To Jay - and other doomsayers/harbingers of doom

Submitted by ThaLastProphet on
I realize this might be a little bit lengthy so I'm going to break it up to make it easier to read. Jay, I understand where you're coming from in that you just don't feel that RR is a good fit for the Michigan program but if your reasoning is simply, "I feel RR won't fit" or "I think RR won't be successful here", don't be surprised when people respond with "well I think you're a pessimistic douche bag". This blog, more so than most or any other, has fans who are avid Michigan supporters but are also for the most part intelligent and level-headed. We want logic and reasoning, and when you constantly espouse the fact that "you think" RR won't be successful and then use media buzzphrases like "system won't fit" as reasoning, people on this board are going to call you out. Why won't his system fit? What makes Michigan different from all other BCS schools where the spread has worked? Why specifically would Schiano or Miles have been better hires (other than "you think" they would be better or "you like" them better)? How could the coaching staff have done a better job this year? With Threet+Sheridan at QB, what would you have done differently? What plays would you have called? What schemes could have improved our offense and defense? These are all questions that, if you would answer in a logical fashion (i.e. citing examples and statistics to back up your claim), would satisfy a lot of the people who hate you, or at the very least you could earn their respect.
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ThaLastProphet

December 6th, 2008 at 11:56 PM ^

Now for some research... Let's take Saban (7-6 in his first year at Alabama), and Meyer (9-3 in his first year at Florida), and then let's take away Alabama QB John Parker Wilson and Florida QB Chris Leak, replacing them with a combo of Steve Threet and Nick Sheridan. ----------------------------------- In Meyer's first year Chris Leak: Threw for 2600+ yards 20TDs to 6INTs Completing nearly 63% of his passes He also rushed for 6TDs Had 4 games where his completion percentage was above 75% 8 games with over 200 passing yards 7 games with multiple TD passes He only had 2 games where he threw more INTs than TDs and they won 1 of them ---------------------------------- Now John Parker Wilson for Saban in 07: Threw for 2800+ yards 18TDs to 12INTs Completed 55% of his passes Rushed for 5TDs 4 games where he completed over 65% of his passes 7 games with 200+ passing yards including multiple 300+ 6 games with multiple TD passes 5 games where he threw more INTs than TDs and they won 2 of them ------------------------------------ Steve Threet and Nick Sheridan combined: Threw for 1718 yards 11TDs to 12INTs Completed 48.8% of their passes Rushed for 2 TDs Had 2 legitimate games where they completed over 60% of their passes (By legitimate i mean threw over 20 passes, games like Threet's 7-11 against Toledo or Sheridan's 4-5 against Utah aren't really legit in that they threw so few passes) Had 2 games where they threw more than 200+ yards Combined 3 games with 2 TD passes Combined for 5 games in which Michigan threw more INTS than TDs and won only 1 of those games In the 3 games Sheridan threw more than 20 passes his completion percentage was 24% (32of83). For the 5 games Threet threw over 20 passes his completion percentage was 49.6% (68of137) --------------------------------- Now imagine if instead of John Parker Wilson, Nick Saban has a combo of Threet+Sheridan. Alabama does not win more than 3 games that year. Imagine the same scenario at Florida and Urban Meyer's team does not win more than 5 games. Now you begin to understand to hole that Rich Rod was in as a result of his quarterbacks. You give 2008 UofM a player akin to Chris Leak, and the team dramatically improves. Think of how close these games were: Utah Toledo MSU Illinois (up until the implosion) ND (until Sheridan INTfest) With improved or decent QB play, we could have potentially won each of those games. It may be viewed as somewhat of a stretch, but if you insert even an underrated QB like Chris Leak at the QB position things begin to look different for UofM. Which is why next year if Tate or Shav have even decent seasons, the win total could improve dramatically (3 or so games). I'm not expecting more than 7 wins next year and would be happy to be bowl eligible.

Joined: 08/08/2008

MGoPoints: -7

MGoEOD

December 6th, 2008 at 11:53 PM ^

the more that is written/discussed about it. Les Miles lost a qb and went 7-5. Schiano lost Ray Rice and started 1-4. Michigan lost THE ENTIRE STARTING OFFENSE!!! Who (new) could have possibly done that much better.

Joined: 12/05/2008

MGoPoints: 39

ThaLastProphet

December 7th, 2008 at 12:04 AM ^

Also take into consideration players who missed games or significant playing time due to injury: Brandon Minor Carlos Brown Donovan Warren Brandon Graham Steven Threet Junior Hemingway Sam McGuffie Michael Shaw T-Rob and almost the entire O-Line When you consider just the sheer amount of unfavorable circumstances UofM was forced into winning 3 games make this season a little bit more impressive. Just the act that we were competitive in every game we played, and that maybe we should have won a few of those close games gives me hope for the future and takes the edge off of a terrible season.

Joined: 08/08/2008

MGoPoints: -7

MGoEOD

December 7th, 2008 at 12:09 AM ^

When I talk to non-Michigan fans and try to explain how desperate this year ended up being, I tell them that this was a team filled with people that would never have seen the field last year unless Michigan had a 4 touchdown lead in the 4th quarter. That's the only summation I can offer.

Joined: 12/05/2008

MGoPoints: 39

Glen Masons Hot Wife

December 7th, 2008 at 2:04 AM ^

These pessimistic theories with little explanation, remind me of the retards who speculate on coaching vacancies with lines like "Brian Kelly won't work in Washington, he's not a Northwest Guy", to which my response is "?!" As if Brian Kelly will all of the god-damn sudden, stop his penchant for maximizing limited talent, because he's in an unfamiliar place. Or that he won't be able to recruit this uncharted territory, because he can't figure out the damn road maps!!

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 3685

jmblue

December 7th, 2008 at 2:55 PM ^

There is a little logic to that particular argument. If a guy like Kelly were to move to a totally new part of the country, he may not recruit well at first because he initially won't know the local HS coaches very well, and they are often important middlemen. But after a couple years of working the circuit, it's generally not an issue. As for the "RR won't fit" argument, unless it's about something like his attitude toward academics (or some other off-field issue), I don't get it either. Football is football.

Joined: 11/07/2008

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