CC? - Some thoughts from a long time UM fan
Let me start out by stating that I love Michigan. I don't just love being a fan when things are going great, or even good. I love UM through thick and thin.
This, at least for the football team, seems to be one of those thin times. I also love RR as the HC. Not for the winning(hasn't really happened like it some of us wanted it to), but for the fact that he is a very good man put in a tough situation. He has done his best to transform UM football into a better, quality version of his WVU teams and bring an exciting brand of football to UM and the B10. Against not only a hostile press, but also against a portion of the fanbase itself, he has failed in three years to put UM back to national prominence. Should he get a fourth year? That is not for me, nor anyone else, to answer, although after the bowl game results, it seems nearly certain that he won't.
I want to thank RR for his three years he has put in here, from the comedy of errors that was 2008 to the excitement of Denard and 2010. I know it hasn't been easy dealing with idiot commentary from the media and the constant background noise of the anti-RR crowd. Thank you, RR, for your efforts.
January 3rd, 2011 at 4:39 AM ^
a great clip from a great movie.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:14 PM ^
While I agree with your post wholehardedly, I think his release will give him a fresh start he surely must be ready for. This has been a debacle for this coach the entire time he's been here. Win a game against OSU or MSU this ends different. But he didn't and here we are.
BTW, I wonder if RR could take over at Pitt, he kinda knows that league.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:22 PM ^
what if he ends up at Connecticut now that Edsall is headed to Maryland?
Or Boise State if Petersen takes a different job? Or Clemson? Would they fire Sweeney if he were available?
These dominoes are going to be VERY entertaining over the next 2 weeks.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:27 PM ^
Well, he'd get to coach against Michigan...
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:34 PM ^
Pretty sweet irony, no?
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
To take conservative style players and make them spread guys. So he'll have to make it work faster there than here...
January 3rd, 2011 at 4:40 AM ^
plenty of positions available for sure,
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
delusional enough to think that RR will get more time at Michigan. I'm also crazy enough to post it. I agree we fans clammored for an exciting brand of football. But, none of us were ready for the painful turn around. Any way when spring ball arrives I hope to see RR talk about the improvements the players have made.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^
or the cowbell is still ringing in your ear. we'll find out in 3 days.
January 3rd, 2011 at 4:40 AM ^
those cowbells
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:17 PM ^
in one picture
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:19 PM ^
I concur on many points and appreciate some emotional detachment from the situation. We've lacked some rational thought around these parts for a while.
Our fans have lost their minds - from DB being labeled an idiot (um, he's been a very successful CEO twice) to RR's lack of ethics (let's see, he sat his starting QB at the hint of a concussion and has dismissed and suspended players regardless of the situation and upcoming games). Both these two are good men being treated poorly by "us" and in RR's case, the local MSM.
I'm not embarassed by the football team. Frankly, I'm extremely pleased with the quality of their character. After watching all the dancing and saluting the last week, I have even more respect for RR seeing as our young men hand the ball to the official and celebrate as a team. I have been embarassed by how our fans have acted, and it makes me wonder whether the internet is in fact such a wonderful thing.
I've been "all in" since RR arrived, and I'd support him through his entire first 5 years. If he departs, I guarantee we'll see him again - and won't be surprised if he gets the best of us (I'm not sure Lloyd would have beaten WVU in any year other than 2006).
That said, having met DB, I also trust the program, and the athletic department, in his hands.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:41 PM ^
......embarrassed by the football team, nor by the HC, nor by DB. I am more embarrassed about the portion of fanbase who never supported RR, and now after three years are claiming their instincts were correct after putting someone who seems to be a very nice and very good man through the experience of a partially hostile fanbase. They should be ashamed of themselves, but are too busy patting themselves on the back for the near certainty of RR being gone.
I only hope that the next coach is given the support he needs from the fanbase. I know that I, for one, will support whoever is UM's HC fully.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:03 PM ^
I doubt Rodriguez would lower himself to blaming the fans and the media not fully supporting him for his lack of success. So why do his supporters on here feel the need to make that turkey of an argument?
Support is never going to come on a large scale for 15 wins in 3 years, 6 conference wins, and no wins against any good teams that matter. At Indiana possibly, but not at Michigan.
No one is disputing he had it tough due to poor external treatment, but he failed to handle the one area that could change that treatment for the better. Worse, he failed to show he was grasping that he didn't have it handled. This job in terms of his ability between the lines as a football coach was too much for him. That isn't a sin and it doesn't mean he isn't a very good football coach. It means it didn't work at Michigan.
That was never anybody's fault but his. He would likely say the same thing.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:17 PM ^
It isn't a "turkey" of an argument to state that RR never enjoyed the full support of the fanbase, even from the start. It is and always will be a fact surrounding his hire. As such, there is a portion of the fanbase that went negative in his first season due to all the losses even while admitting that changing the offensive philosophy completely was likely to have growing pains.
I didn't want this topic to devolve into an argument for or against RR as UM's coach. It was meant simply to be a thank you to him for his three years, to this point, of time at UM. Nothing more. You and others are making the topic into something it wasn't meant to be.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:55 PM ^
cosigned
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:28 PM ^
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:32 PM ^
If they struggle next year, does that mean Rich gets some of the blame?
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
If RR gets fired (my head says it's 99.9% sure, my heart hopes he stays) next year's team will consist of:
5th year seniors: recruited by Lloyd
Srs: 1/2 Lloyd, 1/2 RR recruits
Soph, Jrs: RR recruits
Frosh: 1/2 RR, 1/2 JH (or goat) recruits.
What a clusterf#ck. No wonder ND has wandered in the desert for so many years.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:59 PM ^
said all along. ND is snikering and hoping somebody else especially a rival would copy their blue print for a return to glory.
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:02 AM ^
for ND.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:01 AM ^
No, Carr still gets the blame.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
w/ the defensive personel in place, either that person is a genius or the current staff is moronic.
RichRod will make a good coach somewhere. I think he'll also have learned that he can't sacrifice the first year to the god of the spread, and that he must do a better job of assembling the resources for a quality defense. Starting in Year 1.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:57 PM ^
Because if Rich comes back, Harbaugh takes over, or Lombardi is risen from the grave, this isn't a championship team next year. There's just not enough talent. Young or old.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:06 PM ^
The current crop of UM defensive players are as talented as anyone Iowa, Wisconsin, or MSU have. The difference is that those kids receive superior coaching.
You can have the 11 5 star players and if they are not coached properly, they will stink. Football is as much about coaching as it is athletic ability.
You also are indicting the staff for it was this staff tha recruited these allegedly untalented players. You may not think so, but I think RR and his staff are competent enough to indentify guys who can play athletically at the D-1 level.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:41 PM ^
You can have the 11 5 star players and if they are not coached properly, they will stink. Football is as much about coaching as it is athletic ability.
Absolutely. See Texas, 2010.
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:03 AM ^
I couldnt have said it better.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:49 PM ^
Our recruiting classes have gone down each of the last 3 years. We may have as much talent as MSU, or even Iowa, but Wisconsin? I'm not so sure. Definitely not as much as OSU. Look at the majority of our recruits, and where they had other offers from. Don't have to trust recruiting services and stars; check what other coaches thought of them. And we've had a lot more recruiting battle with MSU lately than OSU.
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:14 AM ^
Lord. Every new coach has a faction that's against him. Harbaugh will. It goes with the territory. And it has nothing to do with what happens on the field. The media doesn't play on Saturdays. RR couldn't get it done. His teams were weak and unstable. He pointed fingers. He landed us on probation. He is hugely unpopular among fans, the media, and (evidently) his bosses. Attrition. Demar Dorsey. Josh Groban. You're in deep denial.
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:31 AM ^
You're like a loudspeaker that only recites Freep headlines.
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:40 AM ^
And then Harbaugh shows up and coaches Rodriguez' fourth year class to a big ten co-championship.
Not with this defense. Sorry. Not gonna happen.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:29 PM ^
Rich has always handled himself with class. Its a shame he had to be bashed so ferociusly by the media and part of our own fan base. He has done nothing but treat this program and its players with respect. He actually holds the players accountable for their actions, unlike many other institutions. Who knows how this would have played out had he been able to win on the field. I wonder if all of this bashing would continue if he went undefeated every year.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:33 PM ^
If he went undefeated every year, there would be NO bashing. Were you really not sure?
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:44 PM ^
.....is a fanbase more concerned with winning on the field no matter what happens off the field. I'd love to have the character of RR's players and a winning product on the field, but if given the choice of one or the other, I'd choose the character of RR's players every time.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:59 PM ^
That believes it can have both. Because it has had it.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:09 PM ^
...that UM can have both, because you are right. It has in the past. The problem is that a portion of the fanbase didn't want him to begin with, was upset about the transition, and never gave the support a HC should receive.
There are some people though that no matter what you do, you cannot make them happy, or even satisfied. RR had that against him from the start.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:30 PM ^
1 NC in the past 62 years.
Think about it.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:51 PM ^
Today? Think about it.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:29 PM ^
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^
Did you foresee the defense falling to Bottom Ten D1A status?
Yes, there were lots of departures (including Scott Schafer), but some of that has to be on RichRod.
If he had managed (not micro-managed) that side of the ball just adaqueately, he wouldn't be in the mess that has Dee Hart going elsewhere.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:55 PM ^
Decimated Defense. The defense sucking worse and worse SINCE 2008 is all on RR though.
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:05 AM ^
with this point for sure.
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
Seriously - everything that could have gone wrong with him - did go wrong
1) Huge payout to WVU - check
2) Bare talent cupboard - check
3) Change of scheme - check
4) Bad DC hire - check
5) NCAA infractions - check
6) B10 on the rise - check
7) Angry Michigan Secondary hating God striking - check
8) Defensive recruit attrition - check
9) No Michigan Man tag - check
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:56 PM ^
Angry Michigan BLANK Hating God.
Also, we're watering the maize fields more so they're nice and lush.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:02 PM ^
Farming coordinator (if they even exist)
Also hope DB knows something about Farming Coordinators and makes an informed decision
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:12 PM ^
I'd say stay away from ytMSU or ytOSU's ag graduates. Can't trust the slippery bastards.
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:15 PM ^
to you sir
January 2nd, 2011 at 11:41 PM ^