Why Rich Rodriguez was Fired.

Submitted by Happy Jack on

I'm convinced after witnessing the state of the board the last few weeks that we've all completely lost our minds, myself included.  I've read every possible dissertation on why Rich Rodriguez should have kept his job and how upset many people are that he got fired and how the program is now nuclear fucked instead of just fucked. It's been written all over the media that Michigan never supported Rich Rodriguez etc etc etc.  It almost looked like an "abusive spouse" effect in that we wanted to love him so bad but the relationship was nothing but destructive.  I decided that in spite of all the bullshit that's been written and said, we need to put aside the emotional attachment and loyalty to take a good hard look at what has transpired.

Ladies and gentlemen, after painstaking research I present to you the honest to god reason why Rich Rodriguez was fired as head coach.   In the 131 year history of Michigan Football, Rich Rodriguez ranks as follows among head coaches at Michigan:

 

Lowest overall winning percentage
1. Rich Rodriguez (.405)
2. Frank Crawford/Mike Murphy (co-head coaches in 1891) (.444)
3. Bump Elliott (.547)
4. Elton Wieman (.594)
5. Harry Kipke (.632)

Lowest Big Ten winning percentage
1. Rich Rodriguez (.250)
2. Bump Elliott (.485)
3. Elton Wieman (.500)
4. Harry Kipke (.560)
5. Langdon Lea (.600)

 

0-6 vs OSU + MSU

Worst Bowl Loss in the History of the Program

Only Head Coach to be charged with Major NCAA Violations during his tenure**

 

There's no ifs ands or buts.  Now, you may like him as a man and he certainly tried hard.  I believe him wholeheartedly when he says the University never got cheated out of a day of his pay.  All of us can also agree that the turmoil of a coaching change is undesirable.  However, anyone with a sense of reason knows that this isn't good enough for Michigan. Simply put, this is the worst that the program has ever been in its entire history.    While a huge pain in the ass, Dave Brandon had to make this move and the writing was written in bold covering every inch of the wall.  

 

I rest my case.

 

And also fuck haterz.  

 

 

** I understand many of us believe this may not have been deserved or of his doing.  Whether you'd like to include it as his fault or not, I think the point made stands.  

Happy Jack

January 8th, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^

Based on your reactions here everyone should have been in lock step with the decision to fire him unequivocally.  

I was also a bit surprised to see that he ranks DEAD LAST.  His failure was epic beyond ways that I think many of us have even comprehended.

 

Bryan

January 8th, 2011 at 3:55 PM ^

Not in this way. Not in January and not without 'the guy' ready and waiting to come in and save the program. This is the worst of all possible scenarios.
<br>
<br>There is no selling that the University of Michigan football program is in better shape with Brady Hoke at it's helm than RR.

Happy Jack

January 8th, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^

the point is it doesn't matter that we don't have "THE GUY" ready.  the point is that RR is not "THE GUY" and we know that.  

I liked the post about how OSU hired Tressel on January 18th or something like that.  How's that working out for them? .800 winning percentage or something like that?  7 wins straight against arch rival.  

The point is get the right guy even if it takes a little longer.  In the big scheme of things a couple of recruits or a week or 2 worth of time doesn't matter.

Marshmallow

January 8th, 2011 at 5:25 PM ^

I agree except that someone who doesn't have their head up their a** has taken a long time starting a long time ago so that this recruiting class doesn't go to sh*t.  Recruiting is so important and is the chief reason we have sucked over the last three years.  We can't afford another fd up class.

NathanFromMCounty

January 9th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^

I believe Brandon when he said that he felt it would be unfair to send the players to the bowl game without their coach.  I also believe that Brandon, like my friend the football traditionalist, wasn't crazy about the pre-bowl coaching carousel.  Unfortunately both my friend and Brandon failed to realize that "behind the scenes" college football is actually more of a blood sport than the on-the-field stuff.  So doing so has hurt the program, though I believe that we'll get Les MIles (or maybe one of the bigger named rumors, but definitely MIles if not) and that the recruiting class will be at least okay.

BigBlue02

January 8th, 2011 at 3:57 PM ^

Do you know who had only 2 more wins and the 90th ranked defense in the nation after year 3? Jim Harbaugh at Stanford. I think we have set the precedent that what you were left with is only an excuse, so does that mean Jim Harbaugh should have been on the hot seat in year 3 after losing to a piss poor Wake Forrest?

BigBlue02

January 8th, 2011 at 7:13 PM ^

He also had a signature loss to 3-9 Notre Dame in season 1 and a signature loss to 5-7 Wake Forest in season 3 (which means yes, if Stanford would have won, Notre dame would have gone 2-10), but we don't talk about that because only signature wins count unless you are RichRod.

JamesBondHerpesMeds

January 8th, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^

We can argue impact of wins/losses all we want.  But from a PR perspective, an away-game win against the #2 team in the country is going to turn heads at a middling Pac-10 program (yes, I called Stanford 'middling') much more than a loss to ND.  

The numbers don't lie, though.  RR's 1-11 record against ranked teams vs. JH's 6-6 record is another sign of meh.

BigBlue02

January 8th, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^

I don't think you understood my point. In year 3, we fired RichRod. That means we thought he was completely responsible for everything with the team, even if his recruits were only true sophomores. That means the "look at the team he inherited" excuse doesn't cut it for our fanbase. Why then, in the Jim Harbaugh argument, can we say that a 1-11 team he inherited has anything to do with the football team in year 3? It shouldn't according to our own evaluation of RichRod. That means, in year 3, Jim Harbaugh went 8-5 in the fucking Pac-10,  had the 90th ranked defense and lost to a 5-7 Wake Forest team where RichRod went 7-6 in the B10, didn't lose to a team with a losing record and also had 3 losses to teams that went a combined 33-3 before their bowl games. I mention as well that 5 out of the 6 losses were to ranked opponents, You tell me if we are evaluating the two coaches in the same light.

Ernis

January 8th, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^

"That means we thought he was completely responsible for everything with the team, even if his recruits were only true sophomores."

Not true. What it really means is that DB did not see a long-term solution in keeping RR. It's as simple as that. No one knows how the long meeting on Monday went, what was discussed, etc. But you've got to give DB credit for due diligence in evaluating RR -- maybe not so much with embarking on the CC, but we won't be able to evaluate that for another few years.

Maybe RR didn't take ownership of the things he needed to (for example, when in tough games the wheels would fall off the bus -- see Illinois ca. 2009 and others; that's a product of motivation, and is the coach's responsibility). Maybe RR didn't present a convincing plan of correction. Whatever, we don't know. But it's absurd to assume that DB is simply bending to the will of Sharp, Valenti, Rosenberg, and the fools who follow them.

maizedNblued

January 9th, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^

...the word "losses" = "routs"....those weren't losses....those were unacceptable routs we lived through. oh wait...no I forgot there was the 13-10 loss...................to Toledo.......oh wait....that's right now I remember......it was all Scott Schafer's fault......he fully accepted all the blame for all the woes of the program or as he put it.... "Bottom line is, I take full responsibility for the demise of the Michigan program... I accept all responsibility.”......with his grin ever so tucked away knowing full well his sarcasism was intended for us to read between the lines and see RR for who he really was.

Ernis

January 8th, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^

The amount of delusion amongst the RR defenders is really impressive.

The cupboard was bare -- to M standards, yes. Not to Toledo's or Purdue's or Northwestern's standards -- we still got our butt's kicked. No one expected us to go out and beat the pants off UW or OSU with a bunch of sophomores, but we never had a realistic chance in any game against a moderately good opponent (or better, obviously). We also lost to a lot of crap teams.

Do you honestly think most coaches would have lost to Toledo, at home, with the same roster? Delusion.

Foreverjian

January 8th, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^

Great, you posted in letters what DB just said 2 days ago in his press conference.

I applaud you for your diligent effort to show how bad RR was.  We've all been here dude.

raleighwood

January 8th, 2011 at 4:40 PM ^

I was at the game last week and I knew by the end of the third quarter that he couldn't come back. 

They lost by 38.....what was the tipping point?  I think if they lost by three or seven, that he could have kept his job.  A 10-17 point loss might have been a grey area.  Anything above that, he definitely had to go, especially with a month to prepare for the game.

There were a lot of little things along the way that cost RR.  What if Michigan had punched it in from the one against Illinois last year and then somehow held on to momentum and won the game?   What if they hadn't botched the fake punt against MSU?  What if he hadn't been outcoached by Danny Hope (yes, Danny Hope) against Purdue?  One more win in 2009 would have put him into a bowl game and improved his resume considerably.

It was a close call for RR, but in the end there really wasn't any other choice.....I just wish that this coaching search had been better planned.

DrWolverine23

January 8th, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^

.....because DB succumbed to the outside pressure, without having a solid plan in place. 

Hence no Harbaugh, the repeat of a Bill Martin like coaching search......unless he pulls something out of his ass, going to have a hard time regaining my respect for him. 

BlueVoix

January 9th, 2011 at 2:19 AM ^

Outside pressure...known as the fanbase?  Yeah, that'll usually do it.  When the fanbase is upset, angry, and realizes a coach isn't going to win, they'll ask for him to be fired.

And you're having a hard time respecting a guy that has had four days to hire a new head coach?  Four days?

Clarence Beeks

January 8th, 2011 at 5:25 PM ^

That is clearly a large (and obvious) part of it, but I think what he did with the offense this year was a major consideration.  We had to endure an utter mess in 2008 because the players had to "learn the offense" that he brought from WVU.  Players transferred, the players that were left were largely clueless in the system.  There was no deviation because the players had to learn it and it would take time.  There was no adaptation in the scheme based upon the talent that was present.  That changed with Denard in 2010.  The offensive playcalling this year was unlike anything I've seen from RR's offenses at the FBS level (and I followed him closely before his time at Michigan, particularly at WVU), so it was obvious that he had the ability to adapt based upon the talent present (or at least consider adapting), which begs the question why it didn't happen sooner.

UM_FANFORLIFE

January 8th, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^

Now that he is gone it seems that we are going to rock next season (sarcasm). I mean just look at today...1)We have no coach 2) We were 0-3 on recruits 3) and Dee Hart said a reason he chose Bama was because of the coaching change. O yeah...great idea to let RR go because next season looks promising...I hope our coach will do a good job....wait...who is our coach????

Happy Jack

January 8th, 2011 at 4:39 PM ^

this argument seems to be strong amongst the community which is exactly why i posted this thread.  

for those more interested in just crucifying each other so be it- neg bomb me to fucking oblivion it doesn't make a damn bit of difference to me nor make me love Michigan any less.  

I've gone back and forth in my thinking about this over the last few weeks and thats why i posted this.  When thinking about it more simplistically it became more obvious to me that the right decision was reached.  Go Blue.

NathanFromMCounty

January 9th, 2011 at 1:34 PM ^

...was never intending to come here, and I felt that way from midway through this season.  Though the running back position is actually pretty well stocked once we get away from Rich Rod's obsession with using Vincent Smith nearly every play (Fitz, Stephen Hopkins, and Mike Shaw should be considered, not sure if Cox has improved as he never played in the games, Justice Hayes coming in, etc.).

 

Kennyvr1

January 8th, 2011 at 3:55 PM ^

Big Picture. Slash how does Belien still have a job? RR goes forward Belien goes backwards. What has Dave Brandon done that makes anyone think this decision or any coaching decision he has made is an educated one. Wow, some of you are so blind.

BlueVoix

January 9th, 2011 at 2:24 AM ^

Wow, some of you are so blind.

You mean, like going to the tourny in his second year?  The first tourny appearance for Michigan in over a decade?  Or was it his ability to actually win games in the Big Ten and recruit that you aren't noticing?

The fuck has gotten in the drinking water around here?