Let's get one thing clear before I write any further.  I am not, for one minute implying, insinuating, hinting or suggesting that hiring Les Miles would be a mistake for Michigan.  Miles is as close as you can get to a slam dunk, no-brainer hire for an Athletic Director to make.  Especially in Michigan's case since he played ball at U of M and would be a true "Michigan Man" in charge of the program.  But maybe, just maybe, Michigan should look past the usual list of suspects for their next coach.

It could be considered a good move for Michigan to take a page out of their bitter rival's notebook and look at an unorthodox source for their next coach.  Seven years ago Ohio State did exactly that to find their coach to replace John Cooper (the best coach the Wolverines ever had in Columbus).  They went to division 1-AA Youngstown State to find Jim Tressel and have never regretted it.  In all fairness, it wasn't a big reach.  Tressel had been very successful a Youngstown and they got in him a man that understands what it means to coach the Buckeyes and, in particular, how important it is to beat Michigan (something Cooper never understood).

My gut says, go grab that guy that embarrassed you in your own house, Jerry Moore of Appalachian State.  However, he is actually older than Lloyd Carr and would not be a long term solution.  I do believe that division 1-AA (errr, championship division or something) could be a great place to find a talented and eager coach who has a good proven track record.  The success of Tressel has proven that the right coach can make the transition from 1-AA to a top flight program in 1-A (errr, bowl division blah blah blah) and be very successful.  So, maybe instead of spending millions to get Miles from LSU (including a $1.25 million buyout) Michigan should look one division down and grab some of the great talent coaching in those ranks.