“Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them. But first, more donuts and cider.” Melanie Maxwell – A2.com
As you might expect, callers to the morning shows on WTKA were hammering away at Rich Rod and Greg Robinson. Even omnipresent caller and ardent Rich Rod supporter Linda from Grand Blanc effectively called for a coaching change.
I hate going through this game of classifying Michigan fans, but I think there’s a good portion of us that have been out there notsomuch defending Rodriguez, but instead defending him against critics of his offensive philosophy, the unfair treatment of countless incidents in the media and the circumstances that have led to the depleted talent on defense.
Last night twitter was blazing with folks pinning this mess on Greg Robinson, asking for his head with even a few folks wishing Ron English could return, haha. Sorry, at this point there are no thirdsies for Rich Rod with respect to the defense and the coordinator. Maybe Gerg has no idea what he’s doing, but it doesn’t matter, it’s on Rodriguez.
As far as the talent, yep, they are young and inexperienced but we’re nearly three years in and we can’t stop (or beat) marginal Big Ten opponents. Rodriguez didn’t give the defense the same emphasis when he came in and yes, caught several bad breaks along the way. Now it’s too far gone and a complete disaster.
Remember when we used to bitch about a single weakness on defense? Morgan Trent plays on skates! (Funny, today Trent picked off Chad Henne.) Memmmmoooriesss.
When Rodriguez went on his tour to meet alumni after getting hired he asked that we “fly in formation”, as in, get behind him and flap along together like migrating geese. The gaggle is thinning out fast and the lead goose is just about cooked.
16 Comments
wolverron
wow, even linda is calling for rich rod's head. now that's bad. after rich rod's first season here national analysts and level-headed fans alike said we had to be patient and that by year 3 his teams would be contenders (for the Big 10). I bought the argument and, well, it's year 3. no question he's improved the offense but correct me if i'm wrong, isn't rich rod responsible for the 3 worst defenses ever in michigan history in terms of yards and points allowed? and i believe the defense has gotten worse each and every year. i still say let him finish off the season. maybe we'll get a lucky break or two. nonetheless, i don't see anything that suggests this defense will get dramatically better with experience.
unfortunately for rich rod, i fear this career at michigan comes down to these next 2 games.
wolverron
in regards to the whole harbaugh thing, it seems the hot rumor is the carolina panthers are planning to court jimmy big time. and if you read the sports illustrated article about the harbaughs last month, i think he would take the job just to compete with his brother. plus, don't forget that big NFL money. if he flops, he can always come back to college. so no, i don't think we would get harbaugh this season. that doesn't mean there aren't any other good possibilities out there. in fact, ira on wtka threw out the name Pat Fitzgerald: a defensive minded guy who runs a spread offense.
Charles
I love your blog Greg, but please explain to me how Michigan will cure their problems with a coaching change. You are only ushering in another ND situation no matter what all of the entitled UofM fans think. You are intelligent, show it with patience. Looking at the current situation would be nothing but knee-jerk to fire the current coaching staff. Please give me one coach that can win with our defense. They will grow up and get better.
You can pin some of this on RR but any other coach is going to have issues too.(name one that doesn't) Your mentality is exactly why I am not going to use my season tickets next week. The whole stadium will be bitching about our coach when the truth is that he and the team is working their tails off to win games for our enjoyment.(while half the damn Michigan family is against them)
Continued……….
Charles
And Teddy……you can thank Carr for screwing the coaching search up for Bill. Carr was supposed to keep his mouth shut until the bowl season was over but because he knew The Hat was waiting in the wings he sabotaged it by announcing retirement early. If you think that's a conspiracy, take time and talk to someone….the truth is out there.(okay, those last 5 words might have been overkill but you get the point)
Just be patient, please. THREE FRICKIN' YEARS and you want to run a guy out of town.(2nd ranked offense in the country people)
Greg- We may not see eye to eye on this but please keep up the great work with the blog! I love the history pieces.
BG@osu
I'm an OSU guy and seeing the Big 10 this far down is pretty bad. RR does need run. He was a bad hire from a system standpoint and how in the world can the UM Defense be this bad? The UM defense used to have star power nationally and also then in terms of players headed to the NFL. The question was ask above about running a guy out of town after 3 year, well most top programs and fans wouldn't tolerate 3-9, 5-7 and probably 7-5 if I was guessing. Florida and Nebraska didn't for very long with Zook and Zolich and ND finally pulled the trigger on Charlie who only survived with players left from Ty Willingham. I'd hate to see OSU go through something like this but I'm pretty sure if roles were reversed, there would be a for sale sign in the yard of the head coach's house.
brewonsouthu
Look, Rich Rod and Robinson could have the No.1 Defense in the country — and RR is still a goner. He's lied to the NCAA, and they are going to be able to prove it. The NCAA already has concluded that the Compliance staff at WVU warned RR, and that he just kept right on using coaches and practice time illegally there – so that's a knowing violation on RR's part. And that same knowledge he gained at WVU directly contradicts his claims of "I didn't know the rules" while at UM. He's done, it's just a matter of time.
Brandon's mistake is in carrying Rich Rod this far; let's just hope Brandon has learned from Bill Martin's coach-hiring fiasco, and is ready to make quick strong moves to get a top-drawer, honest coach.
And to Charles, above, this may be a stupid question, but is "the Hat" referred to in your posting supposed to be Les Miles?
Charles
Yes, Brew, that is who I was referring to.
And let me be clear, I don't care if it were RR, Lloyd Carr, Les Miles or Harbaugh, you have to be patient when dealing with a football program. Give the coach time to get at least one recruiting class through.
Greg from MVictors
If the defense looks like it did this weekend you'll probably hear all kinds of things.
Greg from MVictors
Pretty much – the next two games are critical but I'm not sure it's enough. We'll see.
Greg from MVictors
Charles, we see eye to eye on one thing, I can't stand the bitching and analysis in the stadium but understand it's part of the deal. I won't be kicking and screaming if RR is given another year. Before this season I didn't think he'd make it through but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take mucho delight in seeing him turn it around.
Michigan1
@Charles
Just be patient, please. THREE FRICKIN' YEARS and you want to run a guy out of town.(2nd ranked offense in the country people)
I love our offense, and I love Denard, but the notion that our offense is some sort of unstoppable juggernaut simply isn't true. In each of the past three games we've fallen behind three scores early in the second half. If our offense really was as unstoppable as we all would like to believe, each of the last three games would have been high-scoring shootouts in which the team that had the ball last won (a la Indiana). Instead, it has struggled under the weight of a totally unhelpful defense, has worked in fits and spurts, and has played catch-up all second half of the last three contests.
wolverron
good point about cowher and the lockout. my only counter is harbaugh claiming he really wanted to come to stanford (as a college qb) instead of michigan but michigan offered him a scholarship, and stanford didn't. personally, i have no problem with his "burning the bridges" comments about michigan's academics for its athletes. maybe i'm thinking too short term, but IF rich rod is let go, i do think there is a college coach out there who does use a spread offense but still puts a premium on defense. and unlike dollar bill martin, i believe dave brandon knows what to look for in terms of a head coach (i actually think beilein was a worse hire than rich rod, but let's wait until basketball season).
tomhagan
Hell yeah Sam…way to bring it. Anyone supporting what Rich Rod has done at Michigan, is clueless about football. His pathetic record says it all.
Kool Breeze
My 3rd grade daughter would run for 120 and a touch against this so called "D". This defensive staff had two weeks to prepare for Penn State and they looked worse then previous games. They stink like poo. Time for Dick Ro and his excuses to hit the dusty trail!
BiggieMunn
Tell it Breeze!
blue10
Big 10 record after three years:
Rich Rod 4-16
Tim Brewster 6-18