Michigan Football: The Unfortunate Theory of "Michigan Man" Supremacy | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

A "Michigan Man" is an interesting concept in the tradition-based world of Michigan football.

But what is it exactly?

I guess you'd have to be one to know, but most coaches and players who have coached for and played at Michigan before seem to have the title.

The exact origin of the term "Michigan man" came from the great Bo Schembechler, who is famously quoted as saying that "a Michigan man will coach Michigan."

But to better understand, go back to the beginning of the Rich Rodriguez tenure.

After Rodriguez came in from West Virginia, he began ignoring various Michigan traditions.

This ignorance coupled with Rodriguez's abysmal first two seasons and mediocre final season and his final game as Michigan head coach, a 52-14 drubbing at the hands of the not-so-lowly Mississippi State Bulldogs, and it was easy to see why Dave Brandon could let him go after only three seasons.

The search for a new head coach was on, and rumors started swirling about whom Michigan man Brandon would hire next.

That was the biggest issue: the Michigan man.

Brandon, Lloyd Carr and a lot of fans wanted a Michigan man.

Prime coaching candidates surfaced among the rumors.

Jim Harbaugh. But he moved on to coach in the NFL.

Les Miles. He re-signed with LSU.

So who did Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon hire as a head coach?

Brady Hoke, former head coach of San Diego State University and Ball State.

Hoke a member of the 1997 Michigan Wolverines championship team as an assistant coach, is the fore-mentioned Michigan man.

He understands the Michigan tradition, the way things are supposed to be done, and loves being at Michigan.

He is the "Michigan man" that everyone was searching for during the sometimes "tradition-less" tenure of Rodriguez.

Rodriguez ultimately lost out on the Michigan job because he was simply too stubborn to switch and adapt to an offense and defense that could succeed against Big Ten teams.

His determination to keep his quick-strike West Virginia offense left his defense out for long periods of time, and it would wear down during the game.

Rodriguez was not the right man to coach in the Big Ten conference, but was it really necessary to find a Michigan man to coach the team?

I'm not knocking Hoke (or Schembechler) by any means, but the ideal of a Michigan man has been taken too far.

Lloyd Carr, another former Michigan coach, was quoted as describing Wolverines football as "about the essence of team, tradition and the responsibility every coach and every player has to do their best to meet the very high expectations."

At the end of the day, it is about those high expectations.

A coach can revere tradition as much as he wants, but if the wins aren't there, will he be remain the head coach for very long?

My gut tells me no.

Michigan prides itself on being one of the most prestigious, tradition based programs in college football.

But does Brandon really have to accent that tradition by going after a Michigan man instead of surveying the field for a better coach?

Last time I checked, Michigan's tradition came from it's winning percentage; the highest in college football all-time.

So, once again, does the tradition matter as much as winning?

It would seem that Brandon and Michigan's fans cared more about getting that Michigan Man than about winning.

Hoke, the Michigan man, could be a great coach like Schembechler or Carr, or he could be a more forgettable Michigan man like Bump Elliott who had a career record of 51-42-2.

Whatever Hoke's legacy turns out to be, one thing is for certain, the next time Michigan hires a coach, I hope the fan base does not demand a Michigan man as there were better options when Michigan hired Hoke and there will be better options the next time Michigan is searching for a coach.

Nothing against Hoke, but the "Michigan man supremacy" views must cease.