Hawk fan here.Brands is NOT stupid. He knows the only way out of the situation is for the AD to be the bad guy. It's his only chance at possibly keeping the only jewel in the Ferrari family at Iowa. A slim chance but still a chance. There is no way Brands wants AJ on the team at this point if he even wanted him in the first place. Let's give him just a bit of credit here as hard as it is to do.
Brands is desperate and shortsighted, making him very stupid at current.
Brands chased Ferrari. Is still chasing Ferrari. And just to be clear, the Brands LOVE AJ. He works hard and is athletic. They’re just willing to overlook, well, everything else.
So no, no need to give them any credit.