More gossip fun -- what's the EMU/Ypsilanti faction?

Submitted by Undefeated dre… on
Ok, if we're sharing unsubstantiated (but plausible) rumors -- when Brian mentions the EMU/Ypsilanti faction that's against Rodriguez, what is it? Is a regent also involved? FWIW, unless the rumors are incredibly salacious or damaging to the privacy of others, I'm all for them to be aired publicly. Sunlight has a way of dissipating the fog.
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unsubstantiated rumors

James Burrill Angell

November 11th, 2009 at 11:41 AM ^

.....I like Ron and all but he's 0-9 and on the wrong side of some absolute beatings this year. From fellow MAC teams no less! Until they win a few over there they should worry about what's happening in Ypsi and let RichRod either succeed or fail on his own. Look, hypothetically if something were to cause regime change in Ann Arbor in the next year or two, after this football season at EMU how could any of those involved in this alleged faction even conceive that they could be hired at Michigan?

Joined: 08/12/2009

MGoPoints: 15946

VectorVictor05

November 11th, 2009 at 12:02 PM ^

What I find ironic is that the reasons Stapleton and other Ron English supporters would lay out to defend the 0-9 record (or disregard it as a "con" in the Ron English resume) are the same reasons used by RR supporters to defend our current situation. - Change in overall program attitude - Uphill battle against staleness of program - Trying to create a winner w/ sub-par (relatively) talent - young team - etc. It would be interesting to see some of this come to a head and watch the hypocrisy spew. It would basically turn into a "well my guy shouldn't be downgraded for XYZ because...well...he's my guy".

Joined: 03/30/2009

MGoPoints: 1594

M-Wolverine

November 12th, 2009 at 12:07 AM ^

You did not just compare Michigan coming off a 9-4 season with a win in the Cap One Bowl to the status of one of the worst college football programs historically in the country, did you? EMU sucks because EMU has been a disaster forever, as would be any program that's basically in the same city as one of the great programs of all time. (I loved when we played them and they basically could fast forward through the whole drive from on stadium to the other on the broadcast). Anyone who says "English sucks as a coach anyway, he hasn't won in his first year at EMU" is just being silly. THAT'S a rebuilding project. Having said that, I didn't want English as coach here either, and don't blame him for not being on the current staff (though he couldn't have been worse than our DC have done lately). You can't hire someone on your staff who applied for your job. And Martin wisely wanted someone with some head coaching experience. If Lloyd wanted him to be head coach, he needed to coach 5 more years for Ron to have more experience. Or if he wanted an assistant to take over from him, he shouldn't have pushed Terry Malone out for his buddy DeBord. Terry had an innovative offensive mind, had that Michigan family ethic, and by the time Lloyd retired, would have had enough experience to be a legit candidate. DeBord never had a shot, and shouldn't have. If Lloyd thought otherwise, he was kidding himself, and mostly has himself to blame for no in house transition.

Joined: 10/04/2009

MGoPoints: 42190

VectorVictor05

December 1st, 2009 at 11:22 PM ^

Definitely not comparing the two programs, not sure how you got that from what I wrote. I'm just commenting on the hypocrisy of calling for RR's head, while simultaneously supporting English, when RR is/has been struggling for similar (relative to each program) reasons as English. I think they both deserve some time and English definitely has a stepper hill to climb at EMU, but calling for one to get fired while supporting the other comes off a little bias.

Joined: 03/30/2009

MGoPoints: 1594

Brodie

November 11th, 2009 at 11:18 AM ^

Stapleton is an alum who has a lot of political power and who is now an EMU regent. He apparently believes Ron English didn't get the job because he was black and, as the rumor goes, aligned himself with Lloyd (who wanted a successor from his staff) to force RichRod out.

Joined: 11/19/2008

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Undefeated dre…

November 11th, 2009 at 11:31 AM ^

And the fact that English is winless at EMU (I know, Schmitt got hurt) has no bearing on Stapleton's feelings? What's most amazing about all the pro/anti RichRod stuff is that there seem to be not two but numerous camps, each with different reasons for why they feel like they do. I'm reminded of the shootout scene in True Romance.

Joined: 09/17/2008

MGoPoints: 1560

James Burrill Angell

November 11th, 2009 at 11:46 AM ^

There appears to be two "Lloyd camps" right now. The one supporting English and one supporting other from the Bo/Mo?Lloyd line like DeBord, the latter being smaller but they definitely exist. On top of that you have the Les Miles crew and a small increasingly loud but not particularly powerful group who are pointing at Harbaugh out at Stanford and what he's doing.

Joined: 08/12/2009

MGoPoints: 15946

The King of Belch

November 11th, 2009 at 1:04 PM ^

Stapeleton (it is rumored? confirmed?) has a sort of "consulting" business that deals with...NCAA compliance issues in some form or anoter. /Fade in--Rod Serling, wearing gray wool blazer, smoking Lucky Strike, enters into what appears to be a boardroom, dimly lit, cigarettes still simmering in ashtrays, papers strewn about, empty styrofoam coffee cups littering table, and a man seated at the head of the table, apparently dead, with a knife in his back (identity unkown). "in the schizophrenic halls of a certain large, midwestern university--the name unimportant--where some hate that athletics speak for the university, where some want old, venerable coaches to live on forever (and axe why they don't), where some are held to scrutiny because they apparently love to bang their friends' wives, where some apparently have a race-based agenda (ridiculed for it, despite 400 years of trying to survive in a race-based agenda), and where some vehemently support a struggling coach pulled from the coal mined shadows of the West Virginia mountains, a huge fight looms. And quite possibly the survival of a proud football program hangs in the balance. You are now in the grasp of a large linebacker from another large, midwestern university--unnamed, but one that reminds you of people who have no teeth and throw urine bombs at opposing fans--and are being gang-tackled in...The Twilight Zone DumDumDumDum

Joined: 07/21/2009

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Tater

November 11th, 2009 at 4:13 PM ^

...that English didn't get the job because of the Horror and the Oregon Debacle? Stapleton should be tied down, injected with stimulants, and forced to watch both of those games over and over in a padded cell at high volume if he thinks there was any other reason for English's fall from coaching "grace." Before those games, English was seen nationally as one of the the next "hot assistants" who would be hired at a major program. After Oregon, he was suddenly "on the hot seat." This is no accident. I relaly hope English succeeds: not for any sentimental reasons from his tenure at UM, but because I think that every time an African-American coach fails, it reinforces a tragically biased system. English has been put in a situation where few succeed, but his success or failure will be viewed as a referendum for the hiring of African-American head coaches in the backrooms of far too many schools. If Stapleton is so concerned about race, he should stop worrying about UM and spend his time lobbying everyone on the EMU board to give English every possible resource that he needs to succeed. He has a chance to help fight one of the most damning statistics in the NCAA, the ratio of African-American head coaches to Caucasian head coaches. Maybe he should put his time and his money where his mouth is instead of furthering a petty, personal agenda.

Joined: 08/13/2008

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