Herbie flappin his jaws again

Submitted by readyourguard on

"If the Michigan job opens up, Harbaugh will be the head coach in Ann Arbor"

Herbie just uttered this sentence during the Stanford v Arizona broadcast.

Knowing Herbie's penchant for being wrong about this subject, I'd say we're good to go with RR.

NOLA Wolverine

November 7th, 2010 at 1:00 AM ^

If you were to generate a function that takes player age as an argument and returns expected production, you wouldn't see a very high output when you input low numbers. The fact that Bobby Flay can take meat after the proper amount of time and make good food with it is irrelevant.

WolverineEagle

November 6th, 2010 at 11:26 PM ^

UM's defense has been terrible all three years RR has been here. And the makeup of the roster also falls to the coaching staff.  Yes, there have been some untimely departures. One cannot dispute that. But those have hit mainly the secondary. The defense is atrocious at all levels.

 

UM has had bad luck and bad coaching which has lead to the abomination that is the Michigan defense. The soft mentality of the defense did not come about as the result of guys leaving, nor do the continuous missed assignments or bad tackling. You can coach players to be fundamentally sound.

 

As for removing a guy after he makes a bowl. Well, remember that this is Michigan. You know "Leaders and Best".  Leaders and Best typically don't satisfy themselves with just barely making a third tier bowl in year three at a school with every resource needed to field a national title contending program.

 

Frankly, most Michigan fans do not appreciate the immense advantages that this school has. They think UM operates at the same level as say, MSU, when in fact, UM has MORE to work with. It is EASIER to win here than 99% of schools.

I sincerely hope RichRod works out, but this program needs some drastic changes if it is going to succeed.

formula 1

November 6th, 2010 at 11:39 PM ^

As for removing a guy after he makes a bowl. Well, remember that this is Michigan. You know "Leaders and Best".  Leaders and Best typically don't satisfy themselves with just barely making a third tier bowl in year three at a school with every resource needed to field a national title contending program.

Its just a different way of saying "We're Michigan, this is unacceptable". 

You can coach players to be fundamentally sound.

Don't you think this would have been easier if we had Dorsey, and a couple other DB's still here? If we had a defensive backfield, it makes it a lot easier for your front 7 doesn't it?

WolverineEagle

November 6th, 2010 at 11:46 PM ^

You can have the 11 greatest players on earth playing on defense and you still will not win if you do not tackle or play sound assignment football.Dorsey would make UM moe athletic, but that athleticism would be lost because of the crappy fundamentals.

 

You're right. It is Michigan and it is not acceptable. People mock that, but when you beat your chest about your greatness you better damn well live up to it. UM did not get to 850 wins by tolerating mediocrity. It may seem like cheesy bravado to you, ask any person who has belong to an elite organization and they'll tell you that this "never accept anything less than the best" ethos is big factor in establishing a tradition of excellence.

clarkiefromcanada

November 7th, 2010 at 12:00 AM ^

it is cheesy bravado to post on a board that "assignment football" is purely coaching...

Coaches can scheme (hell, GERG's two Superbowl rings can scheme) but players play. You can go on all day about fundamentals as you understand them but face it, they're sending out true freshmen (today 9 of them in the two deep) against experienced Big Ten offenses and competing. Winning today. Vinopal, Avery...these players showed character today and in a couple of years they will be winning Big Ten Championships and competing for National titles. They showed excellence in their character, they never quit...that's champions...that is Michigan.

I think everyone here gets your hate on RichRod but he's not going anywhere. Feel free to jump off the bandwagon.

Those who stay.

NOLA Wolverine

November 6th, 2010 at 11:45 PM ^

I understand who it falls on, hence why i referrenced firing someone. The defense is not atrocious at all levels, the secondary not being ready to play at this point kills everyone else, they're not independent components, they all really very heavily on each other. When you have to start running soft zones and pulling players out of the second level quicker because you have to back up your safeties, linebacker effectiveness diminishes, and when you can only rush three players to the passer, because more people need to compensate the seconary, the D Line won't produce much.

The soft mentality of this defense comes from guys who normally wouldn't be playing anyway or guys who are playing a year or two out of highschool. James Rogers isn't playing if Witty or Turner panned out, or even if Woolfolk was still here, he wasn't a guy the coaches expected to get on the field, and you see why on Saturdays. Obi Ezeh is out, and Demens is hitting people. Jibreel Black (before injury) was producing. Players are begining to pan out from the underclasses. And then the tenacious mentality of defense should begin to show itself when everyone out there feels comfortable.

I didn't know Roman Abramovich posted here, that's pretty awesome. (See: Chelsea FC and their handling of coaching)

ShruteBeetFarms

November 7th, 2010 at 12:15 AM ^

Even in a down year, Michigan will always have a target on their back. Every team we play gets up for us. We're not in the 70's or 80's anymore. Parody in college football is all too common. Anyone can give anyone a game. There is little margin for error no matter who you play. Look at who the unbeaten teams are after today's games. These programs were cupcakes in the 70's, 80's.

 

BlueTimesTwo

November 7th, 2010 at 12:17 AM ^

Saying that we should win just because we are Michigan is fucking stupid.  You know what?  RR also probably came here thinking "hey, this is Michigan - just imagine all of the talent that I will have to work with."  Then he got here, and the talent level of the team he inherited didn't even remotely resemble what you would expect from a Michigan team.  He has had a lot of rebuilding to do, and people get their panties in a twist because the rebuilding process isn't instantaneous.  This isn't Auburn, and we can't rely on free agency to improve.  It takes time to rebuild depth through recruiting, and having people calling for his head all of the time makes that process even more difficult.

jmblue

November 6th, 2010 at 11:35 PM ^

Is there even a precedent set for firing a coach after the season of their first bowl birth?

I don't know, but until a few years ago, it wasn't even possible to make a bowl at 6-6,  nor did wins over I-AA teams count for bowl eligibility.  As the number of bowls has continued to increase, the NCAA has loosened the standards. 

Hopefully we'll make all this moot by continuing to win. 

BlueGoM

November 6th, 2010 at 11:45 PM ^

>>Nebraska firing Solich

Also Minnesota firing Mason.  How'd that work out?

Anyway... watching this game today I was in amazement at how good our offense is.  Really.  This was an Illinois defense that had just finished dominating wins over Indiana and Purdue and a closer than the score indicated loss to MSU; had one of the top defenses statistically in the country. 

Next season the offense is going to be special.  And by that I mean damn near unstoppable. 

For that reason alone I think RR should be given another year.  If the defense can just improve to somewhat respectable we'll roll over most everyone we play.

WolverineEagle

November 6th, 2010 at 11:32 PM ^

Brandon reports to MSC and the Trustees. They in turn are the agents of influential alums. Therefore, Brandon HAS to be concerned with the opinions of the alums if he wants to keep his job.

You don't need 5 years to judge a coach. Bobby Bowden can say that---and I certainly cannot dismiss his opinion--but a bad fit can often be determined after a couple of years. Gerry Faust for one example.Bobby Williams is another. Bowden is also a coach, so his bias will always be in favor of a coach  no matter how bad the guy is. Should Marty Morningweg or Rod Marinelli have been given 5 years?

clarkiefromcanada

November 7th, 2010 at 12:05 AM ^

People forget that the revenue streams are so tied into media, marketing, product revenues that "booster" monies are far less influential than in past. Deals like Adidas, the sports marketing arm, media etc. give a guy like Brandon a lot more room and autonomy than he might have had twenty years ago.

D Brandon can thank one "Sailboat Willie" for that situation and say a prayer for Don Canham in that same regard.

UMich87

November 7th, 2010 at 3:54 PM ^

Wrong.

This isn't some SEC school in the '70's.  2.5% of the athletic department budget comes from donations.  Almost all of it comes from ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, premium seating and media revenue.  You can look it up --

http://www.regents.umich.edu/meetings/06-10/2010-6-X-17.pdf

Brandon reports to MSC and the Board of Regents.  There's no Boss Hogg alum with enough influence on a $105M budget to "control" Brandon, and I think he would pimp slap someone who would suggest it.

clarkiefromcanada

November 6th, 2010 at 10:52 PM ^

We have the best offense this side of Oregon and it's only going to get better. The defense will improve (our two deep may actually be more greatly comprised of sophomores) and the DC situation will be sorted by our beloved leader (and pizza king) in the offseason.

Harbaugh is a good coach and it will be enjoyable to play against him in National Championship games in future years.

UMich87

November 6th, 2010 at 11:00 PM ^

and there was one of those "Just got back from Ann Arbor" posts.  The poster said he was astonished at the "fire RR" crowd in his section, particularly after Illinois kicked the field goal towards the end of the first half.  He basically said that he doesn't get it -- Michigan has an awesome offense, ranked 4th in the nation, that will probably move up higher in the ranks after this performance.   He talked about how great DRob is and said the defense was bad, but they are very young.  He didn't get it.

Neither do I.

WolverineEagle

November 6th, 2010 at 11:14 PM ^

Because he does not follow Michigan.  NCAA sanctions, horrid defense all three years(therefore mitigating the youth argument), terrible special teams,  0-3 vs Michigan State, 5-16 in Big Ten play..yeah, I cannot understand why anyone would want RR fired.(rolls eyes)

 

Illinois is 2-1 vs Michigan under RR. I can see why he would  want RR back. Offense is just one third of the game. RR has failed in two-thirds of the game thus far in Ann Arbor.

burtcomma

November 6th, 2010 at 11:04 PM ^

Yeah, whenever we want advice on how the Michigan AD should handle any situation, I always think the first thing we should do is listen to a former Buckeye QB who is now a color guy on college football broadcasts after being a starting QB for 1 year....(Dripping sarcsm inserted here...)

Blueisgood

November 6th, 2010 at 11:12 PM ^

RR is our coach and that will not change next year.  I didn't hear any fire RR talk today, but I heard some " Forcier you suck" crap. Both RR and Forcier wear there heart on the sleeve for this team and this is how the fans treat them. I think that pisses me off more the the play of the D. Support this fucking team and stop bitching, because what you say will have no effect on who the coach is next year.

If you can't see that this system is working your blind. The D can only get better as they get older. Our entire secondary is practically nothing but true freshman.  I think the best image i seen today was the D going up to GERG and giving him a hug after the win.

ixcuincle

November 6th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^

Didn't notice he said that, wasn't paying attention even though the game is on the TV right now. A blowout can do that.

I did notice that Herbstreit listed Stanford's record since Harbaugh took over, like a certain Big 10 team they were under .500 their first two years, 8-5 the year after, and the 4th year they are doing really well.

So who needs Harbaugh?

BlueTimesTwo

November 7th, 2010 at 12:33 AM ^

Right, but that 9-4 was largely achieved through offensive production.  The defense gave up a ton of points (34, 39, 37,35) in a number of games in 2007, and there were already depth problems.  Then we graduated/lost many of the key components of our offense going into 2008.  If Lloyd stayed, 2008 was still going to be very rough (remember what our O-line looked like?).  9-4 doesn't begin to describe the state of the Michigan program at the end of 2007, Florida win notwithstanding.

BlueTimesTwo

November 7th, 2010 at 1:02 AM ^

Wow, talk about missing the point.  In 2007 we depended heavily on an offense that had mostly departed by the time of RR's arrival.  This year we are depending on an offense that returns nearly everybody next year.  We have more reasons to be excited about a likely 7-5 (pre-bowl) finish to this season than we did after 2007's 9-4 season.  That was a declining program, while this one is just taking off.