You know what's great for the atmosphere of a coaching search? When your university president -- sorry, interim university president -- feels the need to talk into a camera for four minutes straight about what's happening in your athletics department.
That was the case at Michigan on Wednesday, when Domenico Grasso announced that the investigation that forced Sherrone Moore out of his job will expand its probe into the overall atmosphere of Wolverines athletics.
"We have expanded the Jenner & Block assignment to include independent evaluation of our culture, conduct and procedures of our athletics department," Grasso said.
Grasso's announcement really just confirmed what was previously reported over the weekend, but it's one thing to see it written on a website and another to see the president speak it into the camera.
"We will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that conduct like this does not happen again," Grasso said. "Make no mistake. We will leave no stone unturned, and any further action we take will be based on credible evidence and findings, developed through a rigorous investigation.
"If the university learns of information through this investigation or otherwise that warrants a termination of any employee, we will act swiftly, just as we did in the case of Coach Moore."
And, again, all of this is happening against a back drop of a coaching search at a university that does not have a long history of successful coaching searches to begin with.
It seems unlikely at this point that AD Warde Manuel's tenure will survive the conclusion of the investigation. Who will be the AD once Manuel is inevitably replaced? What other key athletics personnel might be forced out of a job due to recent, and perhaps not so recent, events?
Turnkey is running the search for Michigan. The firm will presumably have the answers for any question about the candidates from Michigan, but Turnkey cannot answer questions about Michigan from the candidates themselves.
"We intend to hire an individual who will represent the highest values that our university holds dear... who is of the highest character and will serve as a role model for the entire football program and who will, with dignity and integrity be a fierce competitor," Grasso said.
The great irony of this situation is that, if the Jenner & Block investigation uncovers even more dirt, Grasso might have to make enough videos that he gains enough crisis-management reps that Michigan feels comfortable appointing him its full-time president, which in turn might provide a meaningful amount of stability for Michigan's next football coach.