How Good Is The Offense? Are We Really Asking This?

You know that things are getting bad when Brian has been driven to talking about the coaching issues during OSU week. 

At the end of the day, after some cool, detatched analysis, I think that Brian is probably at the place that a lot of us are at with RR.  The offense - first half stalls and execution errors - is improving, and looks to be really good next year.  It does.  Getting rid of RR will set the offense back.  It will NOT bring on another Sheridamnit year, but it will definitely set us back from where we would otherwise be next year.

The true question that DB needs to ask is whether RR can right the ship on defense and special teams.  I don't know the answer to this question, and I suspect that right now, nobody does.  I do know that in the three years since he has been here, he has done nothing right on the defensive side of the ball, from recruiting, to coaching hires to schemes (to the extent that he has allowed his assistants to undermine GERG).  But, maybe this has just been a confluence of negative shit hitting our program all at the same time. 

I don't know.  I have gone from flipping back and forth weekly, to daily to almost hourly now on the issue.  Man, I hope that we beat OSU, since I believe that a win would just about put the coaching controversy to bed, no?

This offense is good, and it isn't going to get worse anytime soon.  Think if DG makes the type of leap DR made from year 1 to year 2.... Think if DR continues to improve this off season.  There is no way this offense gets worse in the next few years, especially with the talent we have coming in for this recruiting class.  This offense could go from scary to, I dunno, extremely super duper scary for opposing teams.  I will continue to support The Team The Team The Team..... and the head coach, Rich Rodriguez, is a part of The Team.  I have hope the D will improve as they age.  I'm with Brian... I'm getting really sick of arguing against the nay-sayers.   Sure, I want things to be better.  At this point in time, keeping RR seems like the thing to do.  I don't want to have to watch another system switch and another two more years of transition.  For now, I retain my hope and high expectations for the future.  Ok, back to work, I've said my piece.  

My hate week is about other Michigan fans.

Bingo.

Well, I'm one of those who pointed out that after 4 Big 10 games, the UM offense had only been impressive (a) when playing Indiana or (b) when trailing and desperately trying to get back in the game.  I was hopeful the Illinois game signaled an end to those observations, but then Wisconsin came along and had me wondering why our stellar offense put up 0 points and 100 yards in the first half.

For the record, I'm not in favor of canning Rodriguez.  I think the offense can be spectactular next year.  I just suffer cognitive dissonance when other people refer to our offense as a juggernaut THIS YEAR.  I penned a meager first diary trying to quantify and explain this, and BlueBlooded recently did a much better job.

Some people sarcastically respond with things like "yeah, our offense with 1 senior and a true sophomore dinged up QB sucks and should be way better than a top 5 offense," and they miss the point.  I, and I think others, understand the offense is young and will get better.  We understand there'll be some bumps and bruises and frustration along the way.  I, personally, struggle to understand why, Illinois excepted, our offense has looked somewhat feeble except when trailing when we've played respectable Big 10 opponents.  I've never said it's because of any changes the defense makes, and I think that might be the least likely explanation.  I have the data but haven't had time to determine if it's a difference in playcalling or if it's simply that, for whatever reason, certain players execute much more effectively when we're behind.  Maybe it's all just an anomaly.  Whatever the cause, if any, it can't be denied that our offense has found the end zone much more frequently once we were in major comeback mode in our 4 Big 10 losses.  It is that -- what I've seen with my eyes and feel in my gut -- that compels me to push aside "advanced metrics" that assert the 2010 Michigan offense is dominant. 

My hate week is about other Michigan fans.

Cosigned. We are without a doubt the most annoying fanbase ever.

It bums me out that it's Ohio State week and we're defending our offense and coach and saying things like "I find that I don't care about Ohio State at all."  Maybe that's the most telling statement of all. 

it's ohio state week dammit.  I'll still find my pacing ramping up throughout the week.  I'll still find myself drinking too much booze and eating too many nachos on gameday.  it's likely the tv and any other inanimate objects will be cursed at during the game.  but I also understand we're up against it.  in a big way.  I'm tired of this streak.

we're going to have to conjure up some magic in the shoe.

It's that the offense isn't dominating enough to account for the fact that our head coach has stated he doesn't focus on the defense and because of that our team isn't that good.   Of his two top defensive recruits one now plays guard and the other didn't get in. 

Are we really to the point that we have sold are team out already? Man we need to get back to playing Michigan Football on the Defensive side of the ball!!!

Letting RR go would be foolish at this point, it really would.  DB has referenced in an interview how it's not always the answer to just fire your coach.  He reference Detroit pro teams and rhetorically asked how that has worked out for them. 

I've been saying this - in '07 most Michigan fans wanted change really bad, really, bad.  You have to give change a chance to materialize, even if the timeline has been pushed back by 1 or 2 years. 

I have faith we can pull off an upset. Stranger shit has happened.

But the in-fighting among our fanbase has been very depressing.

Thanks, Brian.

My hate week is about other Michigan fans.

I'm a RR supporter.  Used to be really optimistic, now I'm just concerned.  I've spent the last couple years making pro-RR arguments to family members and friends who are either actively anti-RR or who are basically uninformed but drank the freep-aid.  Given the recent roller coaster of emotions, I've realized that I can just ignore all the hate.  It's made me a much happier and less stressed compadre. 

I actually thought the other day about poor Brian, whose job really doesn't let him just tune out the haterz.  Brian - for your own mental health - I hope you can find some other coping mechanism. 

(p.s. this isn't to say everyone who wants RR gone is a hater ... there are some reasonable arguments on that side, but overall, I just find the anti-RR side seems to be dominated by the UNACCEPTABLE crowd.)

Just want to throw an amen out there brother Brian.

I don't envy DB and the decision he has to make. I do believe he's going about it the right way. I believe he's made up his mind already, but a) if he's going to let RR go, he should wait until after The Game b) if he's going to extend him, he needs to molify the lynch mob by proving he's thinking it through.

Either way, I will trust his decision. I believe RR wil succeed given more experience and a COMPLETE overhaul of his D-staff. But DB knows way more about the situation and has way more at stake than any of us. He's the right man for the job.

Let's just let it happen and support the team either way. And let's enjoy the fun this O has given us this year while hoping we'll see more of it in the future...

I'm totally with you on this Brian.  It's the difference between reason and rationale. Bile and indigestion cause angry fans to use whatever metric serves their purpose. 

Dear Abby used to say, when pressed to solve a romantic complication, that the right question is "are you better off witih him than without him?"  In this case, I say definitely with - changing now means another period wandering through the forest waiting for the program to knit itself back into a coherent high-functioning whole, and here's the thing

THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THE NEXT GUY WOULD BE ANY BETTER.

In the meantime, I vote for the guy with one of the best offenses around - give him one chance to get his defense together. 

Brian

I wholeheartedly cosign this entire post.  Harbaugh's excellence as a candidate is the only reason to consider firing RR.