not TOM BRADY

July 30th, 2015 at 6:43 AM ^

3 years vs OSU outscored 100-24.
Sure he could have been welcomed nicer. I wish richrod had Brady Hokes opening press conference. That would have changed some things.

Ronnie Kaye

July 30th, 2015 at 9:40 AM ^

"I wish richrod had Brady Hokes opening press conference. That would have changed some things."

Do you even realize you are admitting how ignorant Michigan fans are that an opening press conference is treated as a big deal? The reaction to both those pressers was embarrassing.

blue in dc

July 30th, 2015 at 7:14 AM ^

You realize that Brandon was only the AD for his last year? It surprises me how much hate there is for Brandon and Carr when Bill Martin gets a free pass. More than anyone, Martin had the ability to make that transition work smoother. He bumbled the search, I personally suspect he bumbled stuff with Carr and he definately bumbled providing Rich Rod real support. Who hires someone for the most high profile job in his organization and then doesn't try to help him win.



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blue in dc

July 30th, 2015 at 7:05 AM ^

those people are not resposible for the fact that 1. You couldn't bring in a spread quarterback in your first year - apparently other coaches can come in, evaluate holes on their roster and find ways to fill them. 2. You couldn't run a good defense. If it is because you weren't given enough salary room, maybe you should have negotiated better 3. You couldn't beat Toledo

michgoblue

July 30th, 2015 at 7:18 AM ^

Just to save everyone the time, this is a preview of how this thread will go:

Pro-RR Poster: this is so true. Our crappy fan base totally didn't support RichRod and made it harder from him from day one.

Anti-RR Poster: yeah, but even if that is true, lack of support didn't go 3-9, 5-7, 7-6 in three years while getting massacres by Ohio every single year. Also, his defense was the worse in the history of the world.

Pro-RR Poster: are we still doing the "Ohio" thing even after Hoke? Whatever. Back on point. What about the empty cupboard that RR inherited? I mean Sheri-Threet has to be the worse QB combo in the history of the Big. Imagine if Lloyd hadn't chased off Mallett and the rest of the team on his way out?

Anti-RR poster: Lloyd didn't chase hose guys out. Also, Mallett wouldn't have been a good fit for RR's gimmick offense. Second also, that offense wouldn't work in the Big Ten.

Pro-RR Guy: the offense does work. He just beat Oregon with that offense last year and OSU is running a variation of it with great success. As was Nebraska.

Anti-RR poster: but he didn't "fit" at Michigan, he didn't get the rivalry and he sang Groban.

Pro-RR Guy: ok, I will concede the Groban point, but otherwise the rest of that is media-driven crap. If he had won, he would have fit just fine.

anti-RR guy: /fumes at computer thinking that pro-RR guy is just a moron who doesn't get it

Pro-RR guy: /fumes at computer thinking that anti-RR guy doesn't get it

andre10

July 30th, 2015 at 8:29 AM ^

remember that when he was hired (and hired his second DC) Michigan was being incredibly stingy on assistant pay.Jeff Casteel would have followed RR except it would have meant taking a big pay cut.

 

RR nonetheless did have a number of missteaps. He actually did have a decent DC (I think) in Schafer, but Schafer was a 4-3 guy and RR had a bizarre insistance on the 3-3-5 despite not knowing anything about coaching defenseive, probably due to his cronies on the defensive coaching staff. He could have also been a bit more tactful about certain aspects of being the coach at Michigan.

 

But dear God please don't pretend that he wasn't undermined as badly as any new HC has ever been at a P5 job. Before he even coached one game he had most of the local media gunning for him due to BS like the WV document scandal and Boren transfering because RR shouted and swore (like 90% of college coaches). Lloyd and the alumni players did at best nothing to help him and at worst did crap like encouraging players to go to Sparty. The Freep created a massive controversy out of nothing with practicegate. Oh, and lets not forget the ossified husk of a roster that he was left by lloyd carr, which had a terrible back 7 on defense and something like 2 remaning starters and 6 olineman on offense.

 

You hire Jeff Casteel at the beginning and RR is probably still coach here. Heck, you hire Jeff Casteel after 2010 and RR is still coach here, at least if you removed all the off the field submarining he took.

The Mad Hatter

July 30th, 2015 at 8:37 AM ^

about the assistant pay need to be debunked?  We were willing to pay Casteel what he was making at WV, or maybe a little more.

And why can RR only win with his one special DC?   And if he knows that he can only win with that one special DC, shouldn't he have made sure that he was coming to Michigan with him?

I can think of a certain HC that accepted a lower salary in order to free up a bunch of cash to hire top notch assistant coaches.

Bodogblog

July 30th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^

this matters not even a little. As a leader of anything, you're not allowed to say "I couldn't have my first choice, that's why I failed." Even though the normally sensible proprietors of this site promote this theory, you've got to let it go. RR was alone responsible for his awful defense, full stop. He was terrible here, the faults are too numerous to rehash. He was great at WV and has been great at Arizona, neither of which erase the fact that he was awful at Michigan.

Bodogblog

July 30th, 2015 at 11:06 PM ^

you miss the point, and apologies for being so blunt, but I belive that evinces how little you know about leadership. CEO has a CFO, they do good work together, CEO moves to a bigger company. Can't have my CFO? Well then I'm going to suck for three years. That's a worthless CEO. You're not allowed that type of excuse.

beedub93

July 30th, 2015 at 8:46 AM ^

I'm not sold that Casteel would have been the difference. Maybe RR should have stood by Shafer instead of letting his coffee dry cleaning boy Gibson lead a mid-week mutiny going into the Purdue game.

Who in their right mind installs a BRAND-NEW defensive scheme, not just mid-season, but mid-week during a season?

That was the first red flag for me. The second was the sideline fracas during the Ohio State game that year.



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Bodogblog

July 30th, 2015 at 10:59 PM ^

how about his 3rd year, when he not only changed the positions of several of his defensive players during the bye week before PSU, but once again changed the entire scheme? Resulting total confusion and gingerpocalypse was an obvious outcome. Somehow I kept believing in the guy through the bowl game, when his players quit on him. He was terrible, terrible at Michigan.

DonAZ

July 30th, 2015 at 8:30 AM ^

Here's a perspective from Tucson, where I live ...

  • I see billboards advertising season tickets for as low as $99
  • I haven't heard any chatter about the upcoming season
  • My credit union's spokesperson is Sean Miller, the basketball coach
  • The common topic of conversation is the summer monsoon storms

In short ... nobody really cares ... here in Tucson, and especially elsewhere.

(That said, I think RR is under some pressure to repeat what he did last year by going 10-2 in regular season play.  He has his QB returning, but he lost his RB.  I think an 8-4 season will be a disappointment.  Pac-12 south should be decent this year -- USC, ASU and UCLA being half-decent teams.)

cbuswolverine

July 30th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^

No.  I watched every Arizona game last season.  Wilson was the starter.  After the first game of the season, Wilson was the clear choice other than when he was injured/dinged up.

Wilson:  236 carries, 1375 yards, 5.8 ypc, 16 TDs

Grigsby:  121 carries, 567 yards, 4.7ypc, 3 TDs

 

WestQuad

July 30th, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^

Any job you take there will be people who are not on board with what you want to do.  That's life and business.  Had he even gone 7-5 (a bad year at Michigan) in his first two years he would have shut everyone up and gotten them on board.  

 

Perkis-Size Me

July 30th, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^

Had he beat OSU and/or MSU he would've gotten people on board.

Hell, had he even just kept the OSU games competitive and not gotten out scored 100-24 in 3 years, by a frickin Jim Tressel coached offense no less, he might've bought himself another year here. But he accomplished none of those things.

The guy deserved to be fired. Yeah, he wasn't done many favors when he got here, but he's responsible for the product out on the field. And it was a very, very bad product.



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beedub93

July 30th, 2015 at 8:40 AM ^

He sounds like a jilted ex-girlfriend. Move on, Rich. It's in the past, remember?

15-22, 6-18, 0-6 ain't gonna cut it, no matter how good Rita's nachos might be.



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