Durham Blue

November 28th, 2014 at 7:28 PM ^

Congrats to Rich Rod!  I'm very happy for him.  He is proving once again that he is a good coach.  Not sure how anyone at this point can place him into the "mediocre" or "bad" coach categories.  It's a shame and still perplexing to me why it didn't work while he was at Michigan.  Perhaps another year and a better DC would've meant all the difference in the world.

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JTrain

November 28th, 2014 at 7:29 PM ^

Happy for Rich Rodriguez. He busted his ass while he was here without the backing and support that all the "Michigan Men" get. He didn't get the financial backing he needed to get his coaches. Now he's in the pac-10 and turned a really shitty program around with less than average talent in a short period of time and everyone there loves him.
Anyone that thinks he doesn't deserve it is a DICKBAG. Neg all the fuck you want bitchz. I got me a new set of custom strings with a super tune coming for my Hoyt Carbon Spyder 34 from center circle strings archery and you don't even know what you're missing. Because also I'm drinking. And I know you're totally jelly now.
#boom
#howulikemenow?????
#lovemesomewolverinefootball
#beatthebucnutz
#ifyouhaveanerectionlastinggreaterthanfourhourscallyourdr

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bacon1431

November 28th, 2014 at 8:10 PM ^

I think the money for assistants issue is a bit overblown. Should he have gotten more money? Absolutely. But there was no reason to think he would have went out and got better assistants with more money. He brought practically everyone from WVU to Michigan. And it's not like the defensive assistants were making Eastern Michigan money (which is the level the defense performed at here). Maybe it makes a difference with who we get for DC, but I don't think Greg Robinson was dirt cheap and nobody forced RR to ask Gerg to run a defense he was unfamiliar with. 

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MGoPoints: 25294

JTrain

November 28th, 2014 at 8:33 PM ^

Blame it on Lloyd, practice gate, empty cupboard, new offense implementation. The reality is...we're an impatient society. He (RR) showed progress and probably deserved another year. At least based on how things have been graded the last four years.
I was pissed when RR got let go but UNDERSTOOD. I was excited for change when brady came. Thought he was "our" guy. But if you're truly being objective about both situations, I think it's obvious who got the benefit of the doubt (every year record gets worse) and who didn't (steadily improved record every year).

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bacon1431

November 28th, 2014 at 8:50 PM ^

To be fair, it's not hard to show progress from 3-9. And the defense was regressing rapidly. It gets a smidge better in 2011 just because overall experience but it was not going to significantly improve unless he got a coordinator that could actually run a 335 (doubt we get a good one because his seat is an inferno and what kind of quality coordinator is stepping into that mess?) or fired a few defensive assitants and hired ones that could run a base 4-3. His recruiting was also a mess and we'd probably have been facing some APR punishments if we retained him as coach. It was pretty bad. 

Saying he deserved another year based on the last four is a bit silly. We didn't know what was going happen in the subsequent years. I know back then I thought he should get year 4 but I also thought that it was just delaying his firing one more year because he needed to win 9-10 games and beat one of MSU or OSU to keep his job and at the time, didn't look like it'd happen because Tressel was still at OSU at the time. And the team definitely looked like it quit those last few games (Wisconsin, OSU, Miss St). I wasn't optimistic that they'd bounce back under what would have felt like a lame duck coach (much like this team had trouble bouncing back from the first thing to go wrong).

 I also thought that we were for sure going to hire Harbaugh or Miles and thought they'd be better options than RR. If I would have known we were hiring Hoke, I'd have gladly taken year 4 under RR, even if he failed in that year. 

I, much like Brian, thought it was a bad hire to grab Hoke in 2011. Helped perception a bit with the first press conference. Then he started recruiting really well. Started thinking maybe he'll at least get us to a respectable place. Then we went 11-2, with a little luck. But we looked good on defense and the offense was still solid. So opinion turned around. I gave him a pass in year 2 because of the tough schedule, but wanted him to get rid of Borges. Then last year happened and I started thinking we were dead in the water under Hoke. 

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Woodson2

November 29th, 2014 at 9:59 AM ^

RR would have fielded a much better defense in year 4. There was more talent, more quality depth on the team, and also more experience. His offense would have been unbelieveable. The schedule we played against was very, very soft. It is no miracle that we did well that year and it definitely was not the incompetent coaching staff that made us good. It was the talent. Time allows coaches to put their people out there and RR did not have the proper time.

He absolutely should have gotten a 4th year simply because he did more with less than any coach I can remember. Our roster was not very good and full of youth because of the roster he started with. He kept improving and his track record was out of this world. You don't fire head coaches in 3 years especially when they are completely rebuilding an entire roster and have his track record of success. It was a monumental mistake, there is no denying that. His results now are just proving again how great of a coach he is.

He had no young playmakers on offense when he got to Michigan and his good defensive players were upperclassmen who were gone very quickly. He had to remake the defense with sophomores, freshman, and walk ons while at the same time revamping the entire offense. It was a huge rebuild and in no way can any coach rebuild that in 3 years. Especially at a time when the Big Ten was stronger than it was today. It was just a major gaffe by Michigan. In time RR will continue to win big and I think more of you need to admit your error in judgement about his coaching skills.

People who don't really understand coaching or talent evaluation will talk about fit but it has nothing to do with fit. Great coaches win everywhere when given time to install their systems and get competent players in place. It's just how it works. Fit is something people who are making excuses for their lack of foresight continue to talk about. "I was right, Rich Rod was a horrible fit and a bad coach at Michigan(one of the best institutions with the best facilities and a great recruiting base) but he will be a great fit and a good coach at lesser programs (with bad facilities and a poor recruiting base)".

Rich Rod would be winning big here by now. Skilled coaches succeed, just like skilled players succeed. They succeed in a vaccuum and in every situation given to them because they have skills and competence on their side. RR has coaching skills and competence in spades and that's why he will win everywhere he goes if he gets the full amount of time to rebuild.

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Hannibal.

November 28th, 2014 at 7:31 PM ^

Firing Tony Gibson and hiring Scott Shafer saved RichRod's career. Too bad the dumbass had to throw away the Michigan job to realize he needed the right assistants.

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mgoblue0970

November 29th, 2014 at 1:08 AM ^

I don't think he knows the difference between you're and your... he does that in every post I've seen.

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MGoPoints: 18648

goblue16

November 28th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^

Congrats to RR well deserved!! Now stay at Zona and don't make the stupid mistake and run to Florida there fans are just as delusional as we are and will want u gone if u don't have a national title in 2 years

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MGoPoints: 17468

RJWolvie

November 28th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^

Question isn't whether he's a good coach or a bad coach; it's whether he was a good coach here. Hard to say yes to that if you watched those three years. Again, people forgetting how BAD it was because it's become EVEN WORSE. (Oh yeah, that's because people in power at Michigan wanted to be sure our team lost on the field. C'mon; that's just nuts.) Whatever. There's obviously no reasoning in this argument. I'm bored of it. I, for one, am going to the UM Hockey thread

Joined: 10/22/2011

MGoPoints: 4417

RJWolvie

November 28th, 2014 at 9:06 PM ^

Checking in at break in hockey game, & this thread is as predicted.

You're right about one thing: MY team does suck right now. Has sucked for 7 years, excepting one luck-filled 11-2. Thought it was OUR team, though. This is MGoBlog, isn't it? UM isn't our team? Huh. My bad.

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twohooks

November 28th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^

But the irony was so thick when Rich Rod's victorius stat line was brought to you by Domino's. I really could not think of a better sponsor, this couldn't be by mistake!

Joined: 01/21/2010

MGoPoints: 4776

SFBlue

November 28th, 2014 at 7:39 PM ^

The OP is right.  It would never have worked here.  We're just too precious and prestigious to have a guy like RR around.  We'd rather reminisce about how we almost won a Rose Bowl in the 1970s, and delude ourselves by saying that if Bo were still alive, the last seven or eight years would have never happened. 

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MGoPoints: 15699

JTrain

November 28th, 2014 at 7:46 PM ^

He has a southern drawl.
He ran the spread.
He didn't do his understudy coaching here.
He didn't play here.
He wasn't s michigan man.
I'm sure he's given up on life and is really sad in Arizona right now with his TOP TEN RANKING.

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MGoPoints: 8459

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

November 28th, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^

BH crowd argue over who was less successful. Both failed at UM. There are a lot if reasons for both coaches not meeting the standard, but both missed. Both had clear performance issues with their staffs (Gibson vs Funk could be an interesting thread). Happy for RR. Hope Hoke finds a soft landing. Really only care about UM finding the right guy to lead the program.

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MGoPoints: 18078

FA_Wolverine

November 28th, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^

If we had a different D coordinator under RR we would have been competitive. That's all that held him back here. We could score 50 but the other teams would put up 60.

Joined: 01/13/2014

MGoPoints: 5757

beedub93

November 28th, 2014 at 7:55 PM ^

There was more to it than just that. Special Teams sucked hairy balls, and RR's offense wasn't exactly lighting up the scoreboard in conference play. Scoring tailed off, especially late in the season. 58 pts vs msu and 24 points vs osu over 3 years ain't cutting it.



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FrankMurphy

November 28th, 2014 at 7:44 PM ^

I don't get why this debate still needs to be so polarizing. Things didn't work out for Rich Rod here. Part of that was due to circumstances beyond his control (bare cupboard in 2008), part of that was due to his own mistakes (bad defensive coordinator hires). Perhaps in an alternate universe in which Antonio Bass' knee hadn't exploded and Bill Martin had ponied up enough money to land Jeff Casteel, he would have succeeded. But that didn't happen. The stars have aligned for him at Arizona in a way they never did here. There's nothing more to say than that.

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MGoPoints: 32255

Danwillhor

November 28th, 2014 at 7:48 PM ^

It was a bad fit for reasons on both sides. He messed up by not realizing how inbred we are. Not realizing how much just pretending to be indoctrinated into the "Michigan Man" family would have kept SO MUCH vitriolic hate from literal day 1 off his back. He also messed up by gutting an already gutted team by not adapting to personnel for early wins (run a passing spread, etc). He went read option or bust from day 1. He also failed to adapt defensively in so many ways. WE messed up by being so inbred, factioned, self attacking and out for blood before he had a chance to build a program (5-6 years, as he even said before taking the job). He didn't recruit well or adjust to the differences between recruiting at WVU and Michigan. He ran spread 1.0 even with a Sophomore Denard on top of the atrocious "run the 3-3-5 or leave" defense. WE messed up by undermining many of his efforts to modernize the program, etc. IT'S BOTH PARTIES FAULT. It's the classic bad relationship with a really hot woman that you have a hard time explaining how/why it's bad but it just is and everyone knows it. Let's let it go. I'm happy for him. He both got a raw deal here and deserved to be fired, a rare thing and further proof that it was just a toxic relationship. He fits Arizona. Michigan demands a guy that can win without juco kids, borderline kids and can recruit at a low level of "misses". We need a guy that knows exactly what he's getting in a kid, very few busts. At least get some value from them, etc. RR needs a relaxed "we'll take what we can get" environment where academic/admission standards are low. He loves a Juco, as most schools do. We don't. We need a special coach in that regard. We need a step above, regardless of system.

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 8609

HollywoodHokeHogan

November 28th, 2014 at 8:17 PM ^

That's sarcasm, right? These threads are clearly flame bait posted to get people who didn't like RR pissed off. It's written right in the OP for fucks sake. It's like if someone posted a thread when Arizona lost to USC saying, "haha, RR sucks ass; glad he's not at Michigan anymore," and then acted like the pro RR fans were trolling.



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Cordera89

November 28th, 2014 at 8:52 PM ^

Dude u really need to understand that there is really nothing say. People all over the world witness RR time at michigan and saw how everything turn out.

Everyone is witnessing what he doing at Arizona is quiet amazing.  Media is not looking at his 15-22 at michigan, or the crap that michigan just pull on him. They are basically saying how in the world did michigan botch this coach that is 26-12 in three year at arizona and manage to win the school first ever Division title and first trip to a PAC 12 Title game.

They there going to ask there self why couldnt that happen at michigan. Then that were problem start.

You can love him or hate him, This just prove that Michigan really fuck up big time when they had him, Arizona is just doing what Michigan could not do, This is slapping them in the face right now to see him complete for championship at a school with no tradition or history.

Joined: 11/18/2014

MGoPoints: -38

SalvatoreQuattro

November 28th, 2014 at 8:25 PM ^

I don't hate the man. You think so because I don't slobber all over him like you and your cohorts do.

I have never called him names or said he was an awful coach. What I have done is disagree with the Rodophiles constantly singing his praises. It gets fucking irritating.

My beef is with the Rodophiles. I have no problems with Rodriguez. He seems like a decent man who failed here for a variety of reasons. I hold no ill will towards the man and why should I? He didn't try to fail here. It just didn't happen. Onwards and upwards.

Joined: 11/30/2010

MGoPoints: 79291

SalvatoreQuattro

November 28th, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^

I can honestly say that I was not honestly offended or defensive about anything pertaining to Rich Rodriguez. You, however,are clearly in emotional turmoil with your obscenity-laden remarks and angry responses to my posts.

Except for my regrettable insult to another poster most of my posts have not been insulting or filled with insults.

This is football. This isn't that big of a deal. I enjoy being on here, but the topics in here are of little importance to me. I might occasionally get heated in the throes of an debate, but nothing on here really angers me. For you to think that I am all worked up about Rich Rodriguez makes me chuckle. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

But hey, believe what you want. Whatever floats your boat, bro.

Joined: 11/30/2010

MGoPoints: 79291

Danwillhor

November 28th, 2014 at 8:22 PM ^

It's just how I see it. I'm tired of it as Arizona and Michigan aren't the same note and weren't the same situations when he took over each (respectively). I neither love it hate him. I neither think he's amazing or terrible. He fits Arizona. He didn't fit Michigan and the constant arguing about it is slight reinforcement of why, IMO. I wish him well unless he's across from Michigan on the same field. Unless we learn something from arguing about it there is no use in doing so. Turns out we have not and can not learn anything from it. Time to move on or collectively prove that even the fans/alums with an MGOVoice are part of the problem.

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MGoPoints: 8609

Cordera89

November 28th, 2014 at 8:05 PM ^

No one is going to move on from this. Only the one that will move on is hardcore michigan fan.

People that are fan or RR are not going to move on from this after what they are seeing at Arizona.

U can say what u want but it not going to change on how many people see it. He was screw from michigan from day1, alot of media are basically saying( How the fuck did michigan screw this up with RR) There not using the excuses that most michigan fan are using.

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