RichRod's comments at Glenville
*** WARNING: Freep article ***
I'm not posting this to bash the Freep or to increase the odds that Section 1 blows an O-ring, although I think the guy is probably at risk for that. Maybe someone could modify his hosts file and redirect him to something happy.
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Here's some of what RichRod had to say when honored at Glenville State:
http://www.freep.com/print/article/20110521/SPORTS06/105210417/Rich-Rod…-
In case that doesn't work:
http://www.freep.com/article/20110521/SPORTS06/105210417/Rich-Rod-helpe…?
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Bring out your animated dead horse GIFs. :)
Did you watch the whole Q-and-A session on the linked video?
Generally, when people freak out about a quote here or there, from somebody who is ordinarily and widely regarded as a good guy, it merits watching the whole encounter. I'm not suggesting that your mind might be changed. You may have already seen it. It's actually a fairly long video file, as you may already know. I just wondered if you had seen it.
You know what's funny? You say it is an arguable point that he needed more time, which I am assuming because his players are just now reaching their senior year, and then in the same breath you want to compare a team where the majority of RichRod's players aren't even juniors. My point being - the reason we don't completely know whether the team is in better shape is because of the youth of the team....but you have no problem comparing that youth to senior Mouton and senior Brandon Graham. What happens if one of our sophomores, like Marvin Robinson, comes out of his shell and becomes an all american and the first pick in the draft? Then what happens if Fitz runs for 4500 yards the next 2 seasons? As it has been posted above, Mouton was not a good safety and it was possibly his position switch that got him drafted. You don't understand the difference between the actual usable talent on the team in 08 (Graham was good, Trent was good, Warren was ok) and the guys who turned out good but were impact guys in 08 (Hemmingway, Mouton, Molk, etc...).
But can we end the myth that Barwis magically made Brandon Graham a monster by making him an upperclassman, when becoming an upperclassman makes you an upperclassman? I would HOPE a great player is better as a Junior and Senior than as an underclassman. Not that Barwis did a bad job; he was good at what he does. Very good. So was the guy before him. And the guy after him. Because if you're going to start giving S&C guys credit for every great player being great, you're going to have to start giving them blame for every crappy player who stays crappy. They're helpful, they do good work...but they're not miracle workers.
I never understood the Brandon Graham as evidence as that Barwis was a S&C god. What this board fell in love with was a bunch of YouTube videos of an intense sounding coach with a great coaching voice. So that made him out to be the guy who would produce lions where others would produce kittens. Never made sense and yet it didn't die off until the RR was finally shown the door. Actually lasted a few weeks longer until Barwis finally quit.
I believe Koger, Campbell and Demens go up in that "Mike Martin" list who were already committed (and maybe needed to be re-committed) when Rich got here. Now, Hoke is inheriting them too, but it's questionable "who" left them behind.
Not in any way a valid argument. The "talent" Rodriguez brought in has proven nothing. Robinson? OK--but after that, nothing.
80-some percent of the readers know you're a huge tool, but that doesn't mean you get to lie.
* Roy Roundtree
* Martavious Odoms
* Patrick Omameh
* Tate Forcier (At least a few moments, right?)
* Taylor Lewan
* Craig Roh
* Will Hagerup
AFAICS, != "nothing."
They're all young, too.
These are all very good players. But, for a team like Michigan, that's a very small group. RR didn't recruit nearly enough quality players (especially on defense). That's pretty obvious.
Fair enough -- but that's somewhat beside the point here. The doofus "Ornery" said it was Robinson and "nothing."
"These are all very good players. But, for a team like Michigan, that's a very small group. RR didn't recruit nearly enough quality players (especially on defense)."
Possibly; and possibly not. Iowa has shown that with the right position coaching, a team can achieve good things and play over its head consistently.
I would venture an educated guess that, on defense, Michigan may have had good players who were not as well coached as they might have been, and therefore played under their potential.
I'm not into finger-pointing and blame, so I don't really care who's at "fault." I just hope it gets fixed, and soon!
I realize that Roh is young and has been misused. BUT, he also hasn't really done anything, despite the hype. He's not conspicuously bad, which puts him in our defensive top 3.
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<br>Tate got benched, then couldn't hack it.
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<br>Hagerup? You're going to a punter to demonstrate the talent level?
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<br>Odoms has been fine. Good blocker.
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<br>My issue is that sort of Denard, he didn't recruit one all conference kid. (maybe Roundtree?)
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<br>Omameh, Lewan - they could get there.
You'd have to take out of the equation all the talent he was left with, which makes up some of our best current players, as well as players gone by. (Speaking of linters, how soon we forget Zoltan). It's like everyone forgets while the offense needed overhauling, the defense was left with more talent than it currently has. There's no Brandon Graham replacements (heck, or even Donnocsn Warren), and we jones for leftovers like Troy, Martin et al.
These statements don't bother me; they don't surprise me.
And I can hardly think of a single time in the last two years where I have argued with somebody over the merits or demerits of a particular defensive scheme, player selection or play-calling, etc. I am one of those people who think the coaches -- all the coaches -- probably know a lot more about football and their football teams than I do. Shocking, I know.
Sorry; you'll have to find yourselves some other bogeyman.
And cigol; Your concluding bit of baseless, insulting trashtalk isn't worth my time.
If anything, what the story as reported at Freep.com proves, is how much the Free Press craves stories about Rich Rodriguez. That they would assign a staff writer to plow through a local West Virginia radio station's video reports on a public statements given by coach Rodriguez at a Glenville State charity golf outing, saying little more than what he's said before.
It doesn't bother you, because it shouldn't. Getting upset over something as trivial as that, we'll have you in the ground a solid 15 years early.
Just take a step back and chill. WHo cares ultimately what someone else thinks. You have your own opinion and have expressed it... I have heard someone say before opinions are like assholes, who gives a shit!
I'll get down voted but I'll always root for RR. I think he did leave the program better than he was handed. And to think that people actually actively worked to sabotage the efforts of a Michigan coach is absolutely 180 degrees from what I might imagine a Michigan man to be.
What baffles me is all the people on here telling everyone to move on from the RR era yet everytime he opens his mouth they are the first ones to post it on here....if you want to move on why bother to even mention his name or what he says at other functions?
Obviously he believes what he wants and the rest of you believe what you want.
Fact is Brady is coming in to a much better situation and more upperclass talent then RR even sniffed. Also it seems like so far RR recruited the right guys to the program seeing as how most of them are working hard and not quitting like that senior class of 08 did.
What is going on here (a Rodriguez hate-fest) is NOT what David Brandon and Brady Hoke want.
Personally, I don't care about being part of their team, and following directions as to how to bring Michigan back together, and move it forward. But I thought that many of you guys did care about that. No matter what, your sniping at Rodriguez is NOT how they want Michigan fans to move forward.
Stop posting here. And stop telling everyone else what to do or think in a condescending way.
you told him to stop posting here.
If Section 1 leaves because of your own whining, david, PLEASE GOD go with him.
If you don't like what he posts ignore him.
I'm going to be out most of the weekend. If you could wait until Monday I'd really appreciate it. I look forward to bouje14 popping up in early June.
hey guys, you probably wondered when I was going to show up to the meltdown party, but i just wanted to tell you I'm heading outside to play some tennis and go to the arb so you'll have to have this meltdown on your own, i believe in your abilities though, good luck
Nobody here hates Rodriguez. We dont WANT to attack him. What we want is for him to GO AWAY forever. That is all.
are hypocrites. "Michigan Man" standards; and "Michigan Family" and "The Team" values are just some examples in which the words don't get backed up by the person's action (ask Ryan Van Bergen where all these people were the last 3 years). These are the people who screamed enough for anyone to listen that Harbaugh was going to return Michigan to glory. That didn't work out so they change their tune. These are the people who will respond to RR comments stating "RR supporters are just 'butt hurt.'" These are the people who have now switched to "being hard" for Hoke instead of Harbaugh. Ah yes, man ball.
I apologize if this comes off as condescending, but the hypocrisy grows thicker, it seems, the longer RR is gone. It seems obvious they don't hate RR as much as they hate that he didn't win enough by the standards these supposed-Michigan supporters set. There's nothing wrong with wanting to win (that is what Michigan strives for), but part of doing it the right way is doing it with class, respect, patience, etc. This inability to deal with adversity around RR shows the character of these little men.
I'm responding to your comment b/c I don't think anyone has articulated the point as well as you have re the quality of character of the players RR has recruited. I'm sure the character of Hoker's recruits are just as strong based on how I've seen Hoke and staff conduct themselves to date. These fans/players/coaches (freep and rosenberg included) who have tied themselves to the pre-RR past just can't seem to meet this standard or let RR go.
not the guy for UM. The only thing I credit him for is bringing DRob here....which is one great thing, but take away DRob from the offense and we are maybe 4-8 last year at best. Denard was the only string of hope RR had to keep his job and THAT IS NOT RIGHT. You need a COMPLETE team.
God, what a paper, and what a readership!
Top Five Most Popular stories at Freep.com, at 11 am Saturday:
- Rapture talk creating a buzz, but critics say it's all about the money
- Is Judgment Day here? Some Michiganders believe it
- Wrestler Randy (Macho Man) Savage dies in Florida wreck
- Drew Sharp: If prophet is correct about world ending, I was right all along about Lions
- Rich Rodriguez helped Michigan football?
And this is among the 67% or so of Detroiters who can read... /s
Shut. The. Fuck. Up. About. The. FREEP.
We get it already.
It seems like about 50% of Section 1's posts are immediately followed by a post by you yelling at him. I'm starting to think maybe you secretly like Section 1. Maybe you're in looooooove with him. You two should just kiss and get it over with already.
The Rodriguez-at-Glenville State-story, nicely placed on the front page of the print-edition Free Press Sports section, has now shot up to Number 3 on the Freep.com "Most Popular" list. U guys rock.
You have problems.
"This is among the 67% of Detroiters or so who can read!"
Class act, buddy. Not only do you moronically assume that all people who read freep.com are residents of the city of Detroit, you take a swipe at the school system there for the sake of trying to be funny when it is in fact an extremely sad situation featuring people far less fortunate than yourself.
But hey, anything to show you're a clever, snarky guy on the internet, right?
Why do we care what RR says at this point? I wanted him to succeed here because I love Michigan and I don't want to see us do poorly EVER. But, he's gone. Old news. Who cares now. Hoke and Matts and crew are wrecking recruiting right now and it seems they are better teachers of X's and O's. We shall see soon and I think we will be pleased with the results. Go Blue.
FTR I didn't bother reading the article. It's the freep. Nuff said.
Here's the WV Metro News site, with complete video, if you prefer:
http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=45612
Too bad you've never taken it. It's utterly amazing how anyone can take a mass group that more or less AGREE with their opinions on a topic (strictly regarding the Freep) and gets them to hate him for those opinions based on how they are stated and the volume in which they are given.
You're a lunatic.
No politics!
wait to see him coach again. As much as I can be a fan of a coach. RR was pretty high on my list even before he came to Michigan. Also I can't wait to see what Hoke and company can do with this team.
Talent not withstanding, RR did seem forge a pretty good team and family mentality. These kids that are present on this team they are ready to play for Michigan.
On a side note Bacon's book should also shed some light on the RR era. I anticipate the revelations in that book may provide some 20/20 hindsight especially the flap over the No. 1.
he'll never get over the hump until he learns how to coach his system with better size, and believes that defense wins.
He can win with what he did defensively in the Big East, but not in one of the 5 major conferences.
pretty sure he was already "over the hump" when his teams were winning 10+ games a year and beating Georgia and Oklahoma in BCS bowls.
But I hope people aren't expecting Bacon's book to be some tell-all unauthorized biography of sorts. An overview of the 3 years, and the times, but Bacon is too much of a homer and afraid to lose future access to be completely throwing anyone under the bus. I expect a lot more of the type of stuff he's mentioned on his blog, like how ridiculously hard student athletes work than chapter after chapter of program dirt.
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<br>But I may be wrong. This may be the last book he's planning on writing on Michigan.
Wasn't Bacon the first on the scene of Taylor's Explorer? I dont know how you can question his journalistic integrity after that. I totally would have loaded those guys up and got them the heck out of there...called a discrete towing company to clean up the mess. He did not.
I'm not saying Bacon's going to write a puff piece. He has opinions, and isn't afraid to state them. I'm just thinking too many people are expecting this to be the tell all of all the behind the scenes things that happened over the three years, when really it was meant to be a book covering the transition, the daily life of a football team 365/year, and just turned into a book that had an ending written for it because the arc of the story DID come to an end after 3 years. But considering the original intent, and the fact he's not going to try and paint Rich, Lloyd, Martin, Brandon, or pretty much anyone else involved with Michigan Football in a particularly bad light, it's not going to be all scandal and revelation. I expect a lot more Brandon Graham, Denard, Tate, and their trials and tribulations than Casteel, Les Miles, and all that. I'm sure it'll all be touched on. But the emphasis will be on the life of a football squad, not the politics...except maybe where they uncontrollably cross over.
I hope people aren't expecting Bacon's book to be some tell-all unauthorized biography of sorts. . . . Bacon is too much of a homer and afraid to lose future access to be completely throwing anyone under the bus.
This. I'm sure it could be the juiciest sports book ever written while remaining honest if he wanted it to be, but access means everything today. The subjects control the medium.
What the FUCK happened to journalism? It's so gutless now.
This is exactly right. I love John Bacon, he's one heck of a guy and an incredible writer, but it's absolutely true he's going to hold back a lot for this book. He gets the access he gets for a reason, because he's a consumate professional who knows better than to write everything he knows to sell a few more books or make a few more headlines. Bacon has too much respect for the University, and it's safe to say Rich Rodriguez as well, to do that.
I expect this book will fill in some blanks for sure, but it's not going to be a tell-all exposé.
You'd probably agree with me, on reflection, that being "incredible" is not the goal of most journalists.
And, moreover, that "holding back" is not exactly what makes a journalist a "consummate professional."
You write what is true, and what is important. You use your judgment, and try to tell what is important, about an important story. You try to write in a way that is interesting and compelling. You don't cover up for favors, and you don't use the front page of the Sunday paper to conduct personal vendettas.
What do you suppose Bacon's book will do with this picture? It's Bacon, kneeing in front of Shaw in the bottom right hand corner of this particular cropping of our favorite picture:
