Michigan Football and management leadership styles
David Cho, MBA 2
Issue date: 10/31/05 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 4 next >
This is the craziest Michigan football season anyone can remember. Five weeks ago, the team lost to Wisconsin on the road in the final minute of the game. Michigan had not lost to Wisconsin since 1994. However, Michigan then went to East Lansing and escaped with a three-point overtime victory against a favored Michigan State team.
The next week brought Minnesota and the Battle for the Little Brown Jug. Michigan lost that game on a last-second field goal. Michigan had previously defeated Minnesota sixteen straight times dating back to 1986. Minnesota head coach Glen Mason's comments after the game help to put this dominance in perspective, "It's been 19 years since we've had the Brown Jug. We have some guys in the locker room right now who aren't 19 years old!"
Yet after the Minnesota loss, Michigan came back the next week to beat previously undefeated Penn State in one of the best finishes in Michigan Stadium history. Quarterback Chad Henne found wide receiver Mario Manningham in the back of the end zone on the game's final play to give this generation of Michigan fans their own Anthony Carter (45-yard TD vs. Indiana in 1979) or Mercury Hayes (15-yd TD vs. Virginia in 1995).
Michigan then went to Iowa and won that game on the final play in overtime, ending Iowa's 22-game home win streak against Big Ten opponents. It was Michigan's first back-to-back victories this season. Then on a nationally-televised Saturday night game, Michigan picked up its sixth win and bowl-eligibility against Northwestern. The streak of consecutive bowl games will now go to thirty-two straight. That's great news considering that a couple weeks ago bowl-eligibility was in serious doubt, but this is still an atypical season for the Wolverines. So what's the problem?
Michigan has had top-ten recruiting classes over the last five years so the talent is in the system. Top athletes have testified that the most important factors aside from personal ability are good coaching, high-level competition, quality facilities, and a strong support network. The popular sentiment this year is to blame the coaching staff. However, head coach Lloyd Carr has led the program to a national championship and the players have all said that coaching is not the reason why the team is so up and down. After the Minnesota loss, running back Mike Hart said "The coaches made good calls, we just couldn't execute them today."
The next week brought Minnesota and the Battle for the Little Brown Jug. Michigan lost that game on a last-second field goal. Michigan had previously defeated Minnesota sixteen straight times dating back to 1986. Minnesota head coach Glen Mason's comments after the game help to put this dominance in perspective, "It's been 19 years since we've had the Brown Jug. We have some guys in the locker room right now who aren't 19 years old!"
Yet after the Minnesota loss, Michigan came back the next week to beat previously undefeated Penn State in one of the best finishes in Michigan Stadium history. Quarterback Chad Henne found wide receiver Mario Manningham in the back of the end zone on the game's final play to give this generation of Michigan fans their own Anthony Carter (45-yard TD vs. Indiana in 1979) or Mercury Hayes (15-yd TD vs. Virginia in 1995).
Michigan then went to Iowa and won that game on the final play in overtime, ending Iowa's 22-game home win streak against Big Ten opponents. It was Michigan's first back-to-back victories this season. Then on a nationally-televised Saturday night game, Michigan picked up its sixth win and bowl-eligibility against Northwestern. The streak of consecutive bowl games will now go to thirty-two straight. That's great news considering that a couple weeks ago bowl-eligibility was in serious doubt, but this is still an atypical season for the Wolverines. So what's the problem?
Michigan has had top-ten recruiting classes over the last five years so the talent is in the system. Top athletes have testified that the most important factors aside from personal ability are good coaching, high-level competition, quality facilities, and a strong support network. The popular sentiment this year is to blame the coaching staff. However, head coach Lloyd Carr has led the program to a national championship and the players have all said that coaching is not the reason why the team is so up and down. After the Minnesota loss, running back Mike Hart said "The coaches made good calls, we just couldn't execute them today."
