Irrational thoughts from a very rational fan
[Ed-M: Thanks for the thoughts. I'm bumping down to board for non-diaryness]
So let me start by saying that I am acting on pure emotion because all rational thoughts have left my head.
I told myself earlier today as I left work that I would not look at this site tonight but as it goes with sex, drugs, and alcohol, I can't help myself. So what do I see as the main page appears the god damn angry Michigan hating god. Let’s just say I could have really done without this. Then as I troll the board I come to find out that D. Hart decides just a few weeks after he commits to our great school, that maybe he's reconsidering his decision. You have to be joking right?! Keep in mind this is pure emotion talking; rational has finally left the damn building.
After what I've just seen today, along with the past 3 weeks, along with the past 3 seasons, I have finally lost my mind. Up until this point perception has never been reality to me with this team. I am a huge RR fan and have supported this team/staff the whole time they have been here. The majority of us know that RR is truly a good coach but it’s time to come to the realization that perception is becoming reality.
You can rebuttal with any excuse you want attrition, youth, lack of depth, changing schemes, etc..... trust me I’ve used them all to. But sometimes in life whether it be internal or external factors, certain people/things don't work in certain situations.
From what I gathered in the past 3 years and have failed to come to realize until tonight, Rich Rod is a square peg to our round hole. Maybe after time that would change, but this man doesn't have that luxury anymore. All I can see left on our schedule is one more win against Purdue and 6-6 will not cut it after 3 seasons.
I wish nothing but the best for Coach Rod; I find it very hard to be mad at the man. He's had it pretty tough here and all of the external factors are going to be the death of him when this chapter is finally written. I wish I could continue to see it the other way, but I just can't anymore. Perception (weather it is right or wrong) is becoming reality weather you like to admit it or not.
Like I said in the beginning, I am acting on pure emotion, as rational thoughts are no longer available to me. I will support this staff until the end because I love this team, I love this University, and most of all I love our fan base. Nothing excites me more than getting up Saturday mornings in anticipation to watch the Maize & Blue take the field. But I have a feeling that when the 2010 season comes to a close, we will be losing a man that was doomed from the start.
Whether you agree with my thoughts or not I thank you for letting me get this off my chest.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:13 AM ^
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:18 AM ^
What do you have to drink?
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:20 AM ^
is you. You acknowledge Rod is a great coach, yet you don't think that great coach belongs at Michigan. He runs a system different from what you're used to, and your reaction is to push it away rather than embrace it.
Changing to another coach doesn't guarantee success, it just guarantees more change. I want stability. I want to see Rodriguez here until he dies if he can turn the program around, and if he must leave earlier than that it will be only because all avenues for fixing the program's problems have been exhausted.
He is the coach of my university's team, and I will support him with everything I've got until that is no longer the case. Whether he stays or goes is not my decision, so I'm not going to get caught up in the hysteria.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:26 AM ^
I fully embraced the system that he has brought in here offensively. But for whatever reason, there are factors acting against this program real or not that will not give him the time he needs. I truly hope I'm wrong, but as in business shit rolls down hill, and the boosters of UofM are sitting at the top!
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
is that Dave Brandon is a complete idiot. I do not have that fear.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:42 AM ^
I never said that...... DB is going to be a great AD. But just like corporations, CEO's have shareholders to answer to, DB knows that all to well. In this case the boosters are the shareholders.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:54 AM ^
is to work with coaches in all sports to identify problems and seek solutions, with the Athletic Department doing its utmost to help the coach succeed. They do it with track coaches, soccer coaches, baseball coaches, basketball coaches, and yes, football coaches.
Only after the AD has done everything possible to help the coach be a success is there a mutual parting of the ways. At that point even the coach will agree that it simply is not working and it's best to move on.
If Dave Brandon short-circuits that process, he will be breaking with a very important and long-standing tradition in Michigan sports - and would do so only with serious extenuating circumstances. I know of no extenuating circumstances of that sort, and thus expect him to give Rodiriguez several more years to work out the problems with the team.
That way of doing business is what makes Michigan such a coveted place to coach, and one of the crown jewels of our outstanding athletic success in many sports simultaneously. The problems are not always solved, but the coach will always know they got a square deal on the matter. Hell, as bad as Tommy Amaker was, he still got 6 years with the basketball team.
Thus, if Dave Brandon were to attempt to unilaterally abrogate a rather proud tradition at the school, he would have hell to pay from his superiors. He would have to be an idiot to do so, hence I don't think he will.
November 3rd, 2010 at 1:06 AM ^
"The Michigan Way"? That's frankly a crock of crap. Come on. Nobody is some magical bloom of the sacred flower. The reckoning comes for all, sooner or later, and the best that Michigan can hope is that "sooner" refers to Notre Dame and "later" refers to Ann Arbor.
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:33 AM ^
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:17 AM ^
To fire a coach after 3 seasons my father is good friends with someone who works for the university as a booster fluffer (not her actual title) and she has told him they are NOT happy with Rich Rod. Being AD allows a lot of power but the part about catering to shareholders is accurate. According to this person the disapproval has been constant but is reaching a fever pitch and if the big timers have their say DB will have no choice.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:32 AM ^
the silent majority is less vocal - by definition...
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:21 AM ^
I mean being honest with ourselves, there have been few positives and a whole lot of negatives for Michigan football in the past 3 years. Its hard for me to think of a 3 year stretch for a new coach that has gone worse. That is what makes me think there is more of a chance that it will happen. That, along with the fact that RR wasn't Brandon's hire. He has no loyalty to the hire, and success/failure of RR doesn't reflect on him, to a point (If he stays with him longer and he fails, it will start to reflect poorly on him).
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:47 AM ^
TennBlue correctly pointed out the way the athletic department has operated over the past 50 years or so in terms of dealing with coaches with the one exception of Mr. Moeller. You may not agree with it, you may not like it, but that is what history has shown as our previous way of operating.
Maybe that will change with DB, maybe some think it should change, but I agree with TennBlue's assertion that it most likely will not.
November 3rd, 2010 at 1:15 PM ^
This "Michigan Way" may be real and proven manner of interacting with the sports programs, specifically the decisions to fire or retain coaches who are struggling. However, you'd have to agree that the factors (both fiscal and otherwise) considered when making tough decsisions in coach retention are an order of magnitude higher with the football program as compared to, say, the women's track & field program.
DB may want to give RR 5 more years...but the external factors impacting his ultimate decision may not allow that to happen.
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:01 AM ^
Changing coaches doesn't guarantee success, everyone knows that. That's not the issue. The issue is are we more likely to suceed with a coach who has 0 success in the Big 10 in 3 years or someone new. It's not what's better, stability or change, it's new coach or the same coach who isn't getting the job done.
How often do coaches who start off with three extremely disappointing years magically turn things around starting year four? I'll answer that for you: very rarely.
Sometimes good - even great - coaches can't get it done. Schnellenberger at Oklahoma, Hawkins in Colorado. Norm Chow at UCLA. Spurrier with the Redskins, Parcells in Dallas whatever. Stranger things have happened.
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:26 AM ^
The coaches you mentioned never even got the ball rolling in those programs after all those years. Our offense is built and will get better. Our defense will mature (how can it not mature?) and our defensive coaching staff needs an overhaul. Special teams will turn the corner next season.
Our offense took a big leap from last year to this year. I expect our defense to do the same next season, especially with more focus by the coaching staff on the D.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:48 AM ^
I'm not sure where the optimism for the defense being better comes from other than the kids will be bigger and older. I'm 40 and over 6' tall. By that logic I could play great defense.
The kids will only improve with better coaching. That is something we have not seen yet in RR's tenure. In my diary earlier this week I showed with graphs and numbers that the defense has gotten progressively worse since 2008. We haven't seen improvement.
Offense, I agree 100%. But you have to ask why fr/so can get it done on one side of the ball and not the other? If the age/experience argument applies to one side, why not both?
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:39 AM ^
the defense has gotten progressively younger since 2008. but that trend will reverse itself beginning in 2011.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:10 PM ^
I think you thoughts are spot on. The 3-3-5 also looks like we are playing prevent non-stop. All these people were arguing to keep Greg Robinson last year too, your can't ignore failure by pointing out some of the good things. On balance this team is not doing well, and I don't blame the kids.
November 3rd, 2010 at 1:19 PM ^
Wow...did you read a completely different post that I did? How does any of his post imply that he hasn't embraced RR. His whole point is that DESPITE his own opinion of RR as a great coach, the events/results of the last three seasons and the current perception of him as a coach have brought him to the sobering concusion that RR at UofM may have been doomed from the start.
Not to mention you basically re-phrase his whole point in your last paragraph. Oh, and by reading all of these RR posts and REPLYING...you are getting caught up in the hysteria.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:32 AM ^
I agree with everything you've said. Then the problem beckons: just whom should we hire?
Their are lots of coaches who'd love this job, but are far less qualified than RR. The handful of obvious ones, well, maybe they have no interest in Michigan at all.
And where does that leave us? I think Dave Brandon knows this all too well. A new DC first; see if it improves. Things might get much worse if we hire someone else.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^
Not sure where this whole "other available coaches will be less qualified than RR" comes from. Yes, RR has had success in the past. But, since he has arrived at Michigan, he has had ZERO success. At some point, we need to look at how RR is going here, as opposed to what he did at WVU with Pat White / Steve Slaton. Here, his tenure has been an abject failure. So, personally, I believe that just about any coach that M brings in will be at least asa qualified to compete IN THE BIG TEN as RR.
As to the point that many have made about the dynamic improvements of the offense, can someone please point to a SINGLE game this season against a quality defense where the offense put up big points? Our big offensive showings came against UConn, ND and BG. UMass (!!!) was able to stop us. Iowa and MSU certainly stopped us. (Yes, we got a bunch of yards. When they decide wins / losses by yards, I will care more about this). Even PSU, a crappy defense, held us to 31 and stopped us on several key drives. Oh, and here is an interesting stat. Penn State has not recorded a SINGLE stop in the red zone - the entire season - until it stopped our amazing offense. So, yes, I think that our offense is much improved, but that offense has not looked as dominant against good defenses.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:31 AM ^
FWIW!
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:39 AM ^
I would like to know what the weather is like where you are tonight, and whether or not you are enjoying it?
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:44 AM ^
Grammer was out the window on this emotional rant. I knew it was only a matter of time until someone noticed.
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:18 AM ^
This will most likely be my last journal entry....coming to this site gives me stomachaches. No offense Brian (not too mention I'm hammered off my ass)
I just talked to one of my "rational" michigan fans who attends the University of Michigan, my buddy has given up hope and even he has his doubts about RR and this team .......I think I've given up........
Ugh it makes me sick. I dont even know what to say? 6-6 is whats going to happen right? I mean I guess we're going to a bowl? (jesus christ, I feel like Canada going on strike here....just pathetic.) There's no way we're gonna beat OSU and WISC. IF we're lucky we'll beat the Illini and go 7-5 but man even if we meet that record we'll be looked at as another mediocore team. An average 7-5 team.....remember when this used to be terrible? UGHHHHH
WORST CASE SCENARIO: The unthinkable is going to happen....RR is going to get fired. ....Yup I said it......There's many of you who think that this wont happen, but it will becuase of one thing......THE MEDIA
The one thing we cannot control is the MEDIA. They're going to hype firing RR like no other. In the Freep, detnews, themichigandaily, mlive, espn, fox, lsj........any type of medium you can think of.......I mean his seat is going to be sooooo hot after this season.....I just don't know guys. I've lost hope
I've gone through enough, I'm tired and I want to win. Please don't look at this as a diss on RR or michigan football. This is just my gut feeling and what I think is going to happen. These last three years have been an absolute hell...I can't take it.
good night and good luck....
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:57 AM ^
As painful as it was to witness that disheartening loss in unHappy Valley. I never would have imagined that it was about to unleash such a tidal wave of panic, desperation and hopelessness among the Michigan faithful. This sets up the Illinois game not merely as a "must-win" game, but a "Quick! apply a tournaquet before the patient bleeds to death!" game.
For those rats among us who are not quite ready to take a swan dive off the ship's bow, I would like to offer a slightly more optimistic/hopeful perspective. The recent defensive position changes were necessary to realize any significant improvement this season. However, even a bye week was insufficient to prepare our youthful defenders for Penn State, and this may have cost us that game. With that game under their belts and another week of practice, though, the move will pay off with wins against Illinois and Purdue, and give us a fighting chance against Wisconsin and Ohio State. Coaches will be able to doff their flak jackets and recruits will be able to re-purchase their tickets to Ann Arbor.
Delusional? Perhaps, but at least this buys me a few extra days to wear the rose-colored glasses and look forward to Saturday's game. By Saturday evening. maybe the glasses will lie smashed to pieces on my rec room floor, but then again, perhaps the universe will have been set back in order.
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:21 AM ^
Time to win some games and show this thing everyone has been defending so strongly, can actually win in this conference.
If this were a trial on the made up class A felony of making Michigan football into a second division Big Ten program, the jury would spend 8 seconds max deliberating, and Rich would be doing the max sentence. The only evidence that would actually matter 3 years into his program is wins and losses.
Now with the possibility of a recruiting meltdown.....
Rich Rodriguez supporters like me should be grateful there is still a chance to show something special to get another year quite frankly.
The OP makes a lot of sense for him saying his thoughts are irrational. That Penn State game.... Well it forced Rich's hands to actually win league games.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
don't talk about our hole like that.
November 3rd, 2010 at 9:48 AM ^
...that by stating you're acting on pure emotion, you are attempting to excuse yourself from the responsibility of the content of your post.
Now let's explore why you hate your mother.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:34 AM ^
Don't even get me started on my mother!
But in all seriousness, I have come off the ledge a little since last night. But these feelings have been building for a while now. Just needed to get these things off my chest and who better to listen than my fellow MGoBloggers.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:32 AM ^
I don't know why everyone here seems to be willing to let him stay another year. We will not be much better next year, so in my mind we would just be delaying the inevitable. I like RR, I think he's a good guy, but he doesn't deserve to stay. That doesn't mean he definitely deserves to go, but he hasn't done what he was expected to do. If he were to get fired and go elsewhere, I would root for that team, but he's just not getting it done here.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:21 PM ^
so what do I know, but I have to believe that Dave Brandon is under EXCRUCIATING pressure from alumni. As a business man, I feel he will do what he has to do. Start over and assure the money keeps coming in. Doesnt matter how I feel about it or whether or not I agree with it. I just think at this point, it WILL be done.