The Mad Hatter

June 3rd, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^

But if you want to turn this into a RR debate, I'll be more than happy to oblige.

If he wanted a better QB, maybe he should have convinced Mallett to stay?  Maybe got a grad transfer?  Picked someone that wouldn't flunk out of Michigan after 1 season?

OSU outscored Michigan 100 to 24 during the RR years.  I don't give a fuck who was playing QB, that shit was unacceptable.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 1:54 PM ^

The grad transfer rule was not prevelant when RR came here. Convinced Mallett to stay? I'd refer you to Mallett's parents, who said Lloyd told them Ryan "needed to leave." And Tate's flunking out (which happended after two seasons, not one) had nothing to do with RR's plight. For someone happy to oblige in debating, you really suck at it.

The Mad Hatter

June 3rd, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^

that about the grad transfer rule.  But RR signed Mallett's transfer papers, not Lloyd.  He didn't have to.

Ok, so RR needed "his" QB to do well at Michigan.  And not only his QB, but his QB as an upperclassmen.  He also apparently needed "his" DC, although he couldn't convince him to come here.

RR sucked and I'm glad he's gone.  I wish he had never come to Michigan.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 2:04 PM ^

Didn't have to sign his transfer papers? Were you advocating Malzahn's approach with Moncrief when that story made a brief appearance? Trapping a kid who wants to leave is bad practice in college football - PERIOD. Just goes to show how ignorant RR haters are. They will say anything to bend a narrative and ignore his track record as a coach before and after Michigan. I'm sure you were a huge fan of DB's work at this time four years ago and jumped off your couch in excitement when you heard "This is Michigan fergodsakes."

The Mad Hatter

June 3rd, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^

Neither one should have ever been hired at Michigan.

I get that RR was the hot coach at the time, but anyone familiar with Michigan's history and culture should have known he wasn't going to work out here.  Michigan needed another Bo or Mo when Lloyd retired, not someone that wanted to completely change the entire program.

Hoke was DB's hubris.  He was obviously unqualified for the job.  Although I will say that we probably wouldn't have gone 11-2 if RR had stayed another year, just due to lack of defense.

 

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^

I love it when people make the "cultural" argument like that is an indictment on RR rather than a huge one on Michigan. And tell us, without the gift of hindsight, who was your "next Bo" in 2007 who would have been so much better?

The Mad Hatter

June 3rd, 2015 at 4:36 PM ^

Too bad Martin didn't pick up the phone.  

As for the rest of your post, I'll refer you to Mr. Yost.

 

“But do let me reiterate the Spirit of Michigan. It is based on a deathless loyalty to Michigan and all her ways.  An enthusiasm that makes it second nature for Michigan Men to spread the gospel of their university to the world’s distant outposts.  And a conviction that nowhere, is there a better university, in any way, than this Michigan of ours.” 

 

You don't come to Michigan to change it.  You come to Michigan to have it change you.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^

Losses virtually every season in the road opener, to Ohio State and in the bowl. A then recent loss to Appalachian State. Gee, who'd want to make any changes to that ass-kicking machine?

And Les Miles? If you thought the Carr clan was loaded for bear against RR, I'd hope even you could imagine how ugly it would have been with Miles.

The Mad Hatter

June 3rd, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^

Or are you a Rich Rod fan posting here for some reason?  Doesn't Arizona have it's own blog?

Yes, Lloyd stayed on a little too long and Tressel had his number.  All we needed was a new coach, not a complete system change.

You must not be a fan of the Harbaugh hire either.  After all, he's not a "spread" coach.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 5:14 PM ^

How am I not surprised that you took this in a sophomoric direction and used the old, lazy standby of "Are you even a Michigan fan?" Not even going to dignify that.

What exactly do you find so threatening about a new system? Coaches take their systems with them. Plenty of places that were not spread programs became spread programs and have flourished. Why was Michigan adopting a set of plays and offensive designs that many programs have success with so abhorrent do you? I realize I'm probably not talking to the sharpest knife in the drawer but I'll try to hear you out.

beergut

June 3rd, 2015 at 6:21 PM ^

The only negative thing many people find with Carr is how he kept losing to OSU at the end of his tenure. It's really a shame that those losses came to a proven cheater. Carr is a Hall of Fame coach who gave Michigan everything he had. Recruiting kids to play for him and then supporting them if they want to transfer b/c he's retiring is nothing but honorable, and should be thought of only as such.

Ronnie Kaye

June 4th, 2015 at 12:53 AM ^

I've lost count of how many people I've seen discredit all those wins OSU had because Tressel was a "proven cheater." They've never been able to answer how many points it was worth for them in The Game to lie about not knowing that players sold their Rose Bowl rings and Gold Pants. 

Michigan and Ohio State were neck-and-neck in recruiting in those years. Carr was severely outcoached on game day, not even able to take advantage of huge turnover deficits (5-0 combined in our favor in the '05 and '06 games; both losses, which is statistically almost impossible to do). Tressel being a cheater has nothing to do with that fact.

lilpenny1316

June 3rd, 2015 at 6:04 PM ^

You know Miles was on the staff in 1995 and had been here for seven seasons.  And he was a former player.  Why did he leave suddenly even though the rest of the staff was virtually intact?  Even his wikipedia page says he left due to rift with the school.  

Out of respect for the good coaches we did have in the 90s, I won't say what happened.  But Les crossed a line that would be very difficult to forget.

beergut

June 3rd, 2015 at 6:20 PM ^

Also, Martin and Coleman talked with Miles twice while he was still coaching LSU. If Lloyd was so against it, they would have never done that. 

On Friday, December 7, and again on Monday, December 10, Bill Martin, Mary Sue Coleman and Les Miles talked on a conference call. Both conversations were simple and pleasant. During the second call, Coleman said she could not hire Miles without meeting him first, and asked Miles to meet her and Martin in Miami, where Miles had already scheduled a recruiting trip. Miles replied that he could not do any face-to-face meeting until after the national title game. Miles let them know both times, however, that, "If you want me, then after the bowl game, I will be your coach. I just can't do anything before that. [But] I would never say no to Michigan." But, incredibly, just a few hours after both calls, word had leaked to the media, then started popping up on the blogs, and quickly traveled down to Baton Rouge. Miles was, understandably, upset -- and effectively boxed in.

lilpenny1316

June 3rd, 2015 at 8:29 PM ^

Lloyd Carr's name is nowhere to be found in this excerpt and the combination of Bill Martin and MSC was a bit clueless during the whole coaching search.  There's no way the hiring happens once people outside of BM and MSC catch wind of it.

And while Wikipedia is not a source in your opinion, I was there in 1995 and the following years.  Miles was not getting that job.

beergut

June 3rd, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^

"I just felt forced out, not by any person, but by the system," Mallett said late Wednesday night. "I just don't think me and his system ... it just doesn't fit."

Simply watching West Virginia play was enough to direct Mallett.

"Looking at their game film, you can see what they're trying to do with (running quarterback) Pat White," Mallett said. "I didn't think I could do that the same way."

There was nothing RR or Carr could do to change his mind.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^

The grad transfer rule was not prevelant when RR came here. Convinced Mallett to stay? I'd refer you to Mallett's parents, who said Lloyd told them Ryan "needed to leave." And Tate's flunking out (which happended after two seasons, not one) had nothing to do with RR's plight. For someone happy to oblige in debating, you really suck at it.

beergut

June 3rd, 2015 at 2:40 PM ^

Fact: Mallett left Michigan on his own because he didn't want to operate in a run-based offense.

When Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr retired after the 2007 season, Michigan hired Rodriguez from West Virginia to replace him. Mallett knew Rodriguez's spread offense wasn't a good fit for him. Mallett decided to leave Ann Arbor after his first face-to-face meeting with Rodriguez.

"As far as what Coach Rodriguez wants his quarterbacks to do, we both agreed it wasn't for me," Mallett said. "I decided to take a pass and let him get his own guy in there to be successful."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/preview09/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4417463

RR tried to get another QB when he signed Justin Feagin, but it didn't work out.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^

I'm well aware of this. It was pretty obvious that Mallett was out the door when we hired RR, his tough freshman season here notwithstanding.

Mallett's dad is quoted as saying that Carr told him he should leave. My point is, even if RR did his best to convince Mallett to stay, he'd be at odds with the coach who recruited the player. Attempts to get him to stay were futile, which I guess is why the person I'm arguing with has the brilliant idea that RR just shouldn't have signed the papers.

 

 

The Mad Hatter

June 3rd, 2015 at 3:28 PM ^

that he shouldn't have signed the papers.  What I am arguing is that Mallett was a good QB that RR didn't want.  Therefore his QB problems were of his own making.  Just like Hoke.

Every one of you RR knobslobbers have 2000 excuses why he sucked at Michigan, and none of them are his fault.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 4:37 PM ^

This is hilarious. You have no idea how much he did or didn't want him and there is plenty of evidence that if he did want him, it wouldn't have mattered. There is no scenario where Michigan's quarterback situation under RR wasn't going to require a lot of patience.

Us RR "knobslobbers" actually understand nuance and context. People like you only understand results and use lazy platitudes to justify your points. RR's track record away from Michigan speaks for itself. Hoke's track record was a joke and if he ever finds another job, I have a spoiler alert for you: he'll continue to suck.

DrewGOBLUE

June 4th, 2015 at 4:28 AM ^

With each loss only being by a few points, and all but one against very good opponents. That includes a 38-34 game @TCU, the year they finished 13-0 w/ a Rose Bowl win and #2 final rank.

SDSU lost 10 games the season before Brady Hoke took over, yet he turned the program around in just two years. Hoke did very well there and to say otherwise is unfair and pretty ignorant.

lilpenny1316

June 3rd, 2015 at 6:15 PM ^

and Manningham and Arrington.  I don't know why people think he didn't want Mallett.  We probably would have seen more of the Tulane spread that RR ran as opposed to the W. Va spread if he had those weapons.  

Maybe if Lloyd would've tried to recruit a QB in 2007 before his retirement, we wouldn't have been stuck playing from behind trying to get a QB in here.  Terrelle Pryor was a pipe dream that only became interested in us because of our new HC.  And we still finished third behind OSU and PSU.

WolverineMac

June 3rd, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^

If the he could coach defense, make a decent hiring decision and not force his defense down someone throat, or teach special teams.
Heck even have anything close to a sideline demeanor where it didn't look like he was shitting a sideways brick every time Simone he coached did something wrong.

Ronnie Kaye

June 3rd, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^

I'd put Jordan Kovacs in there as well. While not a recruit per se, RR widely expanded the view of possible walk-on contributors here and Kovacs came in on that program. When he was put on the field in 2009 he was quite bad but RR stuck with him and it eventually paid off.

Magnus

June 3rd, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^

I'm surprised it's that late. I wonder if that might prevent some guys from coming. Practice starts in a lot of places on August 1.

Magnus

June 3rd, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^

Yeah. I mean, it shouldn't be much of an issue for local kids who have to drive 1-2 hours, but it would make it difficult for people from Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, etc. who might have to practice on Saturday, travel on Sunday, and then practice again on Monday.

Magnus

June 3rd, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^

It might be, but I've always thought of the BBQ at the Big House as a chance for interstate recruits to come to town. After all, local guys can make it anytime, including for practices during the week, game day Saturdays, etc. The summertime is when I would think a staff would want to have big recruiting events where out-of-towners can attend.

LSAClassOf2000

June 3rd, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^

Like others, I am kind of intrigued by what the reason might be for the late date as it seems like it has normally been towards the middle of July. That being said, and I could be wrong, it was on that last weekend of July last year, so it isn't that much later than last year, but yeah, a few days make quite a difference for these kids because of practice schedules.