Bill Frieder, Lane Kiffin and the 1989 Michigan men's basketball team

Most Michigan fans know this story, but the discourse around Lane Kiffin has made me realize that it's not super widely known.

This Lane Kiffin situation is not the first of its kind. In 1988-89, Michigan's men's basketball coach, Bill Frieder, announced he was leaving Michigan for Arizona State right before the NCAA tournament. Michigan was a similar level team to Ole Miss football this year, a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament, a good team but not title favorite.

Bo Schembechler, who was Michigan's AD at that point, fired Frieder and said "a Michigan man will coach Michigan." (Yes, that was the origin of this phrase.) His assistant, Steve Fisher, took over.

Michigan won the national championship. Fisher got the full-time job and brought about the Fab Five and also its assorted scandals. (Frieder also had to resign due to a scandal of his own.)

All this is to say, it's not a foregone conclusion that Lane's departure will hurt Ole Miss, at least in the short term. Michigan galvanized around the situation and took home the trophy at the end. It's still their only national title.