November 24th, 2010 at 7:23 PM ^
Maybe you should watch more PAC-10 games. Say what you want about USC only having 70 scholarship players, but that's 70 4-star or 5-star players. And yes I think the PAC-10 is deeper than most conferences. The reason they may only have 4 bowl eligible teams is 1) they have 2 less team than other conferences (one less than us), 2) one of their teams who would make a bowl is on probation, and 3) they play a round robin schedule where each team plays all the other 9 nine teams, which means 1 less cupcake to play in nonconference, which makes it much more difficult to make a bowl. The 3rd reason is really something that is handcuffing the conference from having more bowl teams (if you look at their teams nonconference schedules, they're pretty difficult, such as Washington OOC schedule of BYU, Syracuse, and Nebraska - not an easy out there).
And I was making a reference that there were more powerhouses during JH's tenure with Oregon and USC at the beginning, than Ty had during his whole time (USC was down).
But hey don't let a little research come in the way of your statements.
November 24th, 2010 at 8:10 PM ^
I'm a USC season ticket holder. I watch plenty of Pac 10 football. The league is terrible this year and was pretty bad last year too. No one in the league has beaten a quality OOC opponent this year (the Washington win over Syracuse is probably the closest thing to a good win).
Last year USC was just as mediocre (though they did spring the upset in Columbus and produced a stirring victory over Boston College in the Emerald Bowl), Oregon and Stanford lost their bowl games to lower ranked opponents, and Arizona got crushed by Nebraska. This despite the fact that, as you may have found in all your research, the Pac 10 has a terrible bowl alignment setup so they are constantly matched up against lower placing teams in other conferences. They also rarely get two teams into the BCS which exacerbates the mismatches in their favor.
Before that, USC was really good, Oregon had a great 2007 team until Dixon got hurt, and Cal has had some quality teams, but I don't see how that is relevant to Harbaugh's success since he had a losing record at that time and probably would have no matter what those teams were doing.
As for TW's time in the Pac 10, yes USC was down (though they still won the Rose Bowl in Ty's first season), but Oregon, Oregon St. and Washington all won BCS bowl games around that time. ASU was one defensive stop away from winning the national championship. Wazzu lost by 5 to the national champions in the Rose Bowl. UCLA won 20 straight games with Cade McNown at QB. No one in the conference has been close to accomplishing any of those feats the last two years at a time when the bottom 2/3 of the league has been abysmal as well.
November 25th, 2010 at 4:56 AM ^
No one in the league has beaten a quality OOC opponent this year (the Washington win over Syracuse is probably the closest thing to a good win).
Granted the wins over Tennessee and Texas have been devalued, but Arizona's win over Iowa doesn't count?
While I wouldn't consider the Pac 10 to be particularly good this year, I wouldn't lump them into the same category of terrible as the Big East or even the ACC.
November 24th, 2010 at 8:18 PM ^
Had 3 ranked teams in 2001.
Has 3 ranked teams in 2010.
I really don't see THAT much of a difference between the two.
It's not like Stanford has beaten anyone amazing. They have one win against a ranked team. Oregon is great but I'm not that impressed with anyone else.
November 24th, 2010 at 9:04 PM ^
Oregon has also only beaten 1 team with a top 40 Defense and im assuming that was Stanford.
November 24th, 2010 at 6:41 PM ^
at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.
November 24th, 2010 at 6:51 PM ^
When Rich Rod was hired, all the MSM could say was how "inspired", "out-of-the-box", and "revolutionary" it was for Bill Martin to bring him in. Now, they're ready to kick him to the curb.
I frankly don't give a sh-t what they think. They can go straight to hell.
November 24th, 2010 at 7:22 PM ^
Agreed.. it is total fuckin bs how the MSM works, but it is the sad fucking truth.
RR came in hot off of his team winning in 2 BCS games and finishing in the top 3 even though he didn't coach his last bowl game.
Harbaugh hasn't even won a fucking BCS game and everyone is on his fuckin dick. No way he could come in and immediately change the defense in the way it is, and there is no way the offense would be any better with him running the ship
November 24th, 2010 at 9:38 PM ^
Harbaugh has never won any bowl game as a head coach. Ever.
I think the guy is a really fucking good coach but I also think the guy we've got is better and he, Rodriguez, actually has the resume to back it up.
November 24th, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
Exactly and that is what erks me about most michigan fans that don't really follow the team etc.. They hear Harbaugh in the media non stop and it just fuels the haters..
Ok awesome, Harbaugh has turned Stanfords record around, which is impressive, but was it not impressive when RR took perennial losers at EVERY school he has been to and turned them into winners over time?
Hopefully Brandon is who we think he is, and keeps RR around knowing what he knows and seein how we young the team is etc..
Even if we finished 6-6 or 5-7 i would still think he should get the full 4 years to see what he is capable of.
Last year to me at least, really felt like RR first year since it was his first complete full class where he actually got the QB he wanted. Now next year we have a chance to play with *gasp* an upper classmen QB. For the first time in 4 years we will have an upper classmen as a QB and i for one cannot wait to see it.
November 24th, 2010 at 7:17 PM ^
... making a story out of nothing. There is no truth to the matter, but these pinheads create controversy for the sake of controversy. There is no integrity left in sports journalism, and these buffoons are nothing more than uninformed imbeciles who are an embarrassment to logic and reason.
I dream of the day when guys like Brian have their own show, in which they discuss these things logically and without dubious motive. Or they do not discuss them at all.
November 24th, 2010 at 7:24 PM ^
I still don't understand why people think he'd leave Stanford for Michigan as of right now.
November 24th, 2010 at 7:54 PM ^
even with a top 10 team, Stanford can't even get close to filling its stadium against ranked opponents. Harbaugh's probably still a bigger name in Michigan than he is in Northern California.
November 24th, 2010 at 10:13 PM ^
I think Harbaugh would be amazing at UM. You can talk about how he has more talent to work with and so on, but he would win a national championship here.
...not that I think RR can't win a NC here though. RR is a terrific offensive coach, possibly one of the best out there. Despite all of the shit he's taken and the Freep's attempt to crucify him, RR is a professional and runs a clean program. He's made awful, awful choices with regards to the DC (never should have fired Shafer, never should have hired Gerg, needs to kick the 3-3-5 addiction and allow a DC to run the 4-3) and maybe could do a better job with defensive recruits. Plus he's still building, but some of his mistakes have set the defense back.
I hate the idea of RR getting fired.
November 25th, 2010 at 1:35 AM ^
He's made awful, awful choices with regards to the DC (never should have fired Shafer, never should have hired Gerg, needs to kick the 3-3-5 addiction and allow a DC to run the 4-3)
(...and has been too loyal to defensive position coaches/buddies who can't coach fundamentals, can't coach competently, or can't and won't coach any scheme other than the 3-3-5, regardless of the strengths of the DC)
In other words, allowing a new DC (or even GERG) to run something other than the 3-3-5 -- and expecting improvement on defense -- should rightfully spell the end for Gibson and the boys.
November 25th, 2010 at 12:52 AM ^
If Harbaugh happens to get the job, what happens to the O? Going to his O like he runs at Stanford is about the most opposite of what we run now. I dont think we could handle another few years of rebuilding.
November 25th, 2010 at 1:47 AM ^
This brings up an interesting point. We're all more or less assuming that, IF RR were to be let go (which I personally don't advocate at this point), and IF the folks in the AD were so desperate as to overlook Harbaugh's '07 bridge burning, and IF Jimmy the Anti General Studies Crusader were to hop a Greyhound for Ann Arbor, is it a foregone conclusion that he reverts back to power football?
It's true, RR is a spread guy (his specialty) and has a hand in calling the plays (I think). But does Harbaugh do the same at Stanford? Not all HCs are married to an offensive scheme like RR. Tressel has run both in his time at OSU (or perhaps more accurately, an ugly arm-punting hybrid). I'm sure there are several other examples of HCs hiring an OC to run the offense. Is it necessarily true that Harbaugh would need to abandon an offensive scheme that's been successfully implemented and is clearly on the verge of being very, very dangerous?
Again, not advocating against RR or for Harbaugh (hardly). Just wondering aloud if Harbaugh would really change the offense again.
November 25th, 2010 at 2:11 AM ^
At the University of San Diego, Harbaugh ran a spread offense. A lot of people don't know that. At Stanford, he adapted to what he had and went with a pro-style offense. There is no particular reason to believe he wouldn't adapt to what he'd have at Michigan and run a similar offense to what we have now. Heck, even now he sprinkles in the occasional option play.
People have become so defensive that they feel a need to badmouth every other coach out there. It's not necessary. To be clear, Harbaugh is Plan B. Plan A is for RR to win these last two games and finish 9-4.
November 25th, 2010 at 3:34 AM ^
maybe I'm caught up in my own expectations here, but is there an actual chance Rich gets fired after the OSU game? Like, I think I've already moved forward to next year with the assumption that a Bowl/Extra Practices, and momentum going into next year would be enough to guarantee Rich another year to continue making strides with the program.
I guess that if Dave Brandon REALLY fucking wants Harbaugh, we could see a change, since that's basically gotta happen this year, and soon, if at all, given Harbaugh's supposed NFL aspirations.
but other than that, I guess I was convinced that enough has happened to move us beyond the fire richrod thing for another year.
guess not? I mean, I know there are plenty of grumpy people, but I kinda figured that those that matter are content for now.