RichRod speaks at length; takes a jab at DB

See, we can tell that many times by the number of upvotes it gets, people generally don't like it when you say something general like just "great post:" or "Agreed". 

Hate to dredge this up again, but out of the five violations, one had to do with stretching, two had to do with qc-assts, the other two had to do with both (e.g., "ensure compliance).  I think RR was ultimately found guilty of a lesser charge for #4 in the list in the link below.

I'm sure if RR was interested in smearing and blaming the university like people here are acting, he could say much worse things than what he's saying.

He's simply defending himself.  He should and the media is going to present it in a way that creates more controversy as well.  I bet if we were disconnected from the emmotion of this whole situation it wouldn't be as classless as we are making it out to be.

Beyond that though, I always find myself wondering if he had bought more time if he'd talked about his offense in Bo terms.  If he'd been saying things like "I was really inspired by the success Bo had with running quarterbacks and it really shaped my offensive philosophy."  Then he's not installed RR's offense as part of a system change, he's returning to Bo's offense.  Suddenly it becomes a lot harder for people to bitch about the rocky offense transition, because to do so is to speak against a Bo inspired system.  Whether it was true or not, saying things that would have bought him time.

The other big failure was going all in on offense.  We'd hired Bo for his slant 5 defense back in the day and that started a tradition that no matter what, Michigan had good defenses.  I don't even know if it would have been possible, but a slower offensive transition and more focus on keeping the defense good might have bought more time as well.  We are all used to the offense looking shitty up occasion, but watching our defense flail around was something a lot of people had never really seen before in their lives.  

I think if Rodriguez beats OSU in Columbus in the last game of 2010, and even with a loss in the bowl game, he comes back for 2011.  Much as I loved the Rodgriguez offense (an offense we will likely never see again at Michigan) I think it was more apalling to watch the defense. 

Hopefully the defense will come back and the offensive players are utilized to their inherent capabilities and Michigan football comes back.  If Hoke loses 6 games this year I do belive the fan base will sour on him just as quickly as they did Rodriguez. 

The cabal that did not like Rodriguez has their man so they must win with him or surely they will sink like the past coaching staff did.

I'd say that RR's problems with the WVU AD just help prove how bad he is/was at politics.  RR was the reason WVU was in BCS Bowls and the like.  He should have been able to go to the boosters and let it be known that the AD wasn't supporting the program to the level he needed and gotten them to take action.  Instead he "lost" in the sense that he ended up finding a new job.  I'd say if he couldn't win in politics at WVU it just meant he was in bigger trouble when he came up against Michigan politics.  

I don't think we're unique, but I think we play on an even bigger scale than WVU.  Our coaches names are nationally known and you need to be damn good at politics to survive.  At places like Little Brother and the like the pressure is less intense, look at how Dantonio gets away with running a penal colony disguised as a football program and generally being an ass.  

For RR it was likely failing as a state rep and then trying to make it as a federal senator in some ways.  

I think politics has been a downplayed reason for his demise. The boosters hated him. The media hated him. He didn't understand the rivalries. Sure, ok. It's sure as shit not easy to sky-dive into Michigan with no connections and win the hearts and minds, but the perception was that he didn't care to try. It doesn't matter if it's a football program, the presidency, or a local McDonalds. Hard work and genius alone work for a small percentage of people. For the vast majority of successful people, schmoozing, playing the game, and the ability to adapt to the situation you are in are the catalysts for rising to the top.

Winning also helps.

How the hell do you play football for four years and only gain 10 pounds (8 of them in the last year)?  Seriously, hit the weights Brandon.

I was only trying to point out that neither DB nor RR had "extensive" playing careers (however you wish to define that) in college.  It shouldn't be too surprising that it was harder for DB to walk on to a NC contending team under Bo than it was for RR to walk on to WVU.  While RR has (moderately) more playing experience and (infintely) more coaching experience, he cannot claim that DB has limited knowledge in how D1 football operates.

Whether or not DB accumulated stats is not the real issue. He was still participating in team activities and was around the program enough to know something about it.