Thank you for this post. Coach Rodriguez definitely reminds me of Bo. He has a plan, he's implementing it, and we are showing progress. I grew up with Bo. I watched Mike Lantry miss field goals in 1973 and 74. Bump Elliot left a lot more talent in the cupboard than Accidental-coach Carr. . Coach Rodriguez knows what he's doing - he's proven that every where he's coached. What I don't understand is why some Michigan fans do not support Coach Rodriguez. He became coach AFTER Accidental-coach Carr lost to Appy State and was blown out at home 38-9 by Oregon. Obviously, to me as a long time fan, our program was in a shambles because of Carr. Thankfully, we have a coach now who knows what he's doing.
Thank you, Brian for your thoughtful comments on Rich Rodriguez, I've been going to Michigan games since 1973 and this year I travelled from Virginia to take my 11-year old to the Illinois game - what a thrill for both of us. I was at Michigan when we went 6-6 in 1984 - it was a nightmare. I was in the stands for Colorado the Desmond Howard trip in the end zone and so many other heart wrenching losses. I also enjoyed the thrill of going to Pasedena in 1981 for Bo's first Rose Bowl win and again in 1997 for the national title game. I've lived and died with Michigan football for a long time.
So I don't come to this conclusion lightly - I think Michigan is very, very lucky that Rich Rodriguez is our head coach. He has a proven track record of success, he is demonstrating progress each year, and his offense is magic.
Coach Rodriguez has been unfairly attacked, in my opinion, since the day he arrived in Ann Arbor. And the fact of the matter is - when he got here the Michigan football program was a wreck.
As a long time fan, I do not understand the affection that many Michigan fans have for Coach Carr. Frankly, I think he drove the program off the cliff but jumped out with a parachute before the rest of us crashed and burned in 2008. In his final 6 years, he went 1-5 against Ohio State - the worst stretch of any Michigan head football coach in our history. In his final year he lost to Appalachian State at home and was blown out by Oregon the following week. We scored 3 points against Ohio State in 2007. Michigan football was in terrible shape when Coach Rodriguez arrived in Ann Arbor - we weren't competitive with our primary rival and were falling further and further behind upcoming programs like Oregon.
In thinking about Coach Rodriguez's third year, I was curious what our defense looked like in Coach Carr's third year. I was surprised at the great junior/senior talent that Coach Moeller assembled before he was let go just before the 1995 season. The 1997 defense included: 13 jr/sr's who started at least one game; 8 of whom played in the NFL (2 are still playing!) and a junior Heisman Trophy winner. If Coach Carr had assembled just half the talent that Coach Moeller left him, I can only dream about how great Coach Rodriguez's third year year would be. But he didn't. And the simple fact is there is a huge difference between the talent and ability of a true freshman and a junior or senior in college.
Coach Rodriguez is an offensive genius, he is showing progress, and I have every confidence that he will build a strong defense as the players he is bringing in develop. The cupboard was dry when he got here. He has filled half of it. Let's give him a reasable amount of time to fill the other half. Obviously, he has to win, but every sign so far, at least for me, demonstrates that he is moving us in the right direction.
1997 Seniors / Juniors who started games on defense:
Jr - James Hall (started 11 games) - LB (NFL - 13 years)
Sr - Clint Copenhaver (started 8) - LB
Sr - Rob Swett (started 3) - LB
Sr - Sam Sword (started 11) - LB (NFL 4 yrs)
Sr - Eric Mayes (started 3) - LB
Sr - Juaquin Feazell (started 3) - LB, DT, DE
Jr - Josh Williams (started 11) - DT (NFL 7 yrs)
Jr - Rob Renes (started 12) - NT (NFL 1 yr)
Sr - Glen Steele (started 11) - DE (NFL 6 yrs)
Jr - Charles Woodson (started 12) - CB (NFL CURRENT - 13 yrs)
Sr - Andrew Weathers (started 10) - CB (NFL 2 yrs)
Here were the juniors and seniors on "Lloyd Carr's" 3rd year defense in 1997. I'm not sure that the 2010 version will have 8 jr/srs play in the NFL. Or that in 2024 two jr/sr on the 2010 defense will STILL be in the NFL. (Games started in 1997 in parens).
LB - James Hall - Jr - (11) - LB - (NFL 13 years - so far)
LB - Clint Copenhaver - Sr - (8)
LB - Rob Swett - Sr - (3)
LB - Sam Sword - Sr - (11) (NFL 4 years)
LB - Eric Mayes - Sr - (3)
LB, DT, DE - Juaqin Feazell - Sr - (3)
DT - Josh Williams - Jr (11) (NFL 7 years)
NT - Rob Renes - Jr (12) (NFL 1 year)
DE - Glen Steele - Sr - (11) (NFL 6 years)
CB - Andrew Weathers - Sr (10) (NFL 2 years)
CB - Daydrion Taylor - Jr (1)
SS - Marcus Ray - Sr (12) (NFL 1 year)
CB - Charles Woodson - Jr (12) (also started one game on offense) (NFL 13 years - so far)
Echo what most people say above - the goal is to put yourself in the most confident state of mind possible.
Stay at a decent hotel; eat alone, review your summaries the night before for a little while; get a good night's sleep both nights; exercise in the morning (maybe a 20-30 minute run to get the blood flowing), get there early to avoid stress; 10 deep breaths before you start; bring a watch to pace yourself; don't get bogged down on any questions (trust yourself and move on to the next one).
And remember ... you probably know a lot of people who are lawyers who are not the smartest cats in the bag. That has got to give you a little confidence that if us jokers could do it you can, too.
Coach Carr's statement is a non-denial, denial. All he says is that the re-telling of the conversation is a distortion. That it wasn't accurate. That he didn't talk to the author(who said he did?).
Notably, he does not deny the central issue. He did not say: "I did not tell Morgan Trent that I heard that Coach Rodriguez said negative things about him to NFL scouts."
All Carr says is that the re-telling of the story by the author was a "distortion."
Morgan Trent, in his sort-of-retraction re-confirms that Coach Carr did say negative things about Coach Rodriguez: "When we spoke, I brought it up to him, and he said he had heard some of the same things."
In contrast, Coach Rodriguez provides an actual denial of the central issue: "The comments attributed to me are inaccurate and absolutely ridiculous," Rodriguez said in the statement. "I said just the opposite about Morgan Trent to NFL scouts and wish him well with the Bengals."
Rather than spread or confirm negative rumors about Coach Rodriguez, Coach Carr, an employee of the Michigan athletic department, should have said something like: "Trent, don't worry about rumors. Or what he said or she said. I know you're a good player. Go out there and prove that you belong in the NFL."
But Coach Carr didn't say that, did he? Instead, Coach Carr created or left an impression with Morgan Trent that he either volunteered or confirmed negative statements about Coach Rodriguez.
And now he is quitting.
So I wonder - was the resignation voluntary or involuntary? I think the timing is interesting.
Interesting timing so soon after Coach Carr apparently undermined Coach Rodriguez a couple of months ago when Carr left Morgan Trent with the impression (intentionally or unintentionally) that Coach Carr was critical of Coach Rodriguez.
Interesting timing so soon after Coach Carr apparently undermined Coach Rodriguez a couple of months ago when Carr left Morgan Trent with the impression (intentionally or unintentionally) that Coach Carr was critical of Coach Rodriguez.
Michigan was 1-3 against Ohio State during Braylon's tenure at Michigan. Pretty rich for him to be complaining NOW about our record against them. I wonder if he ever criticized Carr for finishing his career 1-6 against OSU. It has been a long, long time since we were competitive with Ohio State. At least with Coach Rodriguez, we have some hope to turn this ship around.
November 2007 story after yet another loss by Coach Carr to Ohio State:
"The four consecutive losses to Ohio State, matched Michigan's longest losing streak in the storied series, and Carr became the first coach in school history to lose six times in seven years in the rivalry." http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3117704
Since the only reason for any of this movement is to grab more money for each school, it seems that the only rational basis for deciding how to split the conference into divisions should also be tied to money.
Yostal, your formula for dividing the conference is genius in its simplicity and true to the reason for adding Nebraska - making more money for the conference and the member schools. Honest. Simple. Brilliant.
As a proud graduate of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, I found it especially hilarious to see the poor Central kid dose off during the President's speech. Bad luck sitting right over his shoulder in the camera shot when all you want to do is nap! Thank you for this OT post, it brought a smile to my face remembering that old rivalry.
In his final year at Michigan, terrbile defense in losses to App State and Oregon (one could argue that he didn't have his guys ready to play defense when the season started).
As a HC his team was 0-12 and they gave up 40+ points in 5 games (45, 47, 50, 56, 63). They lost by a touchdown or less in only 3 of the 12 losses.
The program was in decline long before Rich Rodriguez arrived in Ann Arbor. I, for one, am thankful that he is the one rebuilding our program. He was the best choice at the time. He has a proven record. He does things the right way (this investigation has proven that point beyond any doubt I had). And it is clear to me, primarily from reading Brian and Tim and all the other wonderful contributors to this blog, that Rodriguez is bringing in high quality players and that a tougher, united team is being built in Ann Arbor.
I can tell from watching Rodriguez on the Michigan Coach’s show every week for the past two years, meeting him when he was in DC last summer, and watching his press conferences, reading the clips, etc. that he cares a great deal about his players. He is passionate about winning. And he respects the tradition of Michigan. I love seeing Jerry Hanlon spend so much time on the sidelines, appearing on the coach’s show, continuing the tradition of reading his letter to the team before the Ohio State game each year. I love seeing Moeller welcomed back to the program. I don’t believe there is anyone who wants to win more for Michigan than Rich Rodriguez. And I like that he embraces our past even though he wasn’t personally a part of it.
In my opinion, if Jerry Hanlon, Bo's right hand man for so many years, supports Rich Rodriguez then I'm confident we're in good hands.
Some forget how bad things were BEFORE Rodriguez was hired. During his final 7 years Carr was 1-6 against Ohio State (the first Michigan coach to suffer a 1-6 stretch). 2-5 in Bowl Games. And, of course, Appalachian State. For comparison, John Cooper was 2-5 against Michigan in his final 7 years.
The Bo-Moeller-Carr era sadly came to an end. It was time to start a new era. I blame Carr for the end or this string. I'm sure other reasonable people can point fingers fairly at someone else. But to end your reign 1-6 against our primary rival is strong evidence that the program was in serious trouble.
In 2008, we hit bottom. We all wish we were 6-6 in 2008 and 7-5 in 2009 but it doesn't really matter that we were 3-9 and 5-7 instead. What matters, to me, is that we re-build the program so that we are competitive with OSU, challenging for the Big Ten Title every year, and a serious contender for the national title on a regular basis.
It seems to me that Coach Rodriguez is putting the pieces together to build a program that will reach these goals. In the past, he turned around programs in 2 years. But I don’t think he started a walkon at quarterback in any of his previous jobs or a true freshman his second year. I am hopeful and quite confident given his track record and steady improvement from 2008 to 2009 that year 3 will be the turn-around year for him at Michigan.
The end of "all the greatness that was there [your] whole life" started well before Coach Rodriguez arrived in Ann Arbor.
"The four consecutive losses to Ohio State, matched Michigan's longest losing streak in the storied series, and Carr became the first coach in school history to lose six times in seven years in the rivalry." http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3117704
John Cooper at least went 2-5 against Michigan in his final 7 years at Ohio State.
Coach Carr's statement is really a non-denial denial, isn't it? “That paragraph is completely a distortion of my conversation with Morgan. That is a complete distortion, and it is not accurate.”
What’s missing to me, so far, is a denial of the allegation. (Did I miss the denial?)
Every re-telling of a conversation is distorted and inaccurate. Only video and a transcript can be reliably accurate.
I advise people "it doesn’t matter what you say in the meeting. What matters is what they think they hear and, more importantly, what they will tell other people you said in the meeting. So be careful what you say because you don't want to leave the wrong impression."
Or as Maya Angelou more artfully put it: “people will forget what you said … but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
Morgan Trent felt that Coach Carr told him that Coach Rodriguez was unfairly critical of Trent to NFL scouts.
In their awkward (hopefully) conversation where a young man is complaining about the new coach, Coach Carr should have been extra careful not to make Trent feel like Coach Carr was undermining Coach Rodriguez. That apparently didn't happen.
How does the old coach do that for the former pupil who doesn’t like the new coach? By saying something like: “I don’t know. Don’t believe rumors. I think you’re great and I told 12 teams you are a great player. You’ll be fine. Go out there and prove you should've been drafted in the 3rd round insteadd of the 6th.”
But instead Coach Carr made Trent feel that he either (1) was the one who told Trent about the rumors or (2) confirmed for Trent that he heard the rumors, too. Either way, Trent left that meeting feeling that he and Carr were aligned. And Trent confirmed his belief after the story exploded this week: "When we spoke, I brought it up to him, and he said he had heard some of the same things."
The re-creation of the Carr/Trent conversation by the author (and the participants) is, of course, distorted and inaccurate. They are humans not video recorders. But there is no question what Trent felt they discussed. And there is no question in my mind who is responsible for creating that impression with him.
I hope Coach Carr did deny the allegation and that I just missed it. If not, I hope that he will stop making other players feel like he is undermining Coach Rodriguez.
Thank you for the fantastic analysis. Very interesting.
Where do you get the play by play data to conduct this type of research? I hunted around the NCAA site but couldn't find it - I certainly may have missed it.
Recent Comments
when they accept is awesome.
"There are 26 letters in the English alphabet ... but only one will change your life forever!"
And I think they still mail them the letter.
So proud of how hard she worked. And so very, very happy for her that she got the result she wanted.
Question for Mathlete and statisticians from an LSA major - is data at all meaningful from this universe?
"The survey of 1,224 Michigan voting residents — including 393 who identified themselves as Michigan fans — was conducted from Dec. 3-6."
What is the margin of error on a survey universe of just 393?
Thank you for this post. Coach Rodriguez definitely reminds me of Bo. He has a plan, he's implementing it, and we are showing progress. I grew up with Bo. I watched Mike Lantry miss field goals in 1973 and 74. Bump Elliot left a lot more talent in the cupboard than Accidental-coach Carr. . Coach Rodriguez knows what he's doing - he's proven that every where he's coached. What I don't understand is why some Michigan fans do not support Coach Rodriguez. He became coach AFTER Accidental-coach Carr lost to Appy State and was blown out at home 38-9 by Oregon. Obviously, to me as a long time fan, our program was in a shambles because of Carr. Thankfully, we have a coach now who knows what he's doing.
Thank you, Brian for your thoughtful comments on Rich Rodriguez, I've been going to Michigan games since 1973 and this year I travelled from Virginia to take my 11-year old to the Illinois game - what a thrill for both of us. I was at Michigan when we went 6-6 in 1984 - it was a nightmare. I was in the stands for Colorado the Desmond Howard trip in the end zone and so many other heart wrenching losses. I also enjoyed the thrill of going to Pasedena in 1981 for Bo's first Rose Bowl win and again in 1997 for the national title game. I've lived and died with Michigan football for a long time.
So I don't come to this conclusion lightly - I think Michigan is very, very lucky that Rich Rodriguez is our head coach. He has a proven track record of success, he is demonstrating progress each year, and his offense is magic.
Coach Rodriguez has been unfairly attacked, in my opinion, since the day he arrived in Ann Arbor. And the fact of the matter is - when he got here the Michigan football program was a wreck.
As a long time fan, I do not understand the affection that many Michigan fans have for Coach Carr. Frankly, I think he drove the program off the cliff but jumped out with a parachute before the rest of us crashed and burned in 2008. In his final 6 years, he went 1-5 against Ohio State - the worst stretch of any Michigan head football coach in our history. In his final year he lost to Appalachian State at home and was blown out by Oregon the following week. We scored 3 points against Ohio State in 2007. Michigan football was in terrible shape when Coach Rodriguez arrived in Ann Arbor - we weren't competitive with our primary rival and were falling further and further behind upcoming programs like Oregon.
In thinking about Coach Rodriguez's third year, I was curious what our defense looked like in Coach Carr's third year. I was surprised at the great junior/senior talent that Coach Moeller assembled before he was let go just before the 1995 season. The 1997 defense included: 13 jr/sr's who started at least one game; 8 of whom played in the NFL (2 are still playing!) and a junior Heisman Trophy winner. If Coach Carr had assembled just half the talent that Coach Moeller left him, I can only dream about how great Coach Rodriguez's third year year would be. But he didn't. And the simple fact is there is a huge difference between the talent and ability of a true freshman and a junior or senior in college.
Coach Rodriguez is an offensive genius, he is showing progress, and I have every confidence that he will build a strong defense as the players he is bringing in develop. The cupboard was dry when he got here. He has filled half of it. Let's give him a reasable amount of time to fill the other half. Obviously, he has to win, but every sign so far, at least for me, demonstrates that he is moving us in the right direction.
1997 Seniors / Juniors who started games on defense:
Jr - James Hall (started 11 games) - LB (NFL - 13 years)
Sr - Clint Copenhaver (started 8) - LB
Sr - Rob Swett (started 3) - LB
Sr - Sam Sword (started 11) - LB (NFL 4 yrs)
Sr - Eric Mayes (started 3) - LB
Sr - Juaquin Feazell (started 3) - LB, DT, DE
Jr - Josh Williams (started 11) - DT (NFL 7 yrs)
Jr - Rob Renes (started 12) - NT (NFL 1 yr)
Sr - Glen Steele (started 11) - DE (NFL 6 yrs)
Jr - Charles Woodson (started 12) - CB (NFL CURRENT - 13 yrs)
Sr - Andrew Weathers (started 10) - CB (NFL 2 yrs)
Jr - Daydrion Taylor (started 1) - CB
Sr - Marcus Ray (started 12) - SS (NFL 1 yr)
Here were the juniors and seniors on "Lloyd Carr's" 3rd year defense in 1997. I'm not sure that the 2010 version will have 8 jr/srs play in the NFL. Or that in 2024 two jr/sr on the 2010 defense will STILL be in the NFL. (Games started in 1997 in parens).
LB - James Hall - Jr - (11) - LB - (NFL 13 years - so far)
LB - Clint Copenhaver - Sr - (8)
LB - Rob Swett - Sr - (3)
LB - Sam Sword - Sr - (11) (NFL 4 years)
LB - Eric Mayes - Sr - (3)
LB, DT, DE - Juaqin Feazell - Sr - (3)
DT - Josh Williams - Jr (11) (NFL 7 years)
NT - Rob Renes - Jr (12) (NFL 1 year)
DE - Glen Steele - Sr - (11) (NFL 6 years)
CB - Andrew Weathers - Sr (10) (NFL 2 years)
CB - Daydrion Taylor - Jr (1)
SS - Marcus Ray - Sr (12) (NFL 1 year)
CB - Charles Woodson - Jr (12) (also started one game on offense) (NFL 13 years - so far)
Echo what most people say above - the goal is to put yourself in the most confident state of mind possible.
Stay at a decent hotel; eat alone, review your summaries the night before for a little while; get a good night's sleep both nights; exercise in the morning (maybe a 20-30 minute run to get the blood flowing), get there early to avoid stress; 10 deep breaths before you start; bring a watch to pace yourself; don't get bogged down on any questions (trust yourself and move on to the next one).
And remember ... you probably know a lot of people who are lawyers who are not the smartest cats in the bag. That has got to give you a little confidence that if us jokers could do it you can, too.
Good luck.
Coach Carr's statement is a non-denial, denial. All he says is that the re-telling of the conversation is a distortion. That it wasn't accurate. That he didn't talk to the author(who said he did?).
Notably, he does not deny the central issue. He did not say: "I did not tell Morgan Trent that I heard that Coach Rodriguez said negative things about him to NFL scouts."
All Carr says is that the re-telling of the story by the author was a "distortion."
Morgan Trent, in his sort-of-retraction re-confirms that Coach Carr did say negative things about Coach Rodriguez: "When we spoke, I brought it up to him, and he said he had heard some of the same things."
In contrast, Coach Rodriguez provides an actual denial of the central issue: "The comments attributed to me are inaccurate and absolutely ridiculous," Rodriguez said in the statement. "I said just the opposite about Morgan Trent to NFL scouts and wish him well with the Bengals."
Rather than spread or confirm negative rumors about Coach Rodriguez, Coach Carr, an employee of the Michigan athletic department, should have said something like: "Trent, don't worry about rumors. Or what he said or she said. I know you're a good player. Go out there and prove that you belong in the NFL."
But Coach Carr didn't say that, did he? Instead, Coach Carr created or left an impression with Morgan Trent that he either volunteered or confirmed negative statements about Coach Rodriguez.
And now he is quitting.
So I wonder - was the resignation voluntary or involuntary? I think the timing is interesting.
Interesting timing so soon after Coach Carr apparently undermined Coach Rodriguez a couple of months ago when Carr left Morgan Trent with the impression (intentionally or unintentionally) that Coach Carr was critical of Coach Rodriguez.
Interesting timing so soon after Coach Carr apparently undermined Coach Rodriguez a couple of months ago when Carr left Morgan Trent with the impression (intentionally or unintentionally) that Coach Carr was critical of Coach Rodriguez.
Michigan was 1-3 against Ohio State during Braylon's tenure at Michigan. Pretty rich for him to be complaining NOW about our record against them. I wonder if he ever criticized Carr for finishing his career 1-6 against OSU. It has been a long, long time since we were competitive with Ohio State. At least with Coach Rodriguez, we have some hope to turn this ship around.
November 2007 story after yet another loss by Coach Carr to Ohio State:
"The four consecutive losses to Ohio State, matched Michigan's longest losing streak in the storied series, and Carr became the first coach in school history to lose six times in seven years in the rivalry." http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3117704
Since the only reason for any of this movement is to grab more money for each school, it seems that the only rational basis for deciding how to split the conference into divisions should also be tied to money.
Yostal, your formula for dividing the conference is genius in its simplicity and true to the reason for adding Nebraska - making more money for the conference and the member schools. Honest. Simple. Brilliant.
As a proud graduate of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, I found it especially hilarious to see the poor Central kid dose off during the President's speech. Bad luck sitting right over his shoulder in the camera shot when all you want to do is nap! Thank you for this OT post, it brought a smile to my face remembering that old rivalry.
Tom - thank you for all of your great work on the recruiting updates. The time you spend giving us updates is really amazing. Feel the love.
Jim
In his final year at Michigan, terrbile defense in losses to App State and Oregon (one could argue that he didn't have his guys ready to play defense when the season started).
As a HC his team was 0-12 and they gave up 40+ points in 5 games (45, 47, 50, 56, 63). They lost by a touchdown or less in only 3 of the 12 losses.
The program was in decline long before Rich Rodriguez arrived in Ann Arbor. I, for one, am thankful that he is the one rebuilding our program. He was the best choice at the time. He has a proven record. He does things the right way (this investigation has proven that point beyond any doubt I had). And it is clear to me, primarily from reading Brian and Tim and all the other wonderful contributors to this blog, that Rodriguez is bringing in high quality players and that a tougher, united team is being built in Ann Arbor.
I can tell from watching Rodriguez on the Michigan Coach’s show every week for the past two years, meeting him when he was in DC last summer, and watching his press conferences, reading the clips, etc. that he cares a great deal about his players. He is passionate about winning. And he respects the tradition of Michigan. I love seeing Jerry Hanlon spend so much time on the sidelines, appearing on the coach’s show, continuing the tradition of reading his letter to the team before the Ohio State game each year. I love seeing Moeller welcomed back to the program. I don’t believe there is anyone who wants to win more for Michigan than Rich Rodriguez. And I like that he embraces our past even though he wasn’t personally a part of it.
In my opinion, if Jerry Hanlon, Bo's right hand man for so many years, supports Rich Rodriguez then I'm confident we're in good hands.
Some forget how bad things were BEFORE Rodriguez was hired. During his final 7 years Carr was 1-6 against Ohio State (the first Michigan coach to suffer a 1-6 stretch). 2-5 in Bowl Games. And, of course, Appalachian State. For comparison, John Cooper was 2-5 against Michigan in his final 7 years.
The Bo-Moeller-Carr era sadly came to an end. It was time to start a new era. I blame Carr for the end or this string. I'm sure other reasonable people can point fingers fairly at someone else. But to end your reign 1-6 against our primary rival is strong evidence that the program was in serious trouble.
In 2008, we hit bottom. We all wish we were 6-6 in 2008 and 7-5 in 2009 but it doesn't really matter that we were 3-9 and 5-7 instead. What matters, to me, is that we re-build the program so that we are competitive with OSU, challenging for the Big Ten Title every year, and a serious contender for the national title on a regular basis.
It seems to me that Coach Rodriguez is putting the pieces together to build a program that will reach these goals. In the past, he turned around programs in 2 years. But I don’t think he started a walkon at quarterback in any of his previous jobs or a true freshman his second year. I am hopeful and quite confident given his track record and steady improvement from 2008 to 2009 that year 3 will be the turn-around year for him at Michigan.
Jim
The end of "all the greatness that was there [your] whole life" started well before Coach Rodriguez arrived in Ann Arbor.
"The four consecutive losses to Ohio State, matched Michigan's longest losing streak in the storied series, and Carr became the first coach in school history to lose six times in seven years in the rivalry." http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3117704
John Cooper at least went 2-5 against Michigan in his final 7 years at Ohio State.
Jim
Coach Carr's statement is really a non-denial denial, isn't it? “That paragraph is completely a distortion of my conversation with Morgan. That is a complete distortion, and it is not accurate.”
What’s missing to me, so far, is a denial of the allegation. (Did I miss the denial?)
Every re-telling of a conversation is distorted and inaccurate. Only video and a transcript can be reliably accurate.
I advise people "it doesn’t matter what you say in the meeting. What matters is what they think they hear and, more importantly, what they will tell other people you said in the meeting. So be careful what you say because you don't want to leave the wrong impression."
Or as Maya Angelou more artfully put it: “people will forget what you said … but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
Morgan Trent felt that Coach Carr told him that Coach Rodriguez was unfairly critical of Trent to NFL scouts.
In their awkward (hopefully) conversation where a young man is complaining about the new coach, Coach Carr should have been extra careful not to make Trent feel like Coach Carr was undermining Coach Rodriguez. That apparently didn't happen.
How does the old coach do that for the former pupil who doesn’t like the new coach? By saying something like: “I don’t know. Don’t believe rumors. I think you’re great and I told 12 teams you are a great player. You’ll be fine. Go out there and prove you should've been drafted in the 3rd round insteadd of the 6th.”
But instead Coach Carr made Trent feel that he either (1) was the one who told Trent about the rumors or (2) confirmed for Trent that he heard the rumors, too. Either way, Trent left that meeting feeling that he and Carr were aligned. And Trent confirmed his belief after the story exploded this week: "When we spoke, I brought it up to him, and he said he had heard some of the same things."
The re-creation of the Carr/Trent conversation by the author (and the participants) is, of course, distorted and inaccurate. They are humans not video recorders. But there is no question what Trent felt they discussed. And there is no question in my mind who is responsible for creating that impression with him.
I hope Coach Carr did deny the allegation and that I just missed it. If not, I hope that he will stop making other players feel like he is undermining Coach Rodriguez.
Jim
Mathlete -
Thank you for the fantastic analysis. Very interesting.
Where do you get the play by play data to conduct this type of research? I hunted around the NCAA site but couldn't find it - I certainly may have missed it.
Thank you,
Jim