The first round of the ‘Death March Madness’ tournament (full bracket here – background here). Here’s a printable version.
Ron English (Defensive Coordinator, Michigan) v Jim Grobe (Wake Forest)
As 3 and 4 seeded players, each has an outside shot for the position.
As for Grobe, his performance at Wake Forest last season made him the rage of many college football punits and, for Here’s his bio from the Wake Forest official site. He has Midwest ties as he was the headman at Ohio prior to joining Wake where he had some success. Ivan Maisel of ESPN called out Grobe as a candidate and summed up his reputation:
Among other names that will be discussed amongst the public is Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe, a Midwesterner who believes in physical football. Grobe’s teams are known for playing hard for 60 minutes, and he is greatly respected by his peers.
Grobe’s followed-up on his success this season, going 7-4 thus far with Vanderbilt on Saturday. A lot of people liken Jim Grobe to the John Beilein hire, as Grobe just seems to be one of the coaches that everyone respects. We’ll see if he gets in the mix.
As for Ron English, what a difference a year makes. If we went back into time, just prior to the Ohio State game in 2006 I think Ron English would hands down be the choice to succeed Carr by the majority of Michigan fans. The only concern back then would have been experience and this concern remains. Michigan went on to lose four straight ugly games (OSU, USC, Appalachian State, Oregon) and now they’ve lost two more. The defense has looked shaky all year and the idea of English becoming the next head man at Michigan is tough to envision. He’ll get an interview and he’ll make his case, but my guess is that the Wolverines and English will be parting ways next season.
So what do you think? The winner will take on #2 seed Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Bucs. Vote now, and if you’ve got strong feelings either way, put it down in the comments:
Update: English wins with 55% of the vote! Here’s the latest match-up:
4 Comments
BenAA
As displeased as I was this year with Ron. I still think he is a good candidate. This year was his wake-up call.
mvictors
Posted by ‘Hal’:
Jim Grobe obviously has more experience as a head coach but to me he is questionable even as a good coach even though we understand the level of talent that he had to work with. Ron English would make the transition easier for next year and part of his system is in place but he has no known head coaching experience. What type of coach would he be?
wolverine steve
I voted for Grobe. But, as good a coach as he may be, I don’t want him. If we’re going to hire someone in his mid 50’s it better be Miles.
I’d like to keep Coach E on staff more than I’m interested in Grobe as HC.
Josh
Coach English he’s got fire! Give him a more than legitimate shot!