Mark Snyder

Detroit Free Press

Former Michigan quarterback Michael Taylor has multiple issues with the U-M athletic department -- and the university as a whole -- and he let loose in a radio interview today.

Speaking on the "Ryan and Rico" show on WMGC-FM (105.1), Taylor shared his thoughts on the state of Michigan football ("a propaganda football team, telling people how great we are"), former players ("treated like glorified fans"), coach Brady Hoke ("his pedigree did not deserve to be a $4-million coach here at Michigan"), athletic director Dave Brandon and his personal frustration with the school.

• On the failed promotion of getting two free tickets for buying Coke products: "Sad. It's very, very embarrassing. I would never have thought, in my lifetime, that you couldn't give away Michigan tickets because folks wouldn't buy them. That is due to the leadership going on in the athletic department. ... As a former player, we're not treated any better. They try to come in and treat us like glorified fans years ago and now can't get guys to come back. Now there's so many gimmicks that you see and now they want us to come because they're having trouble filling up the stadium. That's a sad state of affairs, in my opinion."

• On the disrespect of former football players: "That's been the calling card for quite awhile now. It's sad. To give a person one ticket when you've got empty seats in the stadium. Most of us have families, and I don't think that's doing our legacy any justice. Two, they call themselves having a weekend of champions where they try to lump us in with these other sports. Now I have nothing personal against any other sport or anyone who played any other sport at Michigan. But I played on one of only six teams that won the Rose Bowl in 135 years at Michigan in football. So you cannot honor us on our field for all the blood, sweat and tears we have done. The most appalling part of that last year was we had to buy a ticket to come back and get honored. Michigan football is not going in the right direction. The leadership is bad, there are many more issues on and off the field than I care to talk about. It's just sad."

• On talk among his former teammates: "How mediocre we are. That's pretty much it. I'm not one for all the talk. Actions speak louder than words. What we've become is a propaganda football team, telling people how great we are when we're mediocre. When, in your last 12 games, you've only got victories over Northwestern, Appy State, Indiana and Miami of Ohio, that is not good. That is not good. We're mediocre right now. Will it stay that way? I don't know. I don't work there. I don't have the say-so. But I do know this: I know a few hundred players who are not happy with what is going on and definitely think changes need to be made."

• On what causes the disconnect: "It came to a certain point where folks wanted to root against our own program. When Rich Rodriguez got the job, I don't think people understand how difficult of a job it was that he took over. First of all, he didn't have 85 scholarship players when he took over the program. … We all understand he took over 50-55 scholarship players. You can't win in the Big Ten or anywhere else with that number of players. While we were going through our toughest times, guys decided they were going to sabotage recruiting, badmouth the program on their social media outlets. This is a new day and era where these kids are social media-driven. When you have those type of things, you lose recruits, you lose support."

• On his experience: "I've heard guys give excuses and said Jim Harbaugh lied about what Michigan steers you in, as far as where you go as a degree. That's the farthest thing from the truth, because I was accepted into Michigan in the engineering school, and they took me out of it and put me in LS&A. That's a fact. So before people talk about what Michigan will and won't do, they took away your dreams. I wanted to be an engineer. It just so happened that I graduated from the school of business. … Michigan has never talked about Michael Taylor being a Michigan business school graduate."

• On the coaching search in 2011: "We didn't get the coach who should have been our coach here (Harbaugh) because we insulted him in the first place. So then look who we get. It's nothing personal; Brady's a nice guy, I'm sure all you guys agree. I'll agree to that. Really nice guy, very personable guy. However, his pedigree did not deserve to be a $4-million coach here at Michigan."

• On Harbaugh and LSU's Les Miles not coaching at U-M: "We've got two guys who both put the uniform on, both have coached and coached and won. ... (Miles) has a national championship under his belt and never got an offer, never. It was insulting. That was ridiculous. … Then you have Jim Harbaugh. … Neither one of those guys was really considered here because of too many other guys who had direct links to making sure they didn't get an offer and a job here. So we got Rich Rodriguez. And we didn't get what we should have gotten. Rich is a great man, in my estimation. A good guy. I've sat down and talked with him and his staff. I saw firsthand what they did. I saw what former players did, talking to their high school coaches and saying Rich is going to get fired, don't send your kid to Michigan. ... When you do those things, you end up getting what you deserve."

• On his personal frustration: "There are hundreds of former Michigan football players that can't get interviews at their alma maters. I am one that's included in that group. I can't tell you how many jobs I applied for at Michigan during one of the most tough economic times in the state of Michigan and couldn't even get an interview. So someone please tell me what is the value of coming to play for the University of Michigan when they want to throw their nose up at many of us? Many of us remaining are African Americans who don't come back because of the way we were treated over years."

• On whether U-M can get Miles or a Harbaugh with Brandon as AD: "I wouldn't and I don't think they would, either. As far as what happens to Brady, that's not up to me. And I don't believe in firing any man that's given a contract, during the season."

• On firing Hoke after the season: "After the season? I'll put it this way. Didn't Dave Brandon come out and say he'd judge Rich Rodriguez on red-letter football games? ... If you judge Brady Hoke on red-letter football games, where do we stand? That's all I'm saying, is that the treatment given to Rich Rodriguez should be given to Brady Hoke. He preached toughness, he preached the downhill running game, the Michigan defense. The proof is in the pudding. And 12 games, 4-8, mediocre completion, it is what it is. I'm not here to say whether the man is going to be fired; I don't make that call. All I do know is Dave Brandon should not be let to make another decision at Michigan. Period."

• On whether removing Brandon would improve things at U-M: "I don't know. You've got a lot of things going on around there. Let's be honest with ourselves. The same things that were happening racially when I was there from 1985-1990 are continuing now. Look at what the student did, being black at U-M. … How many former players they don't help that need help, that they do nothing for? They choose the ones they want to do something for. That's not right. We all put on that uniform. All had blood, sweat and tears, all felt the same watching the Michigan football games. I'm pretty sure. Ask everybody. They are upset and act like they are in the game, win or lose, because you can't get that out of your blood. What's irritating is to see how we are treated as glorified fans as former players. ... If anything, a former player should at least get access for an interview. Some of us can't even get that."

• On what he wants: "Regardless what they do (with Brandon), there needs to be change. There needs to be change with how they treat former players, there needs to be change in how they treat African-American students on their campus. How former African-American football payers are treated. If that doesn't change, I'm not going to go to games. I'm not going to give them a dollar. I don't have $95 to pay for a ticket."

• On the current team: "It's disheartening when you see the level of coaching they're getting. They supposedly have talent but ... is that transferring over on (Saturdays)? That boils down to coaching."

• On whether Hoke can turn it around: "The quarterback is not the problem. They can change if they want to. The ship will sink, trust me. … I think I know something about playing quarterback. I know what I see and I know one thing: they can make a switch if they want to and put this all on Devin (Gardner)'s shoulders, these two losses are his fault. But the ship will sink even further. … I hope he can change things around, because I'm tired of being a laughingstock going around with that Michigan jersey on. Even as bad as I've been treated and others have been treated, they still support Michigan because of the bond we had on that football field."

• On criticizing the program: "As usual, you're not a Michigan Man if you speak up against the program. I don't hold anybody at fault for what they believe in, because nobody has walked in my shoes. Nobody walked the shoes when they told Michael Taylor they wouldn't fix his shoulder after they put me out there against Notre Dame when they put me out there when my arm was black and purple. That's a fact. … No one told me when I played in the 1990 Rose Bowl, my final game, that they were not under any financial obligation to fix my shoulder. ... As far as my support, if anybody does not like what I've said, I don't care."

• On his case for not buying a ticket: "I never lost a game for two years in the Big Ten, never one, being a starter. I'm the only quarterback in Michigan history to that. … And this is how I get treated. ... Pardon me if it sounds a little abrupt or it sounds like Michael Taylor is very irritated, but yes, I am very irritated the way myself and brothers have been treated over the course of years."

• On players not returning: "There's a lot of guys who played on my team that won't come back. And one of them, you never hear them even mention his name. When I got hurt, Demetrius Brown hasn't been back, doesn't plan on coming back and won't come back. That's a fact, and I talked to him personally. The reason why? Because he won a Rose Bowl and is not even mentioned as one of the greatest quarterbacks to have played here."​

Reporter's note: Former Michigan football players are entitled to a free ticket for two games each season and can purchase additional tickets. They do not have to pay for a ticket when being honored, a U-M official said. The ticket policy was revised in the past few years.

Contact Mark Snyder: msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark__snyder.​