Michigan's AD resigns. You know what's coming next, right?

With the sudden but not totally unexpected resignation of the University of Michigan athletic director, Dave Brandon, the heat rises another three notches (if that's possible) on football coach Brady Hoke.

Is that possible?

Watching a coach dangle in the wind is such a painful sight, especially for those of us who've lived the life. Unlike most professional jobs requiring a college education, coaches are hired and fired on a whim - no real reason required. 

It might be, as it often is in sports jobs, simply a matter of losing more than you win, or at least losing more than the "general expectation". Nine wins a year wasn't enough for Frank Solich at Nebraska (following national championships from his mentor Tom Osbourne), but it's plenty at Ohio University, where he's had good but not spectacular teams for almost a decade now. 

Brady Hoke won big at Ball State and at San Diego State, but for some reason it hasn't translated to what Michigan fans expect from Big Blue. Did he forget how to coach? Unlikely. Is it possible that what works for him in smaller-level schools doesn't work (for whatever reason) at the school with more football wins than any university in history? Yes. 

Sometimes, you change coaches because their goals are not the same as your goals. Gordon (writing) can testify that sometimes, what administrations and fans see from the outside doesn't always match the reality at ground level. He had a job that had experienced some success through what turned out to be smoke and mirrors, a program that was a hollow shell about to collapse, but the outside world had only the shell to guide by. 

Michigan is no longer a destination school for modern athletes. Neither are most of the Rust Belt schools. That doesn't mean a coach can't succeed in the upper midwest (re: Meyer, Urban); it does mean that not every coach can succeed there. Having the name "Michigan" on your polo shirt doesn't get you into every 5-star recruit's home any more. Alabama, yes. USC, yes. Michigan? Nebraska? Not necessarily. Michigan, find the best AD you can find. Then find the best football coach who's willing to come to Ann Arbor.

You're going to need it.