Former Michigan QB Michael Taylor not happy with state of Wolverines
Former Michigan QB Michael Taylor didn't hold back on the radio in Detroit on Tuesday.
Taylor, who played QB for Michigan from 1986-1989 and won conference championships in his final two seasons, was on WMGC-FM and talked about everything from Michigan's coaching situation to the "miscommunication" that resulted in a promotion on Michigan's campus that gave away tickets to Saturday's game against Minnesota with the purchase of two Coca-Cola products.
Michigan is 2-2 after being shut out to Notre Dame on the road and losing to Utah at home.
"Sad. It's very, very embarrassing," Taylor said when the promotion was brought up via the Detroit Free-Press. I would never have thought, in my lifetime, that you couldn't give away Michigan tickets because folks wouldn't buy them. That is due to the leadership going on in the athletic department. ... As a former player, we're not treated any better. They try to come in and treat us like glorified fans years ago and now can't get guys to come back. Now there's so many gimmicks that you see and now they want us to come because they're having trouble filling up the stadium. That's a sad state of affairs, in my opinion."
A picture of the sign was tweeted by a member of Michigan's student paper. Monday night, the school's athletic department issued a statement that said the sign was erroneous because of a miscommunication surrounding the promotion's approval process.
(You can read the full text of Taylor's comments here. If you're a Michigan fan, you'll especially want to read them all. Taylor also calls Michigan a "propaganda" football team.)
Taylor said that when he was at Michigan he wanted to be an engineer but was steered towards the business school. In 2007, former Michigan QB and now San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh made similar comments, noting that the school steered players towards easier degrees.
Since the retirement of Lloyd Carr after the 2007 season, Michigan has hired two coaches, Rich Rodriguez and current coach Brady Hoke. Harbaugh and LSU coach Les Miles have been mentioned in connection with the openings because of their Michigan ties. Taylor said that neither Harbaugh or Miles were considered "because of too many other guys who had direct links to making sure they didn't get an offer and a job here."
He also said Harbaugh should have been hired as the team's coach in 2011.
"We didn't get the coach who should have been our coach here (Harbaugh) because we insulted him in the first place. So then look who we get. It's nothing personal; Brady's a nice guy, I'm sure all you guys agree. I'll agree to that. Really nice guy, very personable guy. However, his pedigree did not deserve to be a $4-million coach here at Michigan."
The man who hired Hoke? Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon. Taylor saved his most scathing comments for Brandon when asked about Hoke's job status potentially changing after the season.
"After the season? I'll put it this way. Didn't Dave Brandon come out and say he'd judge Rich Rodriguez on red-letter football games? ... If you judge Brady Hoke on red-letter football games, where do we stand? That's all I'm saying, is that the treatment given to Rich Rodriguez should be given to Brady Hoke. He preached toughness, he preached the downhill running game, the Michigan defense. The proof is in the pudding. And 12 games, 4-8, mediocre completion, it is what it is. I'm not here to say whether the man is going to be fired; I don't make that call. All I do know is Dave Brandon should not be let to make another decision at Michigan. Period."
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
