave LSU, he would of said the day Carr retired that he wasn’t interested. He would of been as adamant that day as the day of the SEC title game. He played us. He played his best friend, Johnny Wangler (low class), who said Miles would take it without a doubt and if that is all true I would rather have the “nice guy”, because that guy is the Michigan guy. Isn’t that the difference with our program? Isn’t that one of the things that make you proud to be a Michigan fan? We all know what a shady program gets you, just ask the Fab Five. I don’t want an Andy Geiger or Sweater Vest who will brings in the lint roller carrying Claretts of the world. Look at Oklahoma – BUSTED. Look at USC – they are next…is it worth not doing the right thing?
In the end Michigan is my team. I will always love that winged helmet. We need to pick our heads up and move on. Miles was working us…he was about the $$$money$$$, not the Maize and Blue.