Great quote from RVB regarding alumni

Angelique clarified per Twitter that RVB did not say this unprovoked--he was answering a question she directly asked him.

Chicken-or-the-egg question.  So some football alums maybe felt they weren't properly welcomed by RR.  Who was the newcomer, anyway?  What did those alums do to welcome RR to the family?

I keep hearing that "former players felt ambivalent/not welcome". Two questions:

1) What does that even mean? I doubt RR told any fprmer players to f off, so what is ambivalent? Is the problem that RR was unwelcoming, or that these players felt entitled to star treatment? Were they truly ignored, or are they like the high school girl that freaks out if her crush doesn't call after exactly 2.5 days? I've heard a lot of rumblings but no firm examples of what "unwelcome" really means.

2) Why didn't these players who felt unwelcome proactively reach out to help and be involved with the program? It was clearly possible, as with the alumni game, the workouts with Barwis, and Mike Hart. I mean its one thing if they tried and were flat out rebuffed, but I get the sense that at least some players checked out and didn't try to mend/create a relationship and blamed the failure on RR. In a perfect world, they would have helped RR become the Michigan Man they wanted, instead of getting mad that he wasn't one on day 1.

Honestly, I can see why you'd feel a loss of continuity. But the reality is that the staff was all new, and they didn't know these players personally. You can't expect Rich Rod to have a close relationship with a Carr player from the early 2000s, because he probably never talked to him (why would he?) prior to landing the job. I think the players were probably expecting too much, having been a bit spoiled by the extreme continuity of the previous regime. It was impossible for RR to have a close relationship with all of the UofM alums and a grasp of all of Michigan's tradition from day 1. RR was a very busy guy with a lot on his plate - it was asking a lot for him to go out of his way to build relationships with a bunch of strangers who used to play for Michigan when he had to worry about building relationships with 100 strangers who currently play for Michigan, all while building a new staff and installing a brand new offense.

I like him more every time I hear him talk. It would be hard to take anyone offering support seriously, if they appear out of nowhere after a three year absence. It reminds me of the insincerity displayed when an ad was taken out supporting Rodriguez, AFTER he went 5-0. 

I have been a Michigan fan since the mid 70ties.  When I was a kid I had this old record that was a tribute to Bo's first season and would listen to it over and over.  I appreciate the traditions that are Michigan.  However, I am of the opinion that though useful to appreciate the present, traditions can get in the way.

I have always made parallels between R^2 tenure and the French Revolution.  It is not a one-to-one and onto parallel as R^2 never was around long enough to win something.  However, R^2 attempted to redo everything about how Michigan football was played.  Unless you have a stacked team ask any good coach and they will tell you it takes 4-5 years to build a program.  I do not see anyone blaming Beilein for not getting Haris & Sims to buy into his program.  I think it can be agreed there was a sizeable minority that wanted him to fail and any setback would be blamed completely on him.

Back to the French Revolution there were many powers who desperately wanted to see it fail.  When Napolean was finally deposed, the Bourbon dynasty was imposed and Europe had 30 more years of continuing tradition of King/Noble/Clergy before it all blew up.  So much for tradition and hello industrial revolution.

What has annoyed me and continued to annoy me is this requirment that only an insider can be succesful at Michigan.  For all those who live in the State of Michigan, they are aware of one of the greatest companies in the world that just went through chap11 BK.  General Motors is a perfect example of what happens when you let your traditions get in the way of the present.   GM unlike Ford became inbred as those who rose up did so because they said they liked fat butts.  GM's size allowed it to put off change and keep doing things the same way for years.  We know the rest of the story.

It seems to be that those who have power and influence over the Michigan football program want things done a certain way.  Maybe I should call them the Mullahs.  They want someone who conforms to their ideas.  If you are not from the clique, you do not fit.  The concept that if you had no ties to the program in the past makes you not qualified is arrogance without bounds.  If Urban Meyer or Bill Cowher had come begging to be the next football coach at UM, would they be not considered because they were not part of the clique?  Maybe I should learn hiring practices from HS.

As someone who attempts to use observation and history to deduce conclusions, the decay of Michigan football began long before R^2 was hired.  In my opinion the origns was this obsession on inbred hiring practices.  If one restricts their coaching search to just buddies and insiders, your talent pool is much smaller.  In my opinion Carr made this mistake and his staff became mediore.  This staff was less capable at identying good football talent and developing it.  06 was the last hurrah as the last of Herrmen's recruicts peaked.  David Harris was replace by Obi Ezeh.  Of course UM football was going to stink, precisely the reason why Carr retired when he did.

So now someone who tried to change the world is replaced by someone saying all the right things.  Sometimes I wonder if the buzzwords of "Fat Butts" and full backs with shrinking spines and close head injuries are for the mullahs of the four towers.  Does UM have a monolopy on tough man football?  Did not a dozen players at Iowa have to be hosiptalized because they were pushed too hard?  I don't remember Bo liking big boys with fat butts.  And when Bo retired I recall 3 man Dlines.  I though toughness was a prerequisite to play football.  I thought teams won by discipline, execution, and scheme not by who can smash their face in the wall the hardest.

For all those who celebrate the restoration of the French throne, all the talk in the world means nothing.  I remember us gigling about ND pushing out an unpopular coach after 3 years and replacing with a talker who said all the right things, and who  brought in an allstar coaching staff.  A Mr Weis won with someone elses players.  Then when it was time to win with his own his way, it fell apart. 

And lasty if coaches are some times not the right fit, whose fault is that?  Cleveland Browns once had the best coach of football coaching their team.  He had not figured everything out yet.  But like many Pro franchises run by nonfootball people, the Browns were impatient.  The rest is history as NE won 3 SB's.   I am of the opinion that if R^2 had stayed, UM would have won 10 games this year.  Fyi, I picked UM to win 7 last year and revised to 6 when Wolfolk went down.  We judged a man based on how true sophmores and freshmen played. 

Regardless of the spring game, the UM coaching staff will take advantage of R^2 players and UM will most likely win 9-10 games this year.  Regardless of the success, I will always have a bitter taste in my mouth because it is someone else's team.  I never pretend that it was ever my team.  I just have to wonder how much of Hoke's talk is geniune and how much of it is to appease the real power, which is in the towers.

Maybe Hoke will be a good coach.  Time will tell.  What we do know is that many qualified coaches never will have a chance past, present, and future.  Maybe this program has to truly fall flat on it's face to figure it out.  I hope not as I like winning.  I do not want a revolution of 1848.  Because it still failed and for followers of European history it took several more decades even after that.

It's pretty simple. A lot of former players didn't like RR. Several of RR's players left; several more quit on him in the Gator Bowl. The message is clear: he wasn't a terribly popular guy. Maybe there's a reason for that. 

The alums in question sacrificed three years of Michigan football so they could get their own way.  Welcome back to the bandwagon, guys.  I hope you haven't broken it beyond repair.

this subject is important enuf to ignore completely.

Nice to hear someone speak up and deliver this reality check...tell the Braylon crowd thanks for nothing

never any reason to turn your back on your alma mater.  Ever.

Glad they're back, but they never should have left.

Clearly Rich Rod didn't embrace and carry on tradition like he should or none of this would have happened. He came on and switched everything up, he said games against O.State, Sparty, and Notre Dame were important but he didn't treat them like the hated rivals that they are. He took away the sacred #1 jersey, he switched up the captain system, ect. I can go on and on. He was just bad for Michigan. I'm not saying he's a bad person or coach. He just didn't know what he was getting himself into, and I'm pretty sure he would do a lot differently if he had the chance. If I was a former player I would respond the same way. And the fact that all the players are all of a sudden starting to come back around tells you everything. Case closed...Good Riddens Rich Rod!

Clearly Rich Rod didn't embrace and carry on tradition like he should or none of this would have happened. He came on and switched everything up, he said games against O.State, Sparty, and Notre Dame were important but he didn't treat them like the hated rivals that they are. He took away the sacred #1 jersey, he switched up the captain system, ect. I can go on and on. He was just bad for Michigan. And if your going to come into a program so rich in tradition, change everything up with total disregard, YOU BETTER WIN! I'm not saying he's a bad person or coach. He just didn't know what he was getting himself into, and I'm pretty sure he would do a lot differently if he had the chance. If I was a former player I would respond the same way. And the fact that all the players are all of a sudden starting to come back around tells you everything. Case closed...Good Riddens Rich Rod!

My 2 cents says that the whole "didnt respect traditions" stuff leveled at RR originated and then festered with the Lloyd Carr "guys" regarding their "standing" as upperclassmen/seniors.

Michigan, since Bo at least, has had a strong tradition of respecting and treating seniors who've paid the price and "done the time" a certian way. First class on airplanes, certian locker positions, seats in meetings etc. I've spoken to one former player from the NC team that felt RR not honoring & embracing this attitude towards the seniors was what really started the whole "divide".

If thats indeed true(or even somewhat true) whos to blame?? Its easy to point at those seniors and say tough shit, new coach, new rules now man up and deal with it. Yet I could see that if I was a guy who watched for 3 or 4 yrs the privilidges afforded those who towed the line, followed the rules and "stayed", modeling my own behavior after those guys so that when my time came I could enjoy that "standing" and it was swept away?? I don't think so.

Plus, in my own eyes, when we suffered our 3rd straight loss to tOSU and an embarrassing one at that. RR said exactly NOTHING about the seniors, about feeling bad for what they had to endure during the transition, not getting to beat tOSU, no big ten championship etc.

Conversely, when Lloyd lost his last game to tOSU, it was all he talked about.