Michigan Football: Has Dave Brandon Fired First Shot at NCAA?

Dave Brandon has faced more than a few challenges during his two-year reign as Michigan's athletic director.

He watched over the completion of several new refurbished facilities, fired—then hired—a football coach and faced a questionable NCAA investigation.

Brandon, who's never backed away from a good fight, now appears to have smelled a rat.

In no uncertain terms, the former Domino's pizza king has questioned the NCAA's reasoning in granting Ohio State's football team a favor.

Reportedly, the Buckeyes petitioned the NCAA for additional coaching help from the time Urban Meyer was hired (Nov. 27) to after the Gator Bowl (Jan 2).

In a sense, there will be a staff for coaching the bowl game and another to carry on the recruiting process.

Brandon, who spent years competing with crosstown Little Caesars for national pizza supremacy, is certainly unhappy with the predicament. "It allows more coaching resources to work on the two primary responsibilities of any staff—coaching and recruiting," Brandon told the Associated Press in a recent e-mail. "I am struggling to understand how this relates to the 'level playing field' the NCAA claims it is always working to create."

Is it really an advantage? 

New Illinois head coach Tim Beckman, a former assistant at Ohio State, is requesting a similar waiver.

''I knew that was going on,'' Beckman told Fox Sports. ''I think it's just something that we're gonna try to do right now so that we have that same advantage that they do.''

Michigan's Brady Hoke, who's been the head coach in three major conferences, was unaware of the procedure. 

''It's different. That would be my reaction. I've never heard of it,'' he said. ''Is that an advantage? Yeah, I think so.''

On the surface, this may sound of sour grapes, but recall what the NCAA put Michigan through during the Rich Rodriguez years. 

Simply put, Michigan was placed on three years' probation and endured 14 months of NCAA hearings because a coach was directly involved with players instead of on strict administrative duty. At the same time, the Wolverines were nailed for practicing an additional 20 minutes per week. 

Another question: Why is Ohio State getting extra help when it's now been in trouble with the NCAA twice during the last several years? 

If you recall, Gene Smith was hired as the new Ohio State athletic director in 2005,  just before the NCAA placed the Buckeyes on probation for a variety of violations under basketball coach Jim O'Brien. 

Smith, who had been involved with the NCAA committee on infractions and the football rules committee, was a natural to clean up the mess. 

Ironically, the reverse happened.

Instead of boasting about a pristine athletic department, Ohio State is now facing an assortment of charges:

1) Several players traded Ohio State souvenirs for tattoos, and

2) others were paid by a booster for working hours they actually didn't.

To keep it simple, head coach Jim Tressel was fired for not reporting the tattoo incident to his superiors in a timely manner, and, because of the booster's involvement, Ohio State has been charged with "failure to monitor" the athletic staff. 

In addition to these charges, Ohio State could be cited as a repeat offender.

According to the 420-page NCAA manual, "An institution shall be considered a 'repeat' violator if the Committee on Infractions finds that a major violation has occurred within five years of the starting date of a major penalty."

Ohio State went on probation for the basketball infractions in March 2006 and knew of tattoo-gate no later than December 2010. That's less than five years.

To keep in compliance with the NCAA, Ohio State has already self-imposed its own penalties. 

The toughest penalty imposed so far is the loss of five scholarships over three years, or 1.67 per year. Major college teams are normally allowed to carry a total of 85.

The NCAA is shortly expected to either confirm or add to the self-imposed penalties. 

Despite the cloud hanging over the the program, the Buckeyes appear to be marching full speed ahead.  Coach Meyer has already scored well on the recruiting circuit. 

In less than a month, Meyer has grabbed three players who were committed to other programs: DT Tommy Schutt (Penn State), DE Se'Von Pittman (Michigan State) and WR Ricquan Southward (Miami, FL).

The real surprise, which was reported by Scout.com Tuesday night, was the re-commitment of RB Bri'onte Dunn, who for months had shown interest in the Wolverines.

So, one thing is for certain: Ohio State didn't need any help. Either Meyer is a great recruiter or just a better "snake oil salesman" than Rich Rodriguez.

Or you can wonder how much of an insider Smith truly is to the NCAA.  You might even think Ohio already knows its fate and the penalties won't be harsh.   

In any case, Brandon probably isn't the only one with an ax to grind.