Chizik, Mike Stoops, Tenuta, Brown?
October 27th, 2008 at 8:51 PM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 8:53 PM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 8:53 PM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 8:56 PM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 9:05 PM ^
Tenuta - basically the ND DC except in name; not leaving
Muschamp - will get a head coaching gig after season is over
Chizik - he'll get another year at ISU; he's not leaving
Corwin Brown - why do we want a guy that was about to be run of town last year at ND?
Mike Stoops - are you kidding me? He's finally got his Arizona team over the hump after 4-5 years and now he's just going to pack up and becoming Michigan's DC? hahaha
The fact is that there are no big names out there that we would be able to bring in. Shafer is here to stay; give him and Rich Rod time to rebuild this team. This team is in worse shape than anyone could have possibly imagined and will need time, recruiting, and experience to get back to dominating.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:20 PM ^
Other than this year, what leads you to think that Schafer isn't the guy? Have you watched film, analyzed stats, studied schemes? I don't think you have. I do know a guy who has and he even coaches. He is very knowledgeable in this subject and in these parts, he's considered an expert. He says Schafer is a top 5 DC in the nation and since he has done more than you or I to reach this conclusion, we should listen to him.
He shall remain nameless.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:49 PM ^
Stanford D : (Thru 8 games in 2008) Lower scoring defense 28.3 in 07 to 26.5 in 08. Lower yards per rush- 4.25 per rush in 07 vs. 3.20 in 08. total offense from opponents- 5.8 yards per play in 07 vs. 5.3 in 08. Total Defense in 07- 98th vs. 89th in 08.Opponents passer ratings were in the 130s last year and again this year.
Michigan D : (thru 8 games in 2008)- Much higher scoring defense 21.4 in 07 vs. 28.8 in 08. We let in a total of 278 points per game in 2007 (13 games)We have already let in 230 points in 2008. We have gotten better in our yards per rush, which is good and indicative of the d-line strength. Opponents passer rating- 109 in 07 vs. 129.84 in 08.
We have moved from 24th in total defense to 81st. Our opponent 3rd conversion percentage has went up.
Stanford has not noticeably gotten better, marginal gains at best. However, we have gotten much worse. Unless the guy you are taking to is Lloyd, I wouldn't buy anything your selling. This defense has no identity. I dunno but they are just not good which is hard to believe cause it is a very similar in terms of personnel to last years.
I know the people say that this offense will not "stand up to the big ten", but I think its the defense that will not stand up. Rich's track record is much better than Scotty-NO! And I think Rich is more innovative than Schafer. His adjustments are weak at best.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:39 AM ^
October 28th, 2008 at 3:30 PM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 9:47 PM ^
rational football minds dismiss all talk of firing coaches after this season. not even up for discussion.
however, martin has luxury boxes & preferred seating to sell. an fan base full of unrest in a down economy might force some issues that should not be forced. does RR have total authority on coaching hires as part of his contract? that could be key.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:57 AM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 10:02 PM ^
Michigan is and will be about the long-term. So you don't sell them all immediately; you lease the remainder.
The economy has more to do with the sales than the performance of the team at this point. Should we win out (please let such a miracle occur), it's not like that will improve anyone's stock position. I'm just not buying it. I'll pump schmoozy booster guy who said Rodriguez when no one else was last year next time I see him.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:14 PM ^
No mention of Ted Roof?
What a bummer.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:50 PM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 10:59 PM ^
October 27th, 2008 at 11:08 PM ^
tl;dr
i think the defense will improve under shafer*, i don't know however if he will be long enough to see the results though. i still kind of think he would be an easy scapegoat.
also, ron english is apparently doing quite well at louisville. maybe we would've been a little better if we had him? probably more likely though is that stevie brown will always be stevie brown
October 28th, 2008 at 3:30 AM ^
Why did English get such a bad rep? He was a amazing coordinator for us, and he turned out some great defenses.
2006? We were holding teams to negative rushing yardage (including sacks of course)! If it wasn't for the Game of the Century and our bowl game against an amazing USC team, he would have been seen as a hero and our likely coach right now. Instead he was run out of town after last year...
Can any of you actually admit that you don't miss seeing his gap-toothed ass yelling on the sideline? I know I do every game. He knew how to get the most out of every one of his players and I hope he gets a Head Coaching gig, and that will definitely be a team I root for.
October 28th, 2008 at 4:23 AM ^
Can we please stop painting Ron English as a saint? Yes, he was the coordinator for one of the most badass defenses we've ever seen. It was full of NFL players - and it was taken apart with ease by Ohio State and USC. Michigan's run defense for the first 11 games in 2006 was historic, and Ohio State ran for two 50 yard touchdowns.
English's scheme was flawed, so lets not pretend he was perfect. He had a large hand in putting Johnny Sears and Stevie Brown on the field against Appalachian State. It was his defense that gave up 4 touchdowns and zero incompletions in one half to a I-AA team. It was English's defense that was done after a quarter against Oregon. English was the one consistently sticking Chris Graham out on an island against a slot receiver.
English had several good qualities, but he was not nearly as good as you make him out to be. Make no mistake, I am not happy with Shafer so far either, but lets not pretend like English would be a tremendous upgrade. The defense would still be put in bad spots by the offense. They still would've been sliced and diced by Illinois and Penn State. The defense got carved up by MSU last year too. Last year they got bailed out by the offense.
The coaches on the defensive side haven't lived up to their billing yet, but there are serious problems with the personnel too. Steve Brown is abysmal. He wasn't good under English, he's not good under Shafer, and will never be good at all. The corners have been unspectacular, but Warren's been hurt. Mouton has been playing for what, 5-6 games. Ezeh is, I believe, out of position at MIKE. The D-line I'd say has done alright when they haven't been taken out of the game by 3-step drops, designed rollouts and max protects.
Shafer's in a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't situation right now. If he rushes 3 and drops 8, somehow a coverage still gets blown, a tackle still gets missed. If he brings pressure and it doesn't get there, you're leaving the DBs out there to make tackles in space, something they've proven they cannot be relied on to do.
The defense definitely doesn't deserve as much leeway as the offense does...but lets not pretend like Ron English's defenses didn't have some of these same issues.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:55 PM ^
October 28th, 2008 at 3:57 PM ^
October 28th, 2008 at 12:29 AM ^
Shafer is from Ohio and grew up a Big 10 man, rooting for both Michigan and OSU (he came from a mixed family). I don't know which team came first for him, but he is very familiar with the rivalry. When he took the job at Michigan, his son called him and started singing The Victors on the phone.
Thank you Wikipedia!
October 28th, 2008 at 9:09 AM ^
I think the Colts should fire Dungy.
Look at their record so far this year. He can't coach for shit. And I'm not seeing any improvement.
October 28th, 2008 at 10:01 AM ^
October 28th, 2008 at 12:59 PM ^