If you have a Pitchfork I want to talk
The anger is raging inside all of us. The performance was dreadful, but as a beloved coach by all(sarcasm) once said, the past is the past. When you look at this program don't lump your anger from the OSU streak and The Horror and the Big Ten record all together with Sat. night. We need to look forward. Things have not changed for the future of the program. For everyone that wants RR gone, I submit a short rebuttal.
| 1 | Oregon | 8 | 2488 | 2095 | 625 | 4583 | 7.3 | 572.9 |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | 8 | 1471 | 2747 | 615 | 4218 | 6.9 | 527.3 |
| 3 | Nevada | 8 | 2407 | 1754 | 584 | 4161 | 7.1 | 520.1 |
| 4 | Michigan | 8 | 2204 | 1943 | 563 | 4147 | 7.4 | 518.4 |
| 5 | Boise State | 7 | 1500 | 2111 | 473 | 3611 | 7.6 | 515.9 |
This team (could) return 22 of 24 starters next year. The #4 offense in the country will return every skill position player except Martell Webb and the offensive line should improve even with losing S. Schilling. The 2011 schedule is set up for a Big 10 Championship. Rodriguez will finally have experience and depth at his disposal on offense. No freshmen(even redshirt freshmen) save possibly Hart will see the field. Don't you want to see what could become of this offense and the stars it could attract with stability up top? If you broom RR then what? If you bring in Harbaugh, Denard is either gone or a slot back. I have no idea how much attrition you get but this offense has been molded by RR for 3 years, it will not be as good.
I know you'll raise your pitchfork and say, but what about the "defense"?. To that I have run out of rebuttal, but I will say with unshaking confidence we will be better. To the people who like to fire people I'll give you a sacrificial Gerg, because that side can't get worse. I don't care anymore. Everyone who is worth a dam is coming back on d, they will be better with or without Robinson.
My plea to you is that I am 40 years old and for my entire life the pleas from the stands has been to open up the offense and be aggressive. RR has found a once in a generation type athlete in Denard and we are on the cusp of history. Our leadership next year will be beyond reproach, Martin, Molk, Denard, Van Bergen. Do not tear down what could be historic because we go to the Armed Forces Bowl instead of the Gator Bowl. As long as we get our 15 practices I could give a shit who or where we play. I have forseen 2011 as our return to greatness for 2 years and while I thought JT Turner and Boo Boo would be our corners in my NC scenario, I am not wavering, because I didn't see what the offense could become.
Friends our offensive potential is great, the only thing to slow us down is the negativity killing recruiting, because the defense will get there if we stick together. Please put your forks down for all our sakes. This team is so close to getting over the hump, it just needs a little push from us and recruiting and wins will just open up and come pouring down on us. We truly have a chance at greatness here. Let's not pull the cord too soon. I may be wrong, but if Brandon pulls the lever at the end of this season, I will always wonder at what could have been.
How many great things almost got flushed before it had a chance and was saved? We are Seinfeld right now. Seinfeld was almost cancelled before it got going. It was almost cancelled several times in it's 1st 2 years. Floundering in the ratings, few people believed, the masses wanted it flushed, but there was a key few who saw something beyond the ratings. They saw greatness and stuck their neck out for them. They got over the hump and we were all rewarded.
I feel like D. Brandon needs to be Clark and the family are the fans. The family's justified in their stance they just need someone to lead them thru the pain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GQSwMCHJNU
D. Brandon, stay the course, dare to be great.
PS If we go 8-4 next year you can broom them all and light him on fire just put the shovels back for 1 more year please.
November 1st, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^
It seems that both times we've shifted to a 3-3-5 base (I know it's multiple fronts) we've sucked on D. Purdue '07 and this season. Could it be that RR just needs to get a defensive coordinator that is good at some type of defense and let him run it? It's obvious that if RR utters the phrase 3-3-5 we are doomed to defensive failure. I mean, for the love of God, we just need to be in the top 50 and his offense is going to shred teams.
November 1st, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
I say we demote RichRod to OC and hire MEGATRON as our new HC.
November 1st, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
This offense CAN be dynamic, except it has produced 10,7,10 points in the first of the last three games. The defense is the worst this school or conference has ever seen and if something doesn't change on that side of the ball in the next two weeks, Brandon will have no choice b/c the major alumni donors may starting pulling $$ and we all know what runs athletic depts these days.
The schedule next year sets up for domination if the defense is just decent and the O continues to get better.
But to refute what the offensive stats show, in three seasons, this staff has beaten a bad Indiana team three times and got lucky against Wisconsin two years ago. There has not been one signature win since they got here and no one is happy with the state of program right now.
Michigan the third worst team in the conference for the third straight year and the defense has gotten worse each season. Again, I am not calling for change yet, but you have to see the facts. At least, a change at DC must happen at the end of the season. A major philosophy shift must occur on the defensive side of the ball.
There is no agressiveness, no killer mentality, no ne outside of the D-line is trying to "make" a play. They seem to be waiting for the play to happen first. I know they are trying, but the philosophy from the sideline is the issue. GERG is not an aggressive guy. It needs to change.
November 1st, 2010 at 12:52 PM ^
"Everyone who is worth a dam is coming back on d, they will be better with or without Robinson."
What makes you think they will be able to get a better replacement? GERG was not thought by many to be a good hire to begin with. And if we fire this guy, honestly, who in their right mind would want to work for RR? Be micromanaged and then blamed for bad results, and fired. If RR can't play nice with his DC's, what kind of performance do you expect from the D even in the best depth chart scenario?
November 1st, 2010 at 3:23 PM ^
this post deserves its own thread
November 1st, 2010 at 2:25 PM ^
I agree that our offense is very good and has potential to be very great, but that alone isn't reason to retain RR. We could simply hire a coach who knows how to run the spread and get the same results - possibly coupled with improvement in the other two facets of the game. When Dantonio replaced John L. Smith, he retained Smith's OC (Don Treadwell), and MSU has continued to be strong offensively under his watch while improving elsewhere.
As head coach, RR's job goes beyond coaching offense. His job is to win, and he has utterly failed at that to date. For him to be retained, he absolutely must get us to a bowl this season. He has to give us a reason to believe that he'll do well here at Michigan. What he did at West Virginia is becoming irrelevant.
Next year, our roster and personnel are set up for us to make a run at the Big Ten title. At least, they should be. Going into the PSU game I genuinely believed that we were a year away from a conference title - which is the normal expectation for a Michigan team - and was very confident we'd see the team take its first steps forward against PSU. Instead we looked like a cellar-dweller. Words cannot describe what a huge letdown that game was. A bad PSU team with their own Nick Sheridan destroyed us. I now have grave doubts about the direction in which this program is headed. If we come away from this season feeling that 2011 will have to be another rebuilding year, then RR has failed.
November 1st, 2010 at 11:21 PM ^
I think running the spread is always going to be effective in college because the defense is much simpler compared to what an NFL defense would run, which is why pro-style offenses are really only one style across the league (where the defense has caught up in both scheme and speed/talent). Lloyd's final game against Florida where the offense opened up showed what it could be like to have a base Michigan offense that smacks you in the mouth and spreads you wide and has its way with you like a two-bit hooker for the entire damn game. And that was against a team in between two NC seasons. The thing that bothers me about relying on the spread with a mediocre defense is that you absolutely have to score a ton of points to win every game. This is the Mike Martz approach--it took the Rams to a superbowl, but they only won when he was the offensive coordinator. The bottom line is the head coach has to be exactly that--paranoid about every detail and responsible for every phase of the game. I have no problem with RRod as head coach, as long as he stops with the "I don't have time to coach the defense" bullshit. It's on him, and he's gotta realize that whether he likes it or not. If we want to be perennial Big Ten/NC contenders, we gotta have a defense that can carry our team to a 3-0 win every game if necessary.
November 2nd, 2010 at 9:35 AM ^
this whole thing really comes down to 2 different viewpoints. people arguing to fire rr are looking at the past 2.5 years, which make a very compelling case for their point. people arguing to keep rr are looking to next year, which make a compelling case for their point. but what about long term?? can rr get this program to a point where it's consistently winning big10 titles and maintaining a place in the national championship discussion. our offense will clearly get there, but will our defense ever? or will they always cost us a couple games each season? (i'm not saying rr doesn't care about defense, but it's clearly not his focus, as he'll freely admit.) if someone can answer that question, then we also have the answer to the question of whether to fire rr or not.