Nah, they didn't try to make quick fixes, it was incompetence at the AD position along with coppering factions within the former football players and within the department itself . We had a series of three poor AD's that really set our football back. Tom Goss was a disaster. He made Michigan not profitable and lasted only three years. Bill Martin brought us back to profitability and hired John Beilein, but really bungled the football hire after Lloyd Carr retired. There was no plan A let alone a plan C or D. In fact, former school president Mary Sue Coleman took charge after the Les Miles debacle and Greg Schiano turning down the job. She took the lead when Rich Rod showed interest and made the hire (we know how that turned out).
She also hired Dave Brandon, an ego maniac who sullied the Michigan name. He wanted someone he could control (he actually sat in on film sessions and instructed the coaches how they should coach) so he hired Brady Hoke. Brandon would get into email arguments with fans and alumni. He even told an alumnus, after expressing displeasure with the constant "throwing previous staffs under the bus" to quit drinking and go to bed and consistently told alumni to "find another team to root for.".
Combine that with the stupid Michigan Man crap (which was a reference to Bo not wanting to have Bill Frieder coach Michigan in the 1989 NCAA tourney after he had taken the ASU job), and a decline was inevitable. There actually were players that felt they had the right to determine who the next coach was and made it impossible for Rich Rod to succeed.
Basically, if Harbaugh doesn't work out, most Michigan fans aren't real optimistic on football in the near future.
Sorry for talking about the woes of Michigan AD's on a UConn board, but the program has been a mess since 2007 and the decline started well before that. Quick fixes won't work on this one.
