les miles

Now that the NBA finals are over and sports enters the dark period know as baseball season, I am trying to get back in the swing of Michigan football. There has been a lot of grumbling recently about our recruiting of non-blue-chip recruits. The 3-9 season with losses in the top-flight rivalry games, loss of actual or expected impact players via transfers, and (to a much lesser extent) the aspersions on Rodriguez's character (see, e.g., snake oil, lack of family values) have also caused some heartache for Michigan fans.

So here's my question, if you wound the clock back and could choose between Les Miles and Rodriguez (I'm not saying this was the situation we actually found ourselves in), who would you choose?

Personally, I am drinking the Rodriguez Kool-Ade. I am sold on the spread as an offensive system and think that it will pay dividends once we get the right personnel installed. I was a fan from the beginning of Barwis and the long-overdue revolution in the weight room. Rodriguez’s track record is obviously stellar even though he isn’t a Michigan Man in the traditional sense. I am confident that greatness will ensue in the next year or three.

I was also, however, intrigued by Les's 4th down gumption and success at LSU. I have no clue if the transition with Coach Miles would have been smoother. Would we have performed better last year and maybe lost fewer players to transfers if we weren’t installing the spread on the fly? Would we be recruiting four and five star players in droves right now? I don’t know. If it was your pick, who would you have at the helm of the leaders and best?

It has been forever since I last posted anything, including even a comment. While I am still a regular follower of MGoBlog, as well as the new WLA, I've basically been a casual onlooker on the blog scene the whole season. As some of you may (or may not) recall, I was a regular commentator and contributor late last season, as well as over the Winter during the coaching search. In fact, I commiserated with many fellow U-M Law alumi, and basically wasted like 1,000 potential billable hours spending endless hours on MGoBlog tracking the coaching search and waiting for Brian to start a new thread that we could comment on. In any event, today I decided to google my MGoBlog handle and read through my old posts during December of last year. A time, I might add I originally referred to as a "shit storm", but later termed "a diarrhea hurricane." I thought some of you might might enjoy a sampling of some of my posts/comments during that time. My favorite is a "memo" I wrote to all of you summarizing the general malaise and paranoia of everyone following the coaching search on MGoBlog. For those that don't remember, "Spicy BM" was a nickname attributed to Bill Martin at a time (I generally analogized him to a bowel movement). As some of you may also remember, I was a Les Miles fan, and believed he would "crawl through glass" to come back to U-M. I also openly pined for Rich Rodriguez. In any case, after re-reading the threads from that time, there is NO FUCKING WAY I can handle another coaching search any time in the near future. The coaching search makes a 3-7 mark look like the 1997 season. LOL. In any case, hope you enjoy the sampling of some of my old posts (current labeling in bold).

ON THE GROBE MAFIA:

Success! I brought my laptop and am at a Starbucks. GJ delayed (fucking AUSAs).

I've decided to give Grobe a pass -- like the Gambino LCN. He gets freedom from bad commentary from me, but he will be required to win a MNC within 3 years of his hiring at Michigan. Sorry, those are the rules. As a former gov't lawyer who proscuted organized crime cases, I don't give a fuck what the Grobe mafia says about it. 3 years and a national championship. If half of what you guys says about Grobe is true that's not asking to much.

Christ, I'm halfway on the Grobe bandwagon.

DCBlue | 12.06.07 - 1:02 pm | #

I think gsimmons85 is Jim Grobe's handle. He's sitting in his office in Winston-Salem typing away.

DCBlue | 12.06.07 - 1:11 pm | #

ON BILL MARTIN, Generally (Sidenote: Can you fucking believe we thought PSU's Bradley even had a chance? LOL)

How great would it be if BM's "process" included having his AD staff run unsubtantiated rumors of potential candidates up the MGoBlog flagpole? Brady Hoke. Nope can't hire him. Urban Meyer, definate possibility. T. Bradley, definately not.

DCBlue | 12.06.07 - 1:13 pm | #

On "Premium" message boards:

I can't imagine paying money for this rumor mongering. "Premium" message board? Unless they furnish coke and hookers, that's ridiculous.

DCBlue | 12.06.07 - 2:00 pm | #

Bill Martin, revisited:

As much as I want to believe that spicy BM's "process" is just like "Fortitude South" in WWII (the plan to deceive the Germans into thinking that the main attack would come in the Pas-de-Calais and the low countries to the east), I just don't buy it. I think Saturdy and Sunday was a huge clusterfuck, probably brought on a little from both sides and now BM is racing for a plan B to save face/his ass.

I mean Jesus, he's not planning the fucking Normandy landings, he's hiring a football coach. This CIA/KGB stuff would be funny if it wasn't so ridiculous.

DCBlue | 12.06.07 - 3:14 pm | #

The "Memo" summarizing the MGoBlog threads at the time:

TO: Blog Fags

FROM: DC BLUE

RE: MICHIGAN COACHING SEARCH

CLIENT CODE: Spicy BM

After extensive research, and in an attempt to save all of us the trouble of following new threads, please feel free to print out the following cheat sheet that gives a synopis of every MGoBlog discussion.

1. Les Miles = Crawl through glass.

2. Spicy BM = fucked things up

3. Malfunctioning Blackberry/Sailing

4. KING GROBE

5. Oh my god we're fucked.

6. What a shit storm/diarrhea hurricane.

7. Relax, it will all work out.

8. Fuck you, this is Michigan.

9. Who is the hot coordinator

10. Martin said no coordinators.

11. Kittens

12. Mike Debord

13. Urban Meyer/Sean Peyton/Rich Rodriguez.

14. English/Hoke

15. I need a drink

16. You guys are the greatest

17. Troll

18. We need a profiles in heroism [insert name]

19. Michigan Student provides bi-polar anaylsis.

20. We're like ND

21. No we're not

22. THIS IS MICHIGAN

23. Clean house

24. Pat Forde/Drew Sharp = douche

25. I trust Bill Martin.

26. Fuck that, we're fucked.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Finally, isn't this the truth:

Maybe Harbaugh does warrant a look. sigh.

Whoever it is, we'll all be bitching after the first three and out next year.

DCBlue | 12.07.07 - 11:16 am | #

I

What a couple weeks this has been.  First, the market crashes.  Next, Osama…oops, I mean Barak Mohammad Obama(bin Ladin) is about to take the White House and bring all his socialist andterrorist buddies to Washington. All that was very, very, very bad.  But all of that I could have handled.  Socialists? Domestic Terrorists?  No problem.  We’re used to that kind of stuff in Ann Arbor.  What I can’t handle is what I’ve seen the lastsix weeks.  I was excited to see theLloyd Carr era end, and had great hopes for the future.  Sure, I expected a very tough transition year,as we moved from a Pro Style offense to the spread.  Admittedly, I was a member of the Les MilesMafia, and had great hopes that he’d be leading the charge and bringing us backto respectability.  Still, when RichRodriguez was named head coach, I embraced the selection.

 I looked for the positive in a very ugly loss to NotreDame.  Threat was starting to come around…ifonly we hadn’t turned over the ball so many times.  Against Wisconsin, I gave up at half time.  I started preparing dinner for my family andnoticed we scored a touchdown.  Hownice.  Maybe we’ll make itrespectable.  Another touchdown.  Well, let’s make it close.  Then we win. Who’d a thought?  Reality camecrashing back in last weekend, when we got manhandled by an average Illinois team.

 Still, nothing prepared me for today.  Crappy MAC team.  Toledo?  You’ve got to be kidding me.  I can blame Lloyd for not having muchreturning on the offensive side of the ball, but I thought we had a soliddefense that would keep us afloat.  Whatdefense? 

 I have now officially turned and suggest we end this Rich Rodriguezexperiment.  This is just notworking.  Even with a new offensivescheme and young players, there’s no way that Michigan should lose-EVER-to the MAC.  This team looked unprepared and was verypoorly coached.  Even Lloyd could havedone a better job than this.

 I suggest that we get some of our best and brightest at the Michigan Law Schoolto figure out how we get out of this contract, and go hat in hand to LesMiles.  Whatever he wants.  Just get me a coach.  This guy is a disaster.