The Case For and Against

So, basically over the past couple days we have seen numerous threads with one side reflected in the initial post. Up until this point, I found myself siding solidly on the side of the coaches. I just felt there had been too many things that I felt were out of their control to be able to fairly judge their competence at Michigan. Generally, thats how I am. I am not the type to set out to fire coaches. I didn't want to fire Lloyd. Usually, I can find reason to believe they are indeed the right guys for the job. My faith right now is starting to fade. I sure as hell don't have faith in GERG and I don't know that I have faith in RichRod to cure the defensive problems. I don't know if my intent in this thread is to convince myself one way or another or if it is to help convince others. To be honest I haven't thought about each side of the argument at the same time yet. I will do it now and hopefully by the end I can reach a well reasoned opinion on where this administration needs to go. Alright, so here we go.

The Case For:

-Denard Robinson-He is only a sophomore. I would hate to see his abilities move into a different scheme. I feel that there are about two different offensive systems in the Nation that he fits as a successful QB. I am not saying the new coach would not use him but I think it would take time for them to know exactly how to use him. RR and CM have this down and I doubt Chip Kelly will be our next coach.

-The rest of the offense-We will return basically every key player from the offense and that includes a line that is one of the best in the conference and possibly nation. The offense next year could become Oregonesque. If Denard improves just a little bit in those situations he has failed in this year, we become something beyond anyone has ever seen here. Like I said we could be right with Oregon.

-Defensive Attrition-Some of this is on the staff. Most is not IMO. Woolfolk, Warren, Cissoko, Turner and Vlad. Those are all guys that I feel are not playing for reasons other than the staff. The ones that are arguable are everyone but Woolfolk. Warren was told he would be drafted. He left and wasn't drafted. Maybe he did leave because he disliked the coaches but I don't feel that's it. I think he wanted to get paid. Hardly on Rod. Cissoko had troubles beyond Rods control. You can't hold their hands. Turner apparently had issues with his committal to the program. Again, you can't hold their hands all offseason. Vlad got injured last year. It is very possible he wasn't the same afterward. No doubt he would have contributed this year, but I doubt it would have made an earth shattering difference. So, if you simply add Woolfolk and Warren to this secondary you take away a ton of inexperience and add one guy who is a shut down corner and another that, by all reports, had improved significantly. You can now do some things to create pressure since you don't have DOOM in coverage. I won't even go into the freshman backups. That should be self explanatory.

-Two of our losses were to pretty damn good teams. Iowa crushed MSU and MSU had beaten good teams themselves. We lost those games largely in part to mistakes made by us and not because they made more plays.

-2012-To me, this teams is built for that year. A bunch of juniors and seniors on defense. A senior Denard. This team could be very special. It is very possible that a new staff could do the same thing but I feel better having Magee and RR control the strings on Denard than anyone else.

-We could whiff on Jim Harbaugh-What if we don't get him? Then who? I would be in favor of Chris Peterson or Gary Patterson. I think Peterson could use Denard the correct way, but at the same time he may not want to come here. I think people are jumping the gun thinking JH will take the job. Sure, he probably would take it. It would be great for a few years but he doesn't seem like the type to turn down a new challenge. I mean the NFL. One thing that I have always liked about RR is that it doesn't seem likely he would go NFL on us. He is a college football coach so that if he was successful it would be sustained for a very very long time. Do we sacrifice 4-5 years for the next 20 or 30? I still believe he can get it done but it's a matter of how long we are willing to wait.

The Case Against: -The lack of defensive depth-How do we not have more options. Sure, there wasn't much to draw from from LC and yes, there has been bad luck but this is still Michigan. We should be able to put a better product out there.

-Greg Robinson-Why was he hired? What had he done recently to indicate he was a good choice? It has been stated that he likes turnovers instead of playing solid defense and forcing punts. That's all good as long as you, you know, get the turnovers sometime before the other team scores.

-Scott Schafer-Why was he fired so soon? He seems to be doing fine where he is now. The syracuse defense isn't a world beater but they certainly don't have the talent pool and the name either. There was rampant speculation RR was too controling and that was the reason he is gone. If so, why is RR controlling the defense? You hire coordinators to do the job. If you want to do it, don't hire a coordinator or hire some schmuck to take the title but you take the blame.

-The violations-I know and I agree that these are small violations that basically every program probably violates in one way or another. That's not the point. The point is that we got busted and it's embarrassing. How do you fail to file the same paperwork you have had to file for years? To me that part is unacceptable.

-The defense-One play sticks out. It is fourth and one in the first half. We have the opportunity to make a huge stop and perhaps start an offensive fire. The ball is snapped and given to Royster. There's nowhere to go. This play is dead and we get the ball. But wait a second, despite two different Michigan players haveing him wrapped up at once, he somehow falls for a gain of two and a first down. How does that sort of thing happen? Is it the players or is it how they are coached? This is just a small example of our run defense being bad.

-Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton-How have they not developed to be better than they are? Why? How come? It's not a lack of physical ability. I have to think it's a lack of development from coaching. They constantly make poor decisions and are undisciplined. In Obis case, he sometimes just does nothing. To further this problem, where are the guys to take their spots? I know Demens took one but it took 6 games. Either they weren't identified or he really isn't that much better. In the case of the latter, where was the recruiting?

-We could get Jim Harbaugh.

Conclusion: Let's say we beat Purdue. I think one more win is worst case. I think with our offense, we have to beat one team so I am sticking with 6-6 as worst case, 8-4 as best case. In the worst case scenerio here is my prescription: Fire Gerg. You have to if for no other reason, to save face. Get the absolute best you can and Brandon has to pony up to get this guy whether it's Casteel or someone else. Dick Bumpas may be another option. I don't care who it is just get someone in here who can make the defense average. Make them good enough so that we can score 30 per and win 9 games. It has to happen. You keep RichRod, but it will be abundantly clear that this is it. Walk the walk now. He will know that's the deal whether you say it or not. By keeping RR you also likely keep the vast majority of that 2012 roster even if you have to change staffs. Like I stated above, my hang up is that if RR hit's here, it will be sustained for a very long time.

Now, in the best case(8-4) all this is moot, we will havebeaten Wisconsin or OSU and people are happy. You still fire GERG though. I will gaurentee we won't win a game 21-14. They will have to be of the 48-42 variety.