So I leave for a few days for a three-day turkey-induced coma, and I come back to a schizophrenic Bellanca watching the store and rumor confirmation from reliable sources:  Kirk Ferentz has apparently been offered the Michigan job.  And, for those of you who believe this is little more than innuendo, need I remind you mGoBlog doesn't have a history of making empty threats?*

Lloyd Carr made $1.2 million last year; Ferentz made more than twice as much.  In other words, any compensation package that would lure Captain Kirk away would cost Michigan $1.6 - 2.0 million more per year.  That means booster support is necessary to make the finances work, and all sources indicate those boosters would rather give that money to Les Miles (by the way, Miles made $1.8 million this season).  Throw in rumblings about coming improvements to the Big House, and it seems any decision by Bill Martin has to be made with the money men in mind.  And that decision does not appear to be Kirk Ferentz.

If mGoBlog is right, though, and the job has been offered to El Capitan, he's probably not going anywhere.  Let's take a look:

OPTION A

• Guaranteed employment without any real risk of termination
• $2.8M per year
• No pressure from the local media
• Coaching your son for the next 4-5 years
• Great facilities
• Your boss is spineless
• No in-state recruiting base
• Enough name recognition for good, but not great, out-of-state recruiting
• Restless fan base, but you created your own monster with that one

OPTION B

• Pressure-cooker employment, especially given the circumstances of your hiring and the fact that you are not Les Miles
• $2.8M per year or possibly less
• Increased pressure from local and national media
• Moving your family to a town commonly referred to as "a whore" by those in East Lansing
• Great facilities
• Your boss just jumped off a bridge for you and would probably cut you loose to save his own ass if things go south
• Solid in-state recruiting base (though you know how those Detroit kids can be, right Dominique?)
• Top-notch program; out-of-state recruiting is wide open
• Restless fan base who wants another guy (but you've been through that before)

Can you imagine Ferentz leaving Option A for Option B?  Neither can I.  So let's all take this in stride:  Michigan may or may not have offered the job to KF, but only under the most ridiculous of circumstances (certainly more ridiculous than the alleged booing of Adam Shada - and for the record I was there and didn't hear that) would he accept.  Deep breaths, people.  He'll be back.

* - To be fair, Brian has classified this as rumormongering, but he also has third-party confirmation, and mGoBlog wouldn't run this if it was one whisper from a dark corner.