Biff Poggi addresses coaching search, roster, culture at Michigan

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Michigan football team is in a state of flux, with Sherrone Moore having been fired 12 days ago, and the Wolverines looking for a new coach — all while the team prepares to face Texas in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.

While there's a ton of uncertainty surrounding the program at the moment, you almost would never know it if you were to be inside Schembechler Hall, hearing from acting head coach Biff Poggi.

Poggi, who is one clear candidate for the job after this current stint, met with the media on Monday to discuss the task at hand, where the team is now in terms of preparing for the Longhorns, his interest in the job, and more. Here is everything he had to say.

Opening statement

Before we start, thanks for being here. Have a great holiday season and a Merry Christmas with your families. I'm sure nobody has any questions, right?There's nothing going on. Is there anything going on? Can we just leave?OK. What do you got?

Not a lot of opt-outs. I haven't seen any recruits, signees depart the program. You've managed to seem to hold everything together. What's kind of gone into that, and what's the tenor within the walls here?

Well, we have three guys opting out who are going into the NFL, and that's really it. And what's going on, what's going into it, what went into it, and what's keeping the guys on this current team here, and what's keeping the guys who are committed to us committed to us, is a lot of relationship building. I've had eight Zoom calls with the parents and even one Zoom call with the moms. I'll say one-two Zoom calls with the moms. 

And it's just a lot of listening, a lot of talking to them, a lot of talking to the kids, and we've changed basically everything in the last ten days. We've changed basically everything. Meetings are much shorter. Kids are out of the building faster. Practices are much shorter but much more up-tempo, much more good versus good work. And you need to talk to them, but I think they're actually having fun playing football again. 

And I'm really proud of them, and I'm proud of the coaches that are here that have stayed here to do this. And I've gotten a lot of support from Warde, a tremendous amount of support from Warde and Doug. So it's been a team effort, but it's been different. There's no, as I said in Orlando, there's no manual for this. I've never had to figure this one out. But I'm very pleased with where we are and what's going on.

A lot of fans kind of wondering what Bryce's status is. Do you expect him to be here next season? 

Yeah. Certainly hope so. We hope so, yeah. I mean, if you want to ask that question, you should probably ask Cameron or his dad or mom, but he's not — I mean, we're focused on Texas right now. He's focused on Texas. Have you seen any film on Texas? No? Have you seen it? Well, they've got a bunch of monsters on their football team, right? So that's what we're focused on. That's what Bryce is focused on. We're not focused on who's going to go where next year. Hell, I might not even be here next year. You never know, right? So I'm not thinking about that.

In Orlando, you said the team felt maybe betrayed by what happened 12 days ago. As the adult in the room, as someone with a coach, how do you feel about that whole situation?

That whole situation is dead to me. I'm not spending one second thinking about that nonsense.

Biff, earlier this fall you were asked about interest in maybe being a head coach again. Has this sparked any sort of interest in that regard, and is that an opportunity you'd like to have here?

It has sparked it. I've enjoyed this. It's been a great challenge, but it's nice being back as close to the kids as you are when you're doing this. I was working on the kids, but mostly babysitting other stuff. So, yeah, it's been very nice.

Just to follow up on that, have you expressed a desire to be the next head coach here, and have you gotten a sense of whether you'll be considered for that?

I'm being considered. I've had multiple interviews, multiple conversations. Nobody knows what's going to happen. I don't know what's going to happen. I just appreciate being considered, and we'll see what happens.

Is there anything that you did as a hedge fund manager that helps you with this job? 

Yeah, when you're in business, every day is game day. You have no practice days, and oftentimes things don't go the way your genius analysts from Harvard Business School tell you they're going to go. And so when that crisis happens, you better be nimble on your feet, and you better have a plan. And it's very much like football today. Football's different today. College football's different today than it was two years ago, and I don't mean a little different. I mean a 180-degree change. This is a job that now requires…In my opinion, the head football coaching job at any school, especially big schools, is not a glorified gym teacher that happens to know a lot about football. You can hire that. You need CEO skills to run these things now. They're multibillion-dollar-value corporations, and you need to have somebody that knows how to run them, somebody that knows how to keep them straight, and somebody that does not put the brand of the business in jeopardy. And that is paramount. To me, it's got nothing to do with…You can hire coaches. Put it that way.

You mentioned making some changes in recent days if you were named the next head coach.

Did I mention that?

Yeah, you mentioned changing practice up a little bit. Oh, I did. If you were named the next head coach, what would you like the program to look like on and off the field?

Well, first of all, I would like an amazing blue Batman suit for me to wear to the office every day. 

Now, look, we would go back… First of all, the entire…Everything that happens in this building has to be re-evaluated, quite frankly, because it is not up to standard. The staff has to be re-evaluated, and I mean the coaches, I mean the analysts, I mean everybody in the building except Dave. But it has to be evaluated. Our strength and conditioning, our nutrition, our medical, everything. Because obviously, it has been five years of, you know, let's just call it a malfunctioning organization where there's something every year. And I know that…I know what the athletic director has made very clear. He doesn't want any more of that. And so, if I am named the coach, which again, I don't know if I am, but there will be a massive self-examination of what happens in this building. And you can expect a lot of changes.

You mentioned a couple of things throughout this, but I wanted to go back to, you mentioned they're having fun again. When did it stop being fun? I've heard you mention this a couple of times.

I would ask you to ask them. But to me, and I think a lot of our coaches, it kind of stopped being fun… It's been a long time. It's been a long time. There was a lot of… just not a comfortable…First of all, when you ask kids to be in the building for multiple, multiple hours, and for example, let's say you have 30 minutes of new insertions to teach, but you want to keep them in the building for an hour and a half because you just want to keep them in the building for an hour and a half. And if you have a 2-hour and 20-minute or a half-an-hour practice schedule, and, you know, there's a little bit of walking around going on there because you want them at practice for 2 hours and 20 minutes or a half-an-hour, when you can really condense that practice into an hour and 30 minutes, it's not fun. They're not dumb. They get it. You know, they get it. And we've changed that, and, I mean, it has been…

When you interview them, ask them, it's been a blast. I mean, it's been a blast for the coaches. It's been a blast for them. There's a lot, and the work has been outstanding. The level of practice has been outstanding. The concentration in meetings has been outstanding. So, you know, we haven't played a game in a long time, so we'll see. And Texas, obviously, is… I mean, come on, we're all watching the CFP, and the fact that they're not in it and some other dudes are is, like, mind-numbing. But really, really excellent team. But, you know, our kids are going to show up and do the very best they can.

You mentioned re-evaluating everything. I mean, is this a situation where you think the place needs to be essentially blown up?

No, no, I wouldn't say that. And I'm not talking about anything outside of this building. I'm just talking about this building. You know, it's with every coaching change. Any new coach is going to want to examine everything in a building. And, you know, we…Sometimes a fresh look at things is always helpful. And I think in any organization, if you're not basically self-scouting… You know, in business, you need to do it every quarter because you report results. And if you're not doing it on a continuing basis, you're getting worse. Somebody is passing you.

What have you been told about the timeline of the coaching search and when Michigan wants to have someone in place as a full-time coach?

Well, Warde Manuel just spoke to the kids today. And, uh… David, he said… Still working through it, but hopes to have something done by… Yeah, I know he wants to have something done by the bowl game.

And what was the last time you spoke with Sherrone and kind of the nature of that conversation? 

I have not.

What's the offensive staff look like for the ball game? Your offensive coordinator, your quarterback coach, you get some shuffling to do there?

Yeah. So we lost, as you know, Chip Lindsey. He went to Missouri, and we're happy for him. But Steve Casula is going to call it. Steve is an excellent football guy. Everybody's helping pick up the slack. But I love the game plan, by the way. The game plan on offense is really special.

Biff, what do you view your role as right now? Is it just to get through this period? Is it to win one game?Is it to advise people? Is it to audition for the head coaching job? What do you view your role as right now?

I have one job right now, and that's what Warde told me to do, to love and care for the kids. That's it. And we do know something about football. I've probably been the head coach for 300 games in high school and college. Football's football. That's right now. It's not about winning a game. It's not about auditioning. It's not about anything. It's about focusing on these kids and their families, and that's it. That was my mandate, and that's what I'm trying to do every single day. 

To be clear, though, you would like to be the head coach long-term?

Absolutely. It's Michigan, right?

This coaching staff in recent years has purported to be pretty close to one another. I just wonder how, given the nature of how this has blown up, how do you think it got to this point without more internal discussion or if there was? Just how did this get to where you are right now? 

I would tell you that everybody in this building would answer that question this way. We were shocked when Ward came in and told us what was going on. Shocked.As far as being close, I wouldn't say that exactly.

How long would you say that the staff hasn't been close?

I don't know about that. I'm not saying we're not close. I'm just saying yours is a leading question about what did you know and when did you know it. I'm telling you we knew it when we were told. I was pulled out of a meeting. I had no idea what was going on. That's when we knew it. By the way, there's some anger with the adults too. Don't be lumping that (expletive deleted) in there. That's not right.

Obviously, when kids are looking to come here, there's a certain messaging and there's things that can tell them about why Michigan is the place for them to be. As you've had these conversations with the kids in recent days and the conversations with their parents, how has the messaging on both sides changed about why, even as you're saying there are things that need to be changed with this program, this is the place for them to be?

That's a really good question. These are hard talks. These are hard talks to have because one thing you have to do with players and their families, the minute they think you're lying to them, it's over. I believe that's why the portal is so big and it's getting bigger every year, and it will be bigger next year and the year after that and the year after that because kids are told things and their families are told things that aren't true. 

If I don't know an answer that is asked me from a kid or a parent, I'll tell them I don't know and I'll do my best to find out. If I do know, I tell it to them whether I think they want to hear it or not. Let's face it, the kids that have been here four and five years with their families, there's been something kind of every year that's been messy. I didn't think of that, and then one of the moms brought that up. Every year there's been some issue. What are you going to say? No? You're going to say yeah, and we're going to fix it.

Whoever the next guy in this seat is, his mandate is going to be to fix it. I feel very strongly about that. You've got to be honest with them. If you discount what they say to you, this recruiting class and the kids that are on the team will be playing someplace else. The way we've kept it together is contact. I've been calling the kids, the recruits, the commits, calling them, Zooming with their parents, texting them, and the current players on the roster. I spend an enormous amount of time with them and their parents, as far as Zooms. But the kids in person, the parents in Zooms. Good question.

On a similar note, there is a transfer portal that opens on January 2nd. What are the conversations you're having with current players about that, given the uncertainty?

Here's the thing about the transfer portal. Everybody thinks it opens the 2nd. It doesn't. Deals are being done now. They're being done now. We'll know for sure who's in and where they're going on the 2nd.Not only with Michigan, but every big school in the country. Those deals are getting done right now.

You mentioned three opt-outs for the bowl games. I would assume Derrick is one. 

Derek, Jaishawn — two idiots that I coached — and Gio. 

Are you expecting others?

I really don't. No, I do not. If you were going to opt-out, you wouldn't go through what we just went through the last 10 days. We put them through their paces. At least I wouldn't do it.

What did you advise those guys? Did you talk to them about the choice?

Those three? Yeah. I don't think it's a good idea for a coach to advise a player that's looking at a pro opportunity to come back. Your bodies have so many reps. All three of those guys are high-rep guys. They've played a lot of football. What we do for them is get all the NFL evaluations on where they go in the draft. Then they can make an informed decision with their family. I think it's dangerous if you try to get a guy to stay.

I remember Jake Butt. I was coaching on that team. I don't want to say I convinced him to stay. Our son, Henry, played on that team. That cost Jake a lot of money. You've got to let him go.

What's the No. 1 reason you think Michigan should hire you? 

Because I know what the hell I'm doing. I have a long 10-year history of knowledge of this place. This place is really important to me. My wife and I had someone, one of our boys played here. We have two daughters that most of you don't know about that graduated from here. Or are graduating. This place has been great for them. One's a doctor. One's going to be a doctor. Henry, talk about the power of Michigan. You all remember Henry. He's now an investment banker. This place is magical. The program means a lot to me. It's one of the things I want to fix before I go smoke myself to death with cigars. It's one of the things I want to fix. I want to fix this program. Thank you, everyone. Thank you all. Have a good holiday.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Everything Biff Poggi said at Michigan football press conference

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