U-M students call for AD Dave Brandon's job at rally

[alp227]

Source: Detroit Free Press

With the polish wearing thinner by the day on the University of Michigan's much heralded sports program, the university's new president issued a public apology Tuesday as the school struggled to contain a growing public relations disaster over its football program.

Mark Schlissel, who took over as president in July, said he was extremely disappointed in the handling of injured quarterback Shane Morris during Saturday's game with Minnesota, and he has been in regular discussions with Athletic Director David Brandon and the Board of Regents over the matter.

"Despite having one of the finest levels of team medical expertise in the country, our system failed on Saturday. We did not get this right, and for this I apologize to Shane, his family, his teammates, and the entire Michigan family."

Schlissel's statement — issued at 5:30 p.m. after days of silence from the president — avoided any reference to the growing calls for the firing of Brandon and head football coach Brady Hoke.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2014/09/30/michigan-wolverines-students-rally-fire-dave-brandon/16511897/

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More coverage of the protest: Ann Arbor News, AP, ESPN

On Tuesday, the Freep reported: Brady Hoke didn't know Shane Morris had concussion

Michigan coach Brady Hoke defended himself at his weekly news conference Monday against accusations that he was not considerate of Shane Morris' possible head trauma in the last game.

Hoke opened the media session at the Crisler Center by saying that Morris suffered a high ankle sprain in Saturday's 30-14 loss to Minnesota, but, "based on everything I know," not a concussion.

Then at 1 a.m. today, athletic director Dave Brandon issued a lengthy statement in which he acknowledged that Morris, a sophomore quarterback, did indeed suffer a "mild concussion" on a fourth-quarter hit by Minnesota's Theiren Cockran and that communication breakdowns on the sidelines allowed Morris to stay in for a play and later reenter for another play. Brandon, who did not attend Hoke's news conference, also said in his statement that even though Morris' diagnosis came Sunday, that information was not relayed to coach Brady Hoke until after his news conference early Monday afternoon.

[billhicks76]

1. Go Blue

Hail To The Victors!

[amandabeech]

6. I'm a U-M alum, and I'm not happy with the situation at all.

The new president, who is very academically minded, really must get involved in this situation, because the sports culture can be extreme, and seems to be increasingly diverging from the academic culture.

Morris, the quarterback, clearly should have been taken out of the game no matter what he himself wanted. If the coach did not see what happened, surely someone, like the offensive coordinator should have told him. The worst thing is that no one in the athletic department seems to be taking responsibility.

It is all the more galling that the U-M medical sciences program has been a leader in developing protocols for dealing with head injuries in athletics, and it looks like the football team is giving only lip service to the standards set by the medical program.

The real failure is that the AD Brandon may stay only because Michigan's $300,000,000 benefactor Ross likes the guy.

It's sickening to this old grad.

[AngryOldDem]

2. What happened Saturday was inexcusable.

The kid's bell was obviously rung and he should have been done for the day after that hit. But coaches sent him back in, saying that he wanted to keep playing. Nope. Of course the kid is going to want to play. That's when the adults (coaches) step in and act in his best interests. For them to say that they didn't see anything is also unbelievable.

That said, there is an interesting discussion going on now on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike: If Michigan weren't sucking out loud this season, if they had a winning record, would people be so up in arms about this? Good question.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. At the very least, another example of how not to handle situations like this.

[ColesCountyDem]

3. A blind man on a galloping horse could see that Morris was hurt.

I am beyond disgusted by this (and similar) incident!

[Brickbat]

4. We were having a lot of fun watching the Gophers beat Michigan on Saturday -- until that series of

plays. It was terrible to watch it unfold. The refs have the right to send a player off -- they should have when it became clear the coach wouldn't.

[exboyfil]

5. I think the defensive player

needs a game off to think about his actions as well. Trust me I am not a Michigan fan (OSU family). Overall it reinforces that football is a brutal sport that obviously extremely dangerous conduct is not taken seriously. Because of the rules the Big 10 can do nothing to the defensive player. It would have to be Minnesota's decision.