RR on UM
"I thought our time was coming and we didn't get to finish the job," Rodriguez said. "It's like you made a cake from scratch and put it in the oven. Someone else is putting the icing on and eating it."
Still kinda bittter.....
Were "Michigan fans".
they apparently are fans.
someone left the cake out in the rain, and it was him.
I see offensively a big step up from year three, but the defence would've had no life.
He needs to say this:
"I had a great time at Michigan, the people were wonderful, and we were confident that we had things going in the right direction. It didn't work out the way we all wanted, but that's in the past now and I'm totally focused on Arizona. Brady Hoke has done a tremendous job and I wish him and the Michigan family nothing but success in the future. Unless we play them, of course. Go Wildcats."
And then say nothing more about it in public.
But he didn't have a great time at Michigan and the people weren't wonderful. He is saying what he believed because he probably doesn't give a shit what the school or the fans think of him now that he's gone.
You can tell that there's nothing left of the dead horse's pulpy carcass to beat when even Section 1 won't deign to copy-paste another 10,000 word screed about Rich Rod vs. the Freep. I hope Rich Rod does well at Arizona because he's a good coach and a good man and he worked his tail off while he was here.
The fact is that three distinct entities failed to put Rich Rod in a position to succeed at Michigan: the media, Michigan's old guard establishment, and Rodriguez himself. Unforunately, only one of those three was able to be fired as the head football coach. Yeah, I'd love to fire Drew Sharp and Michael Rosenberg as well, but that isn't gonna happen. At the end of the day, though, they're still Sharp and Rosenberg, and that's punishment enough to last a lifetime. /thread
To see if all of the Rodriguez-haters could put up 3 or 4 pages, and maybe 200 posts, all by themselves, with scarcely a single countering argument. Proof, as it were, that there really is a kind of psychopathology with the MGoMembership. A pathology that has nothing to do with people like me who have defended Rodriguez against the dreadful and unfair way he was treated here. But just the ususal one-sided myopic revisionism that is common to all team-sports fanatics. Long Rodriguez-threads are clearly not the product of any argument, but rather some fans' personal internal anguish.
So if we don't agree with your point of view it's a mental disorder? Time to get over yourself.
...and delicious food metaphors aside, with RR there would not have been a BCS bowl, much less a victory. Hoke & Co. didn't "just" do anything...they patched together a mess and improved a powerful offense.
Yes, they were mainly RR's guys, yes, he recruited some people. But one look at how RR's classes panned out shows us a lot to be desired. And recruiting is only part of the picture...it's coaching, coaching, coaching.
Yes, RR created a powerful offense...and whenever we faced an offense that didn't bite on Denard's read, we were quickly dismissed.
As good as the offense was, before getting shut down, the defense was equally inept, if not worse. And the longer our defense was inept, the less time our offense got a chance to even step out on the field.
I still get chills thinking about UMASS driving down the field for the better part of an entire quarter.
So, yeah, RR is to be credited for recruiting and developing guys on the offensive side of the ball. But as the win against Illinois and the embarrassment against Miss State showed...
...we weren't going to step up to any elite status anytime soon.
And I am not a RR basher. I wish he would've had more support at Meeeeeeeechigan. But more than anything else, I wish he would've had someone who could coach defense.
Because half of a football team isn't even worth talking about.
/RR.I.P.
love the guy.
Yeah part of the cake he baked was great - the offense. The other part of the cake (the defense) was like the cake that the maid gave to the evil boss in The Help.
Well, the evil boss actually liked it until she found out what was inside. I don't think anyone liked the defense at any point.
Many relationships in life.... are just a bad fit. For example, my last job was a bad fit, and I recognized it pretty quickly and left on my own volition.......and now I LOVE my new job and it is a great fit for both myself and my employer.
RR was a BAD fit at Michigan, and it was not caused by outside influences as some may want to blame...he just was a bad fit...no one right, no one wrong... just not right for each other.
My advice to RR: Get over Michigan and LOVE your new job ...or else you may be looking for a new gig in 3 more years because your mind is not fully where your body is.
RR's comments are partially about the past, but at this point mostly about the future ... specifically the next 3 years at U of A.
He does not have a loaded arsenal of players. He's going to have to "build from scratch" the U of A program just like he said he had to do with Michigan.
By pointing back and saying he wasn't given enough time he's building the case for the U of A fans to give him the time.
And they will ... Arizona is not a football school like Michigan. I live in Tucson and I can tell you there's pretty much no buzz whatever on a game Saturday around here.
He'll get four or five years at least.
I think it's something that Brandon would have realized without Hoke saying anything. Or maybe Brandon hired Hoke because he wanted at least one guarenteed victory, who knows. Let's be honest, there was an insane strategic advantage for Michigan for that game to the point that it was pretty evident that Borges was just testing plays out in the second half. I don't see Hoke ever telling Brandon he was lucky though, he's probaly still moping over not winning the Big Ten Championship. Or hopping around the country recruiting. Or both.
I do agree with your assessment that they probably would have lost to SDSU under RR. Rocky Long perfected his version of the 3-3-5, which is the perfect defensive scheme against the spread. RR's offense wouldn't have stood a chance since they never really had to deal with a defense like that before. Hoke would still be the DL coach (because he was both the HC and DL coach at SDSU - hardcore). Actually, they would still have all their other coaches. They had a very strong offense with Lindley and Hillman and Borges at the helm. Hoke also learned how to coach for playing in the Big House after bringing in Ball State in 2006 and seeing Davis struggle with how loud the crowd was. That may seem trivial, but it didn't seem like Rocky Long really prepped his team for playing in such an environment. Add to all of that, it'd be Hoke's job interview. The man wanted that game scheduled for a reason - and it wasn't to just visit old friends.
Is RichRod bitter? Yeah. Not sure I can blame him though.
What were we ranked when he took over?? weren't we like 5th? I'm not sure if that's starting from scratch. I know we were switching schemes, but i don't know how you get handed a 5th ranked team and say that you are starting from scratch.
we were ranked like #25 in the AP and unranked in the coaches going into 2008 iirc
We were ranked 5th going into "The Horror".
I don't know, people are saying he's bitter and this and that - When I read that article there's nothing he says that's not true or that I don't agree with.
Good luck to him at U of A.
Hoke Uber Alles - man noone could have seen how the last few years have played out - unreal
I supported RR while he was the coach here but the poor performance of his defense during his final season ended his coaching career here! Brandon may be a genius! Coach Hoke looks to be on the road to success here. If he keeps recruiting the way he is, it will not be too much longer before we become a true powerhouse in the B1G and nationally as well. Best of luck to you RR in Arizona! But I'm a Hoke supporter 100%!
Rodriguez should write no comment on the blackboard 500 times.
He was almost finished baking a cake. Too bad it was carrot cake.
well carrot cake is pretty freakin good though....
and it doesnt neeeeed frostin to be good..... just like Coach Hoke...no frostin just good.
This was the first thing about RR that had me going "uh oh."
He said things that just didn't need to be said. Like pointing out specific blame on a player which although maybe true doesn't seem like you are defending your team. Then saying stupid things like we'll beat Ohio State when we're better than them. I'm glad to know it never has to do with effort or intensity.
The Mississippi State game AKA the Horrorbowl vs. the Virginia Tech game shows exactly why RR failed and he only has himself to blame for his D coordinators. Even with expected improvement in players just from playing an extra year the defense would have improved but RR's would have had no chance of keeping us in the game against VTech.
The kicking game problems weren't his fault but he is blind if he doesn't see the contributions Hoke, Mattison, and co have made on this team that he could have never contributed to.
Being a Michigan fan is like owning stock in Berkshire Hathaway, you're looking for steady returns, long-term growth with very calculated risks. You're not overly concerned about the short-term growth especially if they are founded on recent market bubbles/trends (like housing or the spread offense).
If the fund manager, say Warren Bo-ffet, retires and is replaced by a new hot-shot manager. The new manager could have been very successful at another hedge fund but is unlikely to win over the stockholders by bucking tradition. The stock needs a manager who understands the inherent powers of each of its holdings, works dillengently to understand everything that's going on and is smarter than his/her competitors to take risks when probability is on your side. When the economy goes into a recession, the best defense are the stable, conservative holdings the manager has kept and shored up.
I liked RR, but he wasn't the guy to manage this program. He'll be successful at Arizona because it's a different company. It's a small emerging market fund that's poised to allow change and growth, it just will never be the large, AAA rated stock Michigan is.
because I know how it goes (been here before). I loved RR and will always want him to succeed, but even I (one of the most loyal RR supporters) have to laugh at the idea that he would have had as successful a year as Hoke.
I think his offense would have been great but his defense would have been his problem and one I don't think his offense could have overcome to the tune of 11 wins. I think RR's biggest problem was his loyalty. I know it is hard to fathom that loyalty could be a problem, but when you can't bring yourself to get rid of the dead weight you had on staff to give yourself a better chance to succeed, it is a problem.
At the end of the day I wish RR the best of luck and will likely cheer for AZ evrytime they play unless they meet UM. Having said that, Hoke and company have made it very easy to get over what was the RR era with the atmosphere they have created within the footbal program and I couldn't be happier with how things turned out.
funfetti cake doesn't work in the B1G.
I did not read all 182 comments to see if someone mentioned this, but Rich is looking fit and tan. He apparently hasn't been eating much cake.
Been holding out for a worthy comment for point #100, letting the game come to me, but I finally had to force the shot.
EDITED - DELETED
Does richrod bring up michigan in these interviews or does he get asked about michigan. If he's asked about M, then he's put in a bad spot. Kind of like when Eli was asked if he was a top level quarterback before this last season. Nevertheless, he could still answer the questions without being so bitter.
and I don't know why it hasn't before, is the number of posters saying they "loved" RR. Maybe it was just two or three, but still....
I understand it from former players or coaches or people actually associated with the program in some every day capacity, but if you love a football coach, be it Rich, Lloyd, Mo or Bo, who you've never even met, your credibility is in doubt on any issue concerning him.
If RR wins the sugar bowl in 4 years with Arizona, I might be open to seeing his point.
If RR wins the sugar bowl in 4 years with Arizona, I might be open to seeing his point.
I think, all things considered, he has been pretty tight-lipped about the way everything went down. I am not going to get all heated up the occasional mild comment. It has been disturbing to see people on twitter react like RR took about a full-page NYT ad to whine about Michigan.
Bill Frieder, Steve Fisher, Tommy Amaker, Brady Hoke, Rich Rodriguez, Mike Debord, Ron English, Stan Parrish, too name a few, were all M coaches who went on to be HC's at other schools. When they went to these other schools to coach, I paid little to no attention to their careers. Just not enough hours in the day for me to care.
Honestly until word started filtering out of Ball State about Brady Hoke and ties to M, and the fact that Lloyd Carr was a fan of his, I didn't even know who he was.
Give it about 5 years and RR will be a distant memory, someone rarely discussed on these boards and ancient history to the general population.