Ignorance is bliss.

It’s one of the most cliché sayings in the English language, so my apologies. I’m only using it because it’s applicable to the mysterious odyssey that was Athletic Director Dave Brandon’s search for Michigan’s next head coach.

There was speculation about the locations, at various times, of certain wing-helmeted planes and Domino’s jets. Jim Harbaugh was as good as signed, then he wasn’t, then he was again after he didn’t sign anywhere for a day or two, and then he was the coach of the 49ers. Les Miles was a done deal as late as two nights ago (I’m looking at you, Joe Schad).

When the Big Lead “broke” the story that Harbaugh-to-Michigan had fallen apart, the incessant bragging about the scoop was annoying but understandable: It was the one time throughout the whole thing that someone got something undeniably right about the whole mad tragicomedy.

Through all the unnamed sources and flight trackers, through the baseless speculation by reporters and yahoos alike, we all learned one thing:

We don’t know anything.

And you know what? I’m OK with it. And I hope, for your sake, that you are too.

A common takeaway from the search: “Michigan isn’t the job we think it is.” I was one of the loudest supporters of this theory. And maybe it’s true. But after thinking about it, that’s not something you can infer from this search.

Sure, it appeared that Harbaugh spurned Michigan. He was the obvious first choice, right? But how much do we know about the talks between Brandon and Harbaugh? Not much. In fact, nothing. We don’t know freaking anything about them.

And Les Miles? We’re still unsure about who spurned whom in that situation, but it’s really impossible to say. ESPN's Joe Schad reported Miles turned down an offer. Brandon claims he didn’t offer Harbaugh or Miles. And on and on.

What if Brady Hoke was Brandon’s guy the whole time? What if Brandon was simply humoring the fan base by talking to Harbaugh and Miles? It’s certainly a possibility. In fact, that was one of the early reports at the beginning of the search (from FOX2, but still). If that’s true, doesn’t it mean that Michigan was the picky one in this situation?

But once again, we have no idea.

So now it’s Hoke. And guess what? We don’t know anything about him, either.

We know he turned around a Ball State program that was in shambles — and it took him five years (four, if you count 7-6 — but our head coach was just fired for that record, so…). He went 9-4 his second year at San Diego State and 4-8 his first year. He coached under former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who went 1-5 against Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. So what can we reasonably expect? Again, who knows.

Here’s my humble plea to Wolverine nation: You don’t know anything, so just accept that and throw your support behind this guy.

Try to forget about how botched you believe this search was, how close Michigan was to landing Harbaugh — who suddenly became the greatest coach in football over the past two weeks — and how underwhelmed you are with Brady Hoke’s name.

Michigan fans focused on all the negatives once already and look what that yielded. Embrace the unknown instead of fearing it. After all, you know what they say.

—Stapleton can be reached at jstaple@umich.edu