Our tradition continues with Rodriguez
Recently I got Verizon FIOS here in NY, and it has the Big Ten Network, and I just finished watching an hour long program about our storied football program, and I highly recommend it to those still feeling uneasy of the new direction. Especially important to note are the stories about the 1947 team under Fritz Crisler that were called the "Mad Magicians", and I was amazed to watch the tricks they did. Seeing this, it gave me alot of relief, for Rodriguez's program is gonna be exactly that. To me this means that the hiring of Rodriguez is in fact a continuation of Michigan TRADITION, since the Wolverines once dominated the land with their trick offense, based on deception and sleight-of-hand. Maybe it was not a pure spread, but it was an offense based on not knowing where the ball is. But the fact alone that we had this dominating offense in our storied history should endear most of us alot more to Rodriguez, and alot more. He is one of us.
Am surprised that I haven't heard this parallel before of Rodriguez offense to the Mad Magician offense in the media. Either way, for all you naysayers, this is a must read... a section in the book Stadium Stories: Michigan Wolverines" by Jim Cnockaert starting on page 59... here are two good links...
http://books.google.com/books?id=x8dEfDbbojgC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=mad+m…
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61075/1/1904.pdf.
Am surprised that I haven't heard this parallel before of Rodriguez offense to the Mad Magician offense in the media. Either way, for all you naysayers, this is a must read... a section in the book Stadium Stories: Michigan Wolverines" by Jim Cnockaert starting on page 59... here are two good links...
http://books.google.com/books?id=x8dEfDbbojgC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=mad+m…
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61075/1/1904.pdf.
Yeah everybody, run out and buy the sex offender's book.
oops... i didnt know that about the author... however the author is not the subject, is it. then read the other link i posted.
I gotta agree with you there (nothing is more exercrable). I didn't even know.
In defense of diclemeg, I am guessing he didn't know. And his football point still isn't too bad.
I agree the comparison is interesting although '47 was a completely different era. Also, the spread isn't exactly new, mad or magical. Hopefully the results will be similar.
about Coach Crisler's teams and the way we run ours. Tate has a good head on his shoulders, I don't think he is going to struggle mightily running the offense. I look forward to many big plays in the near future.
I think I'll pass
p.s. this is a response about the book and it's author
I used to like Cnockaert, thought he was a good beat writer and everything. Perhaps he still is, just too bad he's also a perv.
I recall someone having mentioned at some point that before Bo, we were more of a spread team. Good to see some proof of that.
Interesting historical note. Thanks for the post.
i had a similar reaction to that piece when i saw it on the BTN. just the fact that people were so bent out of shape about how RR's hiring was ruining michigan's storied history, while in fact, most of the national championships that those same people like to brag about are results of very fluid and changing offensive styles throughout the years. 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust + defense was a relatively new concept if you look at the full history of the football program.
i was more shocked at the parallels between the reactions to bo and RR. i guess a lot of the players were pissed because they had to run back to the huddle during practice when bo came in. sound familiar? also, he yelled a lot during practices.
the biggest comparison though is that in spring of 1968, when bo took over the program, there were some 140 players on the team, when the first game of the '68 season was played, there were 75. let's not get too worked up about wermers et al...
I was wondering how many left during Bo's first year and you answered my question. Why doesn't the media ever print this? If you are correct (and I have no reason to doubt you) and my math is correct, then 65 people left the team.
from Michigan so perhaps I am out of the loop, but from what I see and read most of the RR critics are not UM fans. Many are WVU fans and a lot are also fans of other Big 10 Schools and scared to death of what the man is building in A2. Some of the biggest critics I have found aside from the WVU fans who can't seem to get over the breakup are OSU fans who are shaking in their boots because they know that, maybe not this year, but soon UM will be paying them back for the last 5 years.
More to the topic, I didn't need anything to sell me on the fact that RR is the right guy for UM but I had noticed these similarities to the teams pre-bo before. It makes you wonder why analysts have such a hard time seeing UM in this type of system now.
You'd be surprised, actually. Here in Pennsylvania most fans just wanted him gone, even though the Panthers have actually done decent against Rod's Mountaineer teams the last few years.
And while the critics are always going to be around, the recruits are getting excited about Michigan football. You have Wilkins, Paskorz, Christian, and Ifill; but if Michigan improves this coming season Pennsylvania is going to open up even further recruiting-wise.
In 1901, Michigan badly wanted to beat Chicago, our heated rival.
Meanwhile, Fielding Yost had successfully coached at 4 schools in 4 years - Ohio Wesleyan, Nebraska, Kansas, and Stanford. Despite winning championships and defeating his rivals every season (somewhat ironic, in fact, as he beat Kansas while coaching at Nebraska and turned around and beat Nebraska while coaching at Kansas), no one wanted to pay him a large amount of money.
Much to the faculty's dismay, the University of Michigan gave him compensation higher than a professor's salary, and told him all he had to do was coach football for ten weeks, win, and go home.
He arrived in Ann Arbor on a train. Immediately upon arrival as he departed the train station, a newspaper reporter asked him what he thought the team could accomplish in the upcoming season.
He said, "We're not going to lose a game."
And he did not lose a game - until 1905, his 5th season.
Similarly, in 1938, Michigan paid Fritz Crisler for his worth after being underappreciated at Princeton. Oddly enough, his odd markings, coined “wings”, he used on the Princeton helmets were apparently underappreciated as well. He coached for a decade, brought us the winged helmet, Ole 98, and the Mad Magicians, and the rest is history.
Michigan has the fine tradition of bringing in outsiders who are amazing at their craft and winning.
As long as Rodriguez wins abundantly over the course of his career, that is the bottom line concerning the Tradition of Michigan Football.
Many Michigan fans only are aware of the history of the last 40 years, but that window of our history exists due to Glenn “Bo” Schembechler’s passion for the tradition of Michigan football, a tradition of Yost, Crisler, and Harmon, a tradition like no other.
Maybe many Michigan fans do not know these amazing foundations of the program yet, but it is the pleasure of those who do hold the knowledge to be able to spread the good news of Michigan athletics. I’m always excited for those who have the opportunity to hear these stories for the first time, just as I did once upon a time...
Great read... thanks... and it really makes me wonder if Greg Schiano really was in fact preferred over Rodriguez. I can believe that Miles was for manifold reasons, but Schiano ? Can anyone confirm this with reasonable certainty ?
Now this stuff was worth posting. I always appreciate a good history lesson. I knew the basic history of Yost and Crisler, but I didn’t know their history prior to their arrival at Michigan. Thank you!
I'll pat myself on the back for starting this diary. I'm happy so many like it. But really they all should see the films of the Mad Magicians... nobody would know where the ball was.
This board is so cool. Nice lesson!
History is good.
...Find John U. Bacon's class, History of College Athletics, in the American Culture department, if he is offering it again. He started the class probably about 4 years ago.
Thanks to him and his resources, I have a much deeper understanding not only about the history as a whole, but also about the tremendous influence imparted by the University of Michigan upon the landscape of college athletics.
Not offered for fall 2009
Oddly enough, his odd markings, coined “wings”, he used on the Princeton helmets were apparently underappreciated as well. He coached for a decade, brought us the winged helmet, Ole 98, and the Mad Magicians, and the rest is history.
Actually, Crisler did not invent the wings. They were part of the regular stitching pattern on leather, and many schools colored the wings in. Crisler's innovation was the three stripes, which made his teams' helmets clearly visible from behind (and thus made it easier for QBs to distinguish WRs downfield).
In the late 1940s, when plastic helmets were introduced, we continued to paint on the wings-and-stripes pattern while, for some reason, no other school continued to paint the wings on. And thus our helmet is now often dubbed the "winged helmet." But historically, it was the stripes that were the real distinction.
...Notice my wording did not claim he invented them!
But for those who are interested to visually understand jmblue's great point he adds to the discussion:
You can look at this picture, which is not quite our version of the wings, but you could probably imagine a recognizably similar leather pattern in the fashion we see today on Michigan's helmet.
http://www.sportsartifacts.com/fbhelmeth18.JPG
The wings and stripes were actually functional in that they kept the entire helmet stitched together.
Sorry, I couldn't find a good picture online of our version... Personally, I have a great picture of an old Illinois helmet from the 1930's which shows our three stripe stitching very well, but I do not know how to include the picture in the comments.
It is a wonderful tradition, unmatched in integrity, excellence, and pageantry, by any university, in any way.
I first met Professor Bacon (I didn't know he held that title then), when I was 15, and attending the Cold War game in 2001. I bought a copy of "Blue Ice," and he signed it. Little did I know that I would graduate from UM only a few short years later. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take his class. But I basically lived in Yost as an undergrad, didn't miss a game, and it was because his writing on hockey inspired me.
Yost and Crisler contributed so much; Rodriguez will eventually do the same.
This history is one reason why many fantasize the use of a "reverse wildcat," with three QB's who can run in the backfield at the same time.
I've often made the connection between Yost and Rod (being from a close geographic origin) ... hoping for a return of the point-a-minute teams. I think it's pretty likely tbh
Never thought too much on the similarity to Crisler, though. Thanks for the post
Ernis,
If you have Verizon FIOS, watch that program if you can, especially the trick plays and slight of hand. It was OUTSTANDING, and reminded me alot of some plays Rodriguez tried, but still does not have the personnel for it.
We have historically been at the vanguard of college football when it comes to innovation. We invented the linebacker, two-platoon football, and popularized the forward pass. Bo - contrary to what many claim - changed with the times, using a variety of different offenses and defenses. (Compare the offense we ran with Harbaugh with what we ran with Dennis Franklin.) Gary Moeller frequently used a no-huddle offense. It was really only under Carr that we became firmly set in our ways, rigidly adhering to the pro-style offense while other trends were gaining popularity.
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