pete-rock

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Date Title Body
29 weeks 1 day ago Time to call this

Time to call this multi-faceted offense what it is -- the SmorgasBorges Offense.
30 weeks 6 days ago Maybe a little OT...

But please stick with me here.  Kudos to John Bacon for writing this book and exploring/exposing the details of Michigan's last three years under RR.  I've read some excerpts and I definitely look forward to reading the whole thing.  Count me among those who was a huge RR supporter who reluctantly realized he would never be able to succeed and ultimately had to go, due to his own flaws as well as those of the program and the Michigan Family.

But there is a bigger cultural picture to look at here, too.  From the very beginning I saw RR's hire as a grand litmus test not simply for U-M football, but for the state of Michigan and the Midwest's approach to progress, innovation, and the kind of change needed to revitalize a stagnant region.  Everyone knows RR represented a radical departure from the U-M norm, but everyone also seems to forget about the slight but steady decline that was hurting the program for years prior to his hire; we wanted to restore the glory.  But all the institutional forces that had so much invested in the traditions of the program never embraced the change and gnawed away at RR's ability to succeed.  Yes, we wanted success, but we wanted success that validated our old vision instead of being the result of a new one.  And without getting way OT, parallels abound for the state and for the Midwest. 

That is in part why I wanted so badly for RR to succeed.  If U-M could embrace change in its football program, maybe the state could embrace the change needed to revitalize itself.  Now we have a book that will tell you how big a mistake that kind of thinking was.

Today, under Brady Hoke I firmly believe U-M is on the right path to reach excellence again.  And maybe Hoke's approach of melding traditions with new practices is the template for revitalizing the state, too.

If this doesn't fit here, please forgive me.
1 year 24 weeks ago Geez!

I try to bring a little reason into the discussion without offering any opinion, and a narrow interpretation of the "rules" earns me a negging.

I sincerely apologize.  There was no intent to incite or inflame, only inform.
1 year 24 weeks ago Logic says Rich Rod is staying

It's time for all evaluation and speculation on Rich Rod's status to end.  Leaving my own personal opinion out of the mix, anyone who thinks this process through has to come to the conclusion that he's staying.

Once Dave Brandon said that he would evaluate the coaching situation after the bowl game, he was making the implied admission that at a minimum RR was staying through 2011.  If U-M were making a change at head coach, RR would've been fired already.  Just like Randy Shannon at Miami.

There's no benefit in keeping RR until the bowl game, only to axe him afterwards.  There's only downside to that -- scrambling to get a coach and assistants in ASAP, recruits scrambling to find new schools.  If RR was going, Brandon would've let him go very shortly after The Game, begun whatever "official" coaching search he was going to start, gotten his under-the-table agreement that Harbaugh was coming in, and would be planning the press conference immediately following whatever New Year's Day bowl Stanford goes to. 

We can continue to spew our thoughts pro and con on RR, but logic tells me the decision has already been made.
1 year 25 weeks ago Is it me?

I live outside of Michigan but proudly maintain my Michigan Fan Card(tm).  Not sure if it's me or not, but I sense that the Fire Rich Rod sentiment is strongest in the state of Michigan, and less so with the Michigan Diaspora.  Is this true?

If it is, my guess is that the local media has been effective in its characterizations of the Rich Rod regime, and Sparty's success under Dantonio has become really grating.  I don't have any exposure to either.
1 year 25 weeks ago I totally agree.

When looking at the job Rich Rod has had to do so far at U-M, why don't people look at what could've been the alternative beginning in 2008?  And I don't mean the Les Miles alternative, I mean the Lloyd Carr Coaching Tree alternative.

From my perspective U-M has been on a slow decline since 2001, and that decline accelerated in 2005, the 2006 season notwithstanding.  If U-M had hired a coach steeped in the traditions of the previous era, I'd be willing to bet we would've had an overall record eerily similar to what we've had since '08 -- and without a hint or glimmer of hope for progress over the next half decade.

Do people simply forget the frustration of 2004-2007?  Sure, Lloyd's teams won more games during that period than Rich Rod has, but those teams hit their ceiling and that ceiling was ever so steadily pushing downward.  This year's team was nowhere close to its ceiling, has been able to get back into the bowl mix and is set up for huge success in 2011 and beyond.

I choose hope, not overreaction.
1 year 30 weeks ago Is that really true?

This is an honest-to-goodness question.  When you put inexperienced and unprepared young players out on the field before they're ready, does it stunt their future growth?  Does a DB who gets torched because he doesn't know which way is up actually recover to be competent or even good, or is he scarred for life because of the experience?

I have thoughts about players like a young Rick Ankiel not being able to keep his pitches even remotely near home plate, and how he had to remake his entire baseball career from scratch. 

I honestly wonder if whether throwing freshman DBs to the wolves hurts their ability to develop to their full potential.  If not, then I would agree that they'll be fine.  If so, then our secondary is in for even more trouble in ensuing years.

It sounds like a MgoBlog research project -- what relevance does poor freshman year performance have on future individual development?
1 year 33 weeks ago Chappelbombings will occur...

But it doesn't mean our season is lost by any stretch, as long as the offense keeps Denarding.

I did a stats check of BCS conference teams over the last five years that gave up 400+ ypg in total defense.  There were 56 teams since 2005 that fit the bill.  Of those, 19 finished .500 or better.  Furthermore, 9 finished with 8 or more wins:

2009 Arkansas (8-5)

2009 Stanford (8-5)

2008 Oklahoma State (9-4)

2008 Missouri (10-4)

2007 Tennessee (10-4)

2006 Purdue (8-6)

2005 Wisconsin (10-3)

2005 UCLA (10-2)

What distinguished those teams? A high-powered offense, of course.  Seven of the nine had offenses ranked in the top third nationally (2007 Tennessee and 2005 Wisconsin missed the cut).  Two of the nine had unstoppable spread offenses that ranked in the top ten nationally: in 2008 Okie State's offense was #6, and Mizzou's was #8.  That year both teams ate up more than 480+ ypg, and surrendered more than 405+ ypg. 

At this point, UM is certainly on pace to equal both those totals; if it comes with similar results that would exceed my pre-season expectations.

BTW, those Okie State and Mizzou teams were senior-laden that lost quite a bit after that 2008 season.  UM is far younger and can expect improvement even if they have similar results.
1 year 33 weeks ago Home field is about the only reason I think we win...

because if this game was in East Lansing I see Sparty winning.  However, playing at home will be a big boost.  My prediction is 48-38.

But here's one big caveat -- IU has given the league the template for beating UM, and MSU has the QB who could replicate it.  IU simply kept UM's offense off the field with their passing attack, and I'm afraid MSU and Iowa have talented and experienced QBs who could do what Ben Chappell did.

This is where the O MUST help the D.  UM's quick-strike capability is keeping the D on the field way too long.  RR, Denard & Co. are going to have to practice some ball control strategy to limit MSU's opportunities against our D.  This week I'd rather see 10 play, 80 yard drives than 2 play quick strikes. 

I don't care if some consider TOP an overvalued metric or not, IU had the ball for 42:00 compared to UM's 18:00.  They ran 98 plays to our 45.  If UM holds onto the ball for 2:00 more each quarter, raising TOP to 26:00, that's 8:00 IU DOESN'T have a chance to score against our D.  That alone could've wiped away 2 IU TDs.
1 year 34 weeks ago If this becomes true, do you realize what this means?

If UM and OSU go into The Game at 6-1, they will both be in the Top 10 with at minimum a Rose Bowl berth on the line, and a possible (for OSU, maybe) BCS Tilte game berth.

That would be quite a way to end the last season before next year's expansion, wtih UM and OSU back where they're accustomed to being.  But I'd rather see how UM performs against IU and MSU before being that bold.
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