Show me, David Brandon: show me.

So, David Brandon has fired Rich Rodriguez. According to insiders, he was trying to goad him into quitting so that he wouldn't have to pay the buyout, but Rodriguez wouldn't resign. In other words, he lied again yesterday when he said no decision had been made. And, of course, he lied about not having contacted Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh's brother let it slip that there was some communication, saying Harbaugh was "done" with the Michigan job.

Really, Rich Rodriguez' only "crime" was not being part of the good ol boy network at Michigan. You know: those longtime Michigan assistant coaches who were part of a system that could win eight or nine games every year but almost never won against truly elite competition in BCS bowls.

So, now, David Brandon has decided to bring in "his own people," which probably means a return to the same old shit Michigan fans have endured for years. The alums are happy, but the operative phrase here is, "be careful what you ask for."

If Brandon does, indeed, bring the inbred coaching "tree" back, he is guaranteeing a return to the sub-elite level that has fooled most Michigan fans for years. Under the Carr regime, the pattern was the same for his last seven years. Michigan would be highly rated to begin the season. Fans would be excited, thinking "this could be THE year." Then, there would be at least one inexplicable loss that would remove them from National Championship consideration. If they made it to the Rose Bowl, they usually lost. If they went to a crappy bowl, they won more than they lost.

Most of all, though, every season ended in disappointment for Michigan fans who expected them to just once be as good as advertised. The reason was because the game had passed the entire coaching tree and the conditioning coach by. Michigan fielded teams that looked great on paper but were handcuffed by the playcalling and schemes of the coaching staff.

When Rich Rodriguez was hired, it looked like Michigan was finally serious about entering the 21st century. Unfortunately, a massive rebuilding job was neccessary. And there was a huge faction of good ol' boy network that was both ignorant and indignant over the fact that Michigan had gone outside the "tree" for a head coach.

Consequently, RR never got the support he needed to finish the job he had been required to start. And the ignorant and indignant among the fanbase and within the athletic department were allowed to gain traction. They found the "Michigan Man" button and pushed it for all it was worth. They conveniently forgot that neither Fielding Yost nor Bo Schembechler was a "Michigan Man" before coaching the Maize and Blue.

So now, the team is facing a much worse transition than the one it underwent with Rodriguez. The personnel is ready to start performing well next year, but only under the same offensive system. If a pro set coach is hired, which describes almost anyone in the good ol' boy network, there will be at least two more years of losing, followed by more of the same old teams that look a lot better in the preseason rankings than they do when the games have actually be played.

Most of all, they will probably lose Denard Robinson if they don't hire a spread-based coach. The QB depth chart will basically read, "Devin Gardner and a bunch of nobodies."

So, David Brandon: show me. Show me you made the right decision. Show me you aren't the incompetent, stumbling boob that you appear to be. Show me that you didn't tamper with Stanford's coach during the season and lie to the public on numerous occasions while representing the University of Michgan, only to lose your "sure thing" because he realized he didn't want to work for an idiot.

Show me that your decision was based more on performance than your ego. Show me that you are capable of hiring a head coach who has ideas that weren't formulated in Ann Arbor thirty years ago. Show me that you haven't just plunged the football program back into the a giant black hole of anachronism and nepotism from which there is no escape.

Show me that you have one shred of integrity. Show me that you have one shred of competence. Show me that you understand that changing back to the pro set has a lot worse consequences than changing the sauce at Domino's.

David Brandon: go fire yourself.