Thursday Morning Brews: That’s the way

Happy Thursday, folks. Welcome to Morning Brews. This morning we have some additional details on recent personnel changes for the football program. We’re also finishing up a recap of the weekend action for several Michigan teams we weren’t able to fit into Tuesday Brews.

As usual, there is a song referenced in this morning’s Brews. There are at least two clues. Clues may be words, phrases, or photos and may reference lyrics, the artist, or the album. If you think you know this morning’s song, fire away down in the comments.

Let’s get to it:

Details of Pep Hamilton’s severance agreement released. Pep Hamilton may be gone, but he’s still being paid by the University. That’s according to MLive who received Hamilton’s severance agreement through a Freedom of Information Act request this week. Hamilton will receive his base salary through June 30, 2019, working out to about $415,000. The agreement also contained a non-disclosure clause and non-disparagement clause. After his departure, new broke that Hamilton will be the head coach and GM of the Washington, D.C. XFL team.

New QB coach Ben McDaniels’ contract released. Sticking with the theme of employment transitions, MLive also obtained new QB coach Ben McDaniels’ contract. McDaniels signed a two-year deal worth $700,000, split between a $300,000 salary this year and a $400,000 salary next year. MLive points out that this is a significant raise for McDaniels, who earned $100,000 as an analyst for Jim Harbaugh last year. If McDaniels leaves for another job before the end of his contract, he may be required to pay back up to 50% of what he has received depending on the position and college he leaves for. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the way it ought to be.

Women’s basketball edges Penn State. Kim Barnes Arico’s squad capped off a strong week with a 66-62 win at Penn State last Sunday. The Wolverines were led by the usual cadre of Hailey Brown (20 pts.), Naz Hillmon (19 pts., 11 rebs.), and Deja Church (10 pts.). Michigan also beat Nebraska 67-61 last Thursday, helping to keep the Wolverines at the top of the second tier in the Big Ten standings. The team is now 16-9 (7-6) on the season. They’ll be back in action against Indiana this evening and at Illinois on Sunday.

Women’s gymnastics tops Iowa. Women’s gymnastics continued their winning ways, stretching their win streak to four meets with Sunday’s victory over Iowa. The Wolverines had a relatively comfortable path to the win, taking all four disciplines en route to the 197.350 - 195.350 final score. The win puts the team at 8-2 (4-0) on the season. They’ll next face No. 24 Penn State on Saturday, with their Big Ten schedule concluding the following Saturday with the Big Five meet.

Men’s tennis cruises past UCF. Men’s tennis maintained their momentum from last weekend with a comfortable 6-1 win against UCF this past Sunday. The Wolverines also defeated Washington, 5-2, this past Friday. The two wins stretch Michigan’s win streak to four matches. The Wolverines’ only losses on the year have come to ranked teams, at No. 22 Alabama and against No. 11 Baylor. The team is now 5-2 (0-0) on the season. They next play Notre Dame on Saturday, February 23rd.