Here's a great quote, I especially love the third sentence.
osted: 11/19/2010 10:24 AM
RE: Bill Martin
Builder of buildings, demolisher of sports programs. If you're looking for praise for Bill, stay off the UM football forum and go to an architecture forum. Or an Ohio State football forum.
I don't think Bill knew much about football. And that's the kindest assessment I can think of. Because the other possibility is he just didn't care that much about the UM football program. And, sadly, I think that's probably the more accurate assessment.
Martin had years to prepare for Lloyd's departure and find his successor. Yet the way that process unfolded...nah, too orderly a word, more like unhinged...it was apparent he was just indulging petty personal agendas, his own bad habits and making it up as he went along. I've seen non-profit boards staffed by young hippies handle the basics of a hiring process more effectively than Bill did. It was embarrassing for weeks and led to a panic hire that was wrong for the program, which led to at least a couple years of embarrassing on-field results and the end of streaks that dated back more than a couple decades. None of that seemed to particularly bother arrogant Bill either.
Then there was his deft handling of the NCAA investigation, resulting, in large part, in a jaywalking offense being treated for a long time like some major scandal. And BM's media relations were abominable, something we are still paying for.
Bill Martin wasn't hired as UM's chief architect or engineer, but as our Athletic Director. The first word in that job title is Athletic. And the first and foremost athletic program at UM is football. The state of the football program when Martin finally "retired" tells you all you need to know about why Bill Martin is not spoken of highly by many on a UM football forum.
