Beilein Introduced as Michigan's New Coach

Unknown on 10:59 AM

0 comments

John Beilein is officially coming to Ann Arbor. After reports that he was offered the job came about Sunday night, Monday was reserved for widespread speculation of whether or not he would take the offer. It came out on Monday that he did in fact accept the job offer, but it still wasn't official yet. Now, on Tuesday, the news is official. Beilein is Michigan's new basketball coach and will be introduced at a press conference tomorrow.

MGoBlue.com, Michigan's official athletic website, has a press release regarding the news.

University of Michigan director of athletics Bill Martin announced Tuesday (April 3) that John Beilein has signed a multi-year contract to coach the University of Michigan men's basketball team. Beilein becomes the 16th coach in the program's 90-year history.

"I am very pleased to announce John Beilein as our new head coach for the men's basketball program," said Martin. "He is an individual with a great knowledge of the game. He is a proven winner. He is an extraordinary teacher of the game. He is a great basketball coach. We welcome John and his family to Michigan."

"This is an exciting opportunity for me and my family to join the University of Michigan basketball program," said Beilein. "I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead and getting to know the University and Ann Arbor community. I am anxious to meet the team, visit with the recruits and all the Wolverine basketball alumni and fans. This is a great opportunity to build Michigan as one of the elite programs in he country."

With the contract details, the Ann Arbor News has information that is a little surprising as far as what happened to the large buyout that came with hiring Beilein.

New Michigan basketball coach John Beilein will be paid $1.3 million per season, as part of a six-year contract he signed with the university today, according to a source with direct knowledge of the deal.

The salary has a $200,000 annual base, with $1.1 million in other compensation from various sources, including speaking engagements and television and radio deals. There are a series of bonuses for advancing to the NCAA Tournament, including $150,000 for winning the national championship.

The contract doesn't include any language about Beilein's $2.5 million buyout with West Virginia and the source said Michigan won't be responsible for the sum.

I like the fact that Bill Martin opened the checkbooks to get Beilein. $1.3 million per year is really the perfect amount for Michigan to pay; it's not too high or too low. As far as why the buyout disappeared, speculation suggests that a donor stepped in and made a contribution to West Virginia to get rid of the said buyout. I'm already hearing the name of Bill Davidson being tossed around, but others are pointing to the direction of Stephen Ross. Ross donated $100 million to the University of Michigan in 2004, so it wouldn't shock me at all to find out that he decided to make the buyout go away by donating something to WVU.

This is a great hire in my opinion. At first I was a little skeptical when I heard Beilein mentioned as a candidate because of his recruiting and the buyout, but let's look at both right now. The buyout obviously doesn't mean anything now as Michigan didn't have to pay it. Recruiting-wise, don't expect to see the nation's top players come to Michigan as Beilein doesn't recruit on rankings but more towards finding players that fit his system. He also makes average or just good players into great ones. Who else could've turned Pittsnogle into somewhat of a household name?

In the end, I applaud Bill Martin for the way this search went. Almost everything was kept secret throughout the process and the only thing that did become public, Beilein being offered the job, worked out as he accepted the deal to become Michigan's new coach. Much more on Beilein will be posted later this week as it is a monumental step for Michigan to become a great basketball school once again.

To update the current recruiting situation, we should find out what Alex Legion, Manny Harris, and Kelvin Grady plan to do in the next week. All three will likely meet with Beilein and then make a decision. Out of the three, Alex Legion is the one with the best chance of leaving, but we'll just have to wait and see. He would be great in Beilein's offense, so hopefully that is realized by the time he makes a decision.

A press conference will be held tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. ET to introduce Beilein as the new coach. You can watch the press conference live or at any time after through Michigan All-Access (link can be found on MGoBlue press release linked above).

I said it yesterday but will say it again, welcome to Ann Arbor, Coach Beilein.

Labels: