SI Lead Story: Rich Rodriguez thriving at Arizona (writer talks some about Michigan)
Nothing new but thought others might find it of interest on a Thursday afternoon.
"Seemed like what was a Rodriguez problem in 2010 was actually a Michigan problem"
Quote by Rodriguez on Michigan "It's not like I dwell on it, but when people ask me about it, I say, yeah, it sitll bothres me. It still frustrates me because we'd like to hav eseen what we could do with another year or two."
Talks about how Arizona AD Greg Bryne who hired Dan Mullen at Mississippi State thought hiring Rich Rodriguez to Arizona was a no brainer.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
is the wrong question to ask; the same applies to Hoke. We should be asking ourselves "Which coach can Michigan hire that would outperform the current coach?" For Hoke, I would take pretty much anyone else to get Michigan to 3-9 with this roster. Heck, EMU's coaching staff would have likely diagnosed Morris before sending him back onto the field.
Regarding Rodriguez, his mismanaging of the defensive side of the ball, along with poor player retention, were good reasons to fire him. Were they good reasons to replace him with a sub-500 coach? I argue not. There was plenty of hope for future Rodriguez teams, which could have been strengthened if his coordinator budget was the same level as Hoke's. It doesn't guarantee he would have succeeded, but nothing suggested Hoke was an upgrade.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
Let's be perfectly honest here. If you look at 2 out of three RR coached seasons at Michigan after 5-6 games you'ld say he was thriving too. It was the second half of the season where the wheels came off. Let's just say this, only in Arizona is 4-8, 8-5, 8-5 and TBD considered thriving.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
the 4-8 season.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:27 PM ^
4-8 was Mike Stoops' last season. Rich Rod was out of coaching that year.
October 30th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
You're right about the 4-8 season being stoops.
That doesn't make anything else, less true.
Richrod started out4-0, 5-0 and Denard won the Heisman and then they would win 1-2 games the rest of the season
October 30th, 2014 at 4:28 PM ^
"No, you were not right about him"
Love me some Rich Rod threads....
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October 30th, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^
I think you can make a good case either way as to whether RR should have been fired after three years and 15-22. My own view is that he should have been given another year, but the sanctions, the utter lack of coherence on defense, and overall record (in no particular order) provided a reasonable basis.
What has become perfectly clear with time, however, is that hiring Brad Hoke was a mistake of historic dimensions. And that is totally on Dave Brandon. He should not have pulled the trigger unless he had someone of the Harbaugh/Miles/RR caliber lined up.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 5:09 PM ^
Your point about Hoke's overall record is well taken. But the way the program has collapsed the last two years is without precedent. The ink is not dry on the year yet, but I am assuming we end up 4-8 or 5-7. If we do, I think the decision to fire RR (who will probably be in the college football Hall of Fame) and hire Hoke will rank as the worst hire in Michigan's history.
October 31st, 2014 at 12:13 AM ^
The success of RR and unmitigated disaster that is going on now really makes Michigan look second rate. Especially when you look at the situation from a 10,000 foot perspective.
Think about it. The perception is we got rid of RR and replaced him with WHO? OK and his qualifications were WHAT?
Then you see RR having success by making bottom feeder Arizona a contender.
It's only going to get worse as he gets more of his players for his system. We better hope he doesn't go to Florida, because he will wind up in the playoff with the talent pool they have there. Talk about salt in the wound!
October 30th, 2014 at 7:41 PM ^
October 31st, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
October 31st, 2014 at 12:07 AM ^
The tale is based on the trend. When the record, performance and development are all trending down in year 4 of a program that IS A DISASTER! No other way to look at it. The .630 is a mirage!!!!
October 30th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^
Though the sanctions were complete nonsense. That is not on Rich Rod.
No way you let Rodriquez go without having a competent replacement lined up. We were all hoping Harbaugh was waiting in the wings and that was a complete fantasy.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
Why does everybody treat history as if it were enngineering?
Person "A" has success, the goes to another situation and has failure, then another situation and has success again- maybe humans make mistakes? Screw up? Learn from the past?
Why can't RR have made a mistake or two he learned from? Why is that impossible? Why is the thinking of so many so incredibly limited?
This isn't engineering- RR isn't some alloy of metal that can never break- he is a changeable human.
His offenses were generally fun to watch (except against real defenses)- thats why I enjoyed him here.
But we will never really know why things went the way they did- give it a rest
October 30th, 2014 at 5:47 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 7:39 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 11:52 PM ^
Why does everyone feel like the final judgement was in with RR after three years. We never saw what he was capable of, because he basically had 2 recruiting classes of his players to work with. The offense was fantastic against some teams and struggled against others, but he had basically one or two high level skill players that fit his offense during that time.
He had Denard Robinson for one full year as the starter at QB and look what he had already started to accomplish! No one was looking at him as a QB, every school that wanted him was looking to turn him into a DB. He came here because RR could evaluate skill position talent. RR had the same ability to find talent in lesser recruits that Dantonio has. He also had the ability to develop those players (see the progression of Denard from his Freshman to his Sophmore year).
The talent that RR brought in allowed Hoke to get to 11-2.
We gave up on him. Imagine if MSU had given up on Dantonio after year 3! Dantonio was 6-7 in his 3rd year at MSU. Can you guess what his record was in year 4? 11-2! Does that sound familiar.
RR was in the mix for Sammy Watkins, Dee Hart, etc. until all the negative backlash undermined his ability to recruit. We never even came close to seeing what was possible under RR.
Save me the nonsense about what a failure he was! We were collectively the failures for not giving him a genuine opportunity.
Hoke after four years has not shown any ability to develop talent in the way that RR or Dantonio did. If Hoke had shown a record trending up and the development of some stars, I think it is safe to say we would all think about a 5th year. That is simply not the case.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:57 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 7:21 PM ^
Oh, wait, this isn't the Thursday night drinking thread?
October 30th, 2014 at 4:59 PM ^
RichRod Leaves
Problems remain
Draw your own Conclusions
October 30th, 2014 at 11:35 PM ^
Mirror time!
October 30th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
I think one overarching problem spans both recent coaching hires - they were both reactive hires. The RR hire was a reaction to the perception of Michigan being a lumbering antiquated Goliath who was often taken down by quicker Davids who used newfangled tools, an issue punctuated by App State and Oregon in 2007. So the AD hired RR in response.
As for Hoke, his hire was a reaction to the the previous hire, what was perceived as a failure, and it was framed by the simplistic institutional mindset that Michigan had made a wrong turn in going to a non-Michigan Man, and needed to return to some exemplar 'Michigan Man.' So the AD went in search primairly for a Michigan Man rather than a proven coach. It was again a reactive search.
For example, Urban Meyer was not hired at OSU as some reaction to some perceived fault - he was hired because he has proven himself able to win over and over, even at a big-time program. Michigan needs a guy who has proven himself able to win, regardless of his system or his institutional ties. Conduct a search that is prospective, not one that is grounded in the past. The guy has to be a winner, Michigan man or not, system or no system.
October 30th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 7:13 PM ^
I agree - if Michigan hires a proven winner, he has a lot to work with. We are set up for success, if the next hire is one grounded in the future, not the past.
October 30th, 2014 at 9:34 PM ^
RR a paniced hire? Maybe by Bill Martin's pathetic coaching search standads, but it's not like RR hadn't been very succesful. For those of us familliar with the spread, it was litterally PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!
"he really has teed it up for the next coach"
Now you've slipped into clinical insanity. In what world is this shattered, demoralized team set up for whomever the next coach is? Because of their sky high confidence? The crumbling recuiting class?
Oh, thats right you mentioned the roster . . . tell me which of the many 5 star, verteran-experinced, ice water-in-their-veins QBs will this next lucky coach get to choose from?
Hoke inherited quite a bit, including a star player that masked his and his staffs incompetence.
He will leave behind ashes, and a national punchline.
October 30th, 2014 at 11:33 PM ^
They just haven't shown it because of the piss poor coaching job so far!
October 31st, 2014 at 12:03 AM ^
Someone seems to think that this staff has done fine job! Step up and lets hear it!!!!
October 30th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
You are spot on! Find the best coach with the proven track record. That can be a Harbaugh, Miles, Patterson, Mullen, etc. Get the best available coach that has demonstrated they are truely ready for the next step.
October 30th, 2014 at 5:29 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 5:43 PM ^
Rich Rod is that ex-girlfriend who moves on, improves her hotness, and finds happiness after you dumped her.
You look over at her with a momentary pang of longing for what might have been... and quickly remember what a psycho loser she was when you were together.
Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with either of you, it's a chemistry thing.
October 30th, 2014 at 6:01 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^
Very true. But you might also start thinking, "maybe I should get rid of some of my loser friends who kept harrassing her and telling her that she wasn't good enough for me."
October 30th, 2014 at 11:21 PM ^
I think it is more like a timing thing. She was all that, but you weren't at a point in your life that you were ready for the commitment!
The issue was with you, not her!
That's how I see this one!
October 31st, 2014 at 5:02 AM ^
Rich Rod is an innovator and offensive mastermind. He's constantly looking for ways to put his players in advantageous positions on the field. That's what a coach should do.
Hoke, on the other hand, sits there, talks about fundamentals, and tries to run an offense from the 90s while pretending that technology like headsets don't exist. He's just straight up backwards.
The regression under Hoke and improvement under Rich Rod is expected just by looking at the vastly different styles of these two coaches.
Let's get an innovator for our next coach.