Is it the rest of the staff (Basketball vs. Football) ?
Alright, legitimate post time.
Brian's post on the front page regarding the progress of the basketball team since the essential reformatting of the squad, namely the axing of the entire coaching staff by Beilien and the willingness to let two experienced guys walk has gotten me thinking. The basketball team has clearly benefited via addition through subtraction. They are playing better with less experience, and, one could argue, no substantial addition in talent. (Yes, we've got some exellent young guys, but the guys that are gone weren't too shabby).
So the question becomes, was it the changeover in staff that has created the bulk of the positive change this season? Is it Bacari Alexander and the rest that are to be most credited with this solid success?
If so, I want to know what you all think that means for the football team. We've already tried changing D-Coordinators. Didn't work. However, there is some consensus that the initial change was simply because fans, alumni and everyone else needed a sacrificial lamb after that attrocious 2008 season. I'm not sure if we can count the inditial D-Coordinator change when we try to decide if replacing more staff will help the team this time.
The other factor to consider is that, as opposed to the Basketball team, we're not looking at a fresh bevy of talented but inexperienced faces for next season. For the first time in a while, we're going to finally return an experienced, established squad that is familiar with their position coaches and scheme and so on.
Keep in mind that this is not just defensive either. Though the offense was clearly killer this past season, it also had its share of problems. Most notably, turnovers (fumbles) and, in the later season, substantial red zone issues (kicking game withstanding, because I don't even want to get into that).
Obviously, some changes in the coaching staff need to be made. I guess at the heart of the matter is this question:
In light of the basketball team's early season success after a wholesale staff changeover, assuming Rodriguez remains as coach for the 2011 season, and considering both the returning experience of the team AND the problems that plagued a variety of position groups this past season, exactly how much of the staff do you think Rodriguez should replace? Is D-Coordinator enough? Should he gut the defensive side of the ball and bring up position coaches from all over? Do any offensive guys get it?
I don't care so much WHO you want to see brought in as who you think, ideally, needs to be replaced to see the squad perform at a much higher level next season.
December 21st, 2010 at 5:09 PM ^
I'm not sold on Tall. IMO, the DL has underperformed all three years he's been here, even with Brandon Graham around for two of them. OK, Mike Martin was gimpy, but he wasn't the only upperclassman on the DL. Did any of Banks, Sagesse, Patterson or Van Bergen step up this season? RVB was exactly the kind of guy everyone says the D lacks - an experienced former blue-chipper. We hardly heard his name called all year. Roh didn't do much, either, and Will Campbell couldn't even see the field. Throw in the fact that Tall reputedly was one of the guys who undercut Shafer two years ago, and you've really got to wonder if it's worth retaining him.
December 21st, 2010 at 6:39 AM ^
Beilein had success here with the old staff. What he has done is take an honest look at areas his staff has struggled with (recruiting, defense, post development) and addressed those needs with the new staff. He looked at Jordan and Alexander and said, "You complete me". Having C.J. Lee around, who along with David Merritt have done as much for michigan basketball as any of those guys behind glass on the concourse, probably doesn't hurt matters either.
So if we are to look at the two programs, yes, Beilein has shown the ability to succeed with his original staff, and THEN he has made moves to maximize what he has grown.
Rodriguez has really struggled with talent identification, both among his recruits and his coaching staff. It has been suggested that the defense and defensive recruiting should be taken out of his hands. The question remains: how much responsibility can you take away from your head coach until he is no longer your "head coach"? Has Rodriguez done enough here that he should be "Paterno-ized"?
December 21st, 2010 at 5:17 PM ^
He probably needs to clean house defensively. But that alone isn't enough. He needs to give up his fixation with the 3-3-5 (especially the bastardized version we run) and let his DC do what he wants. Right now we have the worst of both worlds: a head coach who by his own admission doesn't spend that much time on defense, yet requires his DCs to run his preferred scheme anyway.
BTW, this statement is not accurate:
However, there is some consensus that the initial change was simply because fans, alumni and everyone else needed a sacrificial lamb after that attrocious 2008 season.
Shafer basically lost his job midway through the season, after his postion coaches stopped listening to him and RR stepped in and installed a 3-3-5 the week of the Purdue game. His firing/resignation/whatever had nothing to do with the fans and everything to do with the fact that the position coaches flat-out undercut his authority - and RR took their side.