Three And Out: An Excerpt
Strong language contained herein. Three and Out is a book about the short, tumultuous reign of Rich Rodriguez at Michigan.
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The week after Michigan collapsed against Illinois in 2009, they prepare to take on Purdue.
A weary Rodriguez wearily surveys his weary troops, because he has to or the media will write about other things…
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The Friday night before the Purdue game, Rodriguez dug at his meal like a hungry prisoner who was sick of eating the same gray food every night. When I told him I was surprised that the guys seemed loose, like they were still having fun and staying positive, he stared at his food, paused, and said, “I don’t care.
“I don’t care anymore about trying to analyze the psychology of these guys, especially for the press. I just want them to freakin’ play. I’m sick of it.”
Sick of what?
“Everything. I’m sick of the situation I’m in. I’m sick of the crap I’ve got to deal with every week. I’m sick of people not taking responsibility.” A case could be made that all happiness is feeling like you have possibilities. When someone wins the lottery, he’s happy not because he won the lottery but because he suddenly has dozens of options he didn’t have the day before.
But the corollary is also true: All unhappiness is feeling like your options are shrinking and the world is closing in on you. That you’re trapped. Rich Rodriguez’s options were shrinking. By the time he arrived in Ann Arbor, it was clear he could not go back the way he had come. But after only twenty-one games at Michigan, it had become just as clear there would be only one way he could stay: winning football games. And fast.
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Every Friday night, between the dinner and the movie, the offense and defense met separately with their coaches to go over the scouting report one last time. But this week, instead of reviewing the opponent, they reviewed a tape of their practices that week. The message was simple: The Illini didn’t beat the Wolverines. The Wolverines beat the Wolverines.
Job 1: Hold on to the damn ball. There was a reason John Heisman famously showed his players a football and said, “Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football.”
But John Heisman never met Tate Forcier. On one play Rodriguez showed that night, Forcier held the ball like an oversized sponge and swung it around like he was washing his windows with it. Sure enough, the defense soon forced a fumble.
“High and tight, high and tight, high and tight,” Rodriguez said with relative calm. “Anything else is selfish. It shows disrespect for your teammates, and I know you’re not selfish, and I know you don’t want to disrespect your teammates.”
Here he was, going into the tenth game of the season, reviewing something they had covered on the first day of spring ball, the first day of summer practice, and just about every day since. It was pretty clear Rodriguez was tired of that, too.
But he knew it came with coaching young players, and he usually enjoyed the teaching process. But they were repeating the same lessons too often, which became especially aggravating when he had no idea how many lessons they would get.
Job 2: In the spread option offense, the quarterback has to take three steps and throw it. Not four steps. Not five steps. And no hitches, either. Three and throw. Three and throw. The timing was simple but exact—and it was everything. Any freelancing and incompletes, sacks, and interceptions soon followed.
And that’s exactly what Rodriguez saw next on the practice tape: Forcier taking three steps (an improvement), seeing his receiver open— but then hitching, which allowed the linebacker to cover the receiver. Rodriguez was calm but firm. “I’m sure I will not have to see on Monday any tape of any Michigan quarterback taking three steps and a hitch when he should be taking three steps and throwing.”
Next play, same thing, but this time Forcier threw it behind the receiver. The linebacker just missed making the interception.
“That one’s late. Why? Three and hitch instead of three and throw. I’ve been doing this for twenty years! I didn’t just wake up and come up with this thing. We have refined this over time. We know what works. We’re not guessing! Three steps and throw! THROW! You’ve got to trust the timing!”
But it was really more than that. The quarterbacks had to trust the system—and the coaches who had created it.
The flipside was just as simple: The coaches had to remember that Forcier was still a freshman. And even though Rodriguez’s quarterbacks on every team he’d coached eventually won Conference Player of the Year, not one of them did it his first season.
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If the Illinois game could be reduced to Michigan’s four tries from the 1-yard line, Michigan’s season likewise boiled down to four great chances to win just one game to secure a bowl bid: Michigan State, which ended in overtime; Iowa, which ended one pass short of a winning field goal attempt; Illinois, which broke on the 1-yard line; and Purdue, which looked like an eminently winnable game. But like the fourth-and- 1 play against Illinois, the pressure mounted with each failed attempt. This was Rodriguez’s last best chance at match point.
Blow it against the Boilermakers, and the odds would only get taller against Wisconsin, and taller still against Ohio State, still in the hunt for a national title. Collars were tight in Ann Arbor.
The quarterbacks didn’t think Purdue would be a pushover, either. “They’re good, they play hard,” Sheridan said later that night in his hotel room. “Much harder than Illinois.” And then, unable to let Illinois go: “I still can’t believe we lost to those guys.”
“Don’t let ’em beat you twice,” Forcier said, as a half- joking warning they’d all heard a hundred times. “Man, we just got to win again. That’s been driving me fucking nuts. We just got to win again.”
October 28th, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
Hoke actually said that if they're not WINNING championships it is a failure on him. If we don't win the B1G this year, are you going to call Hoke a failure?
October 28th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^
Yep. Off with his head.
October 28th, 2011 at 9:13 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^
Well if we don't win the B1G I will say he failed to meet his goals. I dont have enough information to say whether I will call him a failure.
What does that have to do with the difference betweeen the two in press conferences and other public appearances?
October 28th, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
If he is privately sick of his players, do you think that can't pervade his behavior in front of them?
October 28th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
Rodriguez never said he was sick of his players. You made that up. You dreamed it up, falsely.
People wonder why anti-Rodriguez comments get flamed at MGoBlog. it is because so many of them are so meritless.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^
Fine: "Sick of his situation". Which would be: Coach of University of Michigan football.
How is it impossible that pervades how he performs his job.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
I think we both know his "situation" was being attacked from both inside and outside the program since his first days as coach. That is my assumption anyway.
October 28th, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^
I totally agree with your point and it has to be true. The problem is the context of the statement from Rodriguez in this situation. Was he simply frustrated that one evening he was speaking with Bacon, or was this her pervasive mood for the entire year or part thereof? Because even the greatest world leaders have moments of defeatism and second-guessing. I think that comes with operating under extreme pressure - sometimes the body and mind break down. But the question is how long was Rodriguez broken down?
October 28th, 2011 at 12:14 PM ^
RR seems very much like a guy who blows off steam and then gathers himself, though, so I don't take the comments at that lunch as being anything more than a moment's frustration...Of course the answer to your question could be yes (though I'd say that "sick of his players" is a strong way to put it). I doubt it b/c of what I just said, though.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^
Anything's possible, but the far more relevant question is what sort of face he put on for his players when he was in front of them. I'm only halfway through the book, but it suggests that he was as positive as he could be with them, consistent with the entirety of his coaching career.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
I'm just a casual follower of Michigan football. But I sure remember Rodriguez being quoted as saying (sorry, memory here, so forgive me if this isn't word-for-word) Lombardi couldn't win with this defense.
I haven't come across any quotes like that from Hoke, Mattison, or Borges.
And compare Rodriguez's tired of stuff not getting through to the players, having to do/say x,y,z over and over vs. Hoke's (was it in 98?) assuming that the defense was fine after the 97(?) season, they lost how many games at the start? Hoke blaming himself for the loss to Syracuse (right team?) because he didn't go back to fundamentals: how to tackle, etc, with those returning defensemen and he's NEVER done that again; it's always start with the basics.
October 28th, 2011 at 1:14 PM ^
Does anyone ever read a quote and try to understand the context?
The Lombardi quote was a joke to explain the situation.
His point was that he has a very young defense that needs time. He said this 400 different ways, but was still asked the same question each week multiple times. What is wrong with the defense? Are you going to fire Greg Robinson?
Coach Rod was sticking up for his coaches by saying that even the best coach of all time could not solve their problem. Their problem was youth.
Anyone that wants to tap dance on the grave of RR by stealing a private behind doors quote go for it, but if you want to use his verbage as evidence against him as a coach you are an idiot.
Answer me this question
1. Do you really believe that coaches don't complain about their players behind closed doors?
I can see Hoke and Boges going thru the film. Hey Al, Denard is doing a wonderful job here, gosh darn I wished he would just set his feet here gee willikers. You're right I love this guys he is so nice I wished he wouldn't have thrown it to the guy in the Bronze helmet but that's ok because I'm ok and you are ok. Let's go tell the team it's ok and we'll go get an ice cream.
Give me a break
October 28th, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
<quote>It is YOUR job to shield these guys from this crap, and not let it permeate the team.</quote>
Do you remember the trash tornado that started quickly and persisted throughout RichRod's tenure? I'm just an alum and a fan, but even when I tried to ignore the stupid buyout kerfuffle and the #1 jersey flap (a misstep, to be sure, but an extremely overblown one), everybody I know was chomping at the bit to talk about Recent Dumb Story whenever they saw me - from my girlfriend's Buckeye dad to my buddy who grew up loving Michigan but is now a big Sparty fan because his brother ended up at Staee to two different uncles, neither of whom I would ever have expected to even glance at a Sports section.
And would you imagine that the student body at Michigan — among whom those guys spent, you know, all of their time — would be more or less interested in every aspect of the Michigan Football program? Evidently, based on the MUG Wendy's Girl story from the book, there are students who feel plenty free to accost the players about whatever they've heard on ESPN lately.
It's a totally valid complaint that every damn presser RR did had to result in another stupid overwrought story that kept Michigan and RR in the news in a negative light. You can be happy he's gone — I'd say I'm in Brian's "Feel bad for guy/happy he's gone" camp, myself — but it's probably a fine time to stop piling on; we've heard that one already.
October 28th, 2011 at 2:19 PM ^
Here's a perfect example of what you are saying: Last weekend, my wife asked me "what's up with Michigan's coach? Why don't we ever hear anything about him?" The contrast between Hoke's situation and Rodriguez's situation is tremendous. Sure, one can argue that Rodriguez brought some of it upon himself by making news. But I don't think it can be denied that, to some extent, Rodriguez was villified in the press (it all started with the local press and then got nationally to the point where my wife knew about it) and there was always some constant distraction facing the program.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
Personally, I'm not getting the vast difference between saying "the players didn't execute" and choice RR press conference quotes from the anti-RR faction. You may recall, the particular question when the 4th and inches play blew up, the response was "the players didn't execute." Do you know how many didn't truly execute? One. TE who was looking hard to his right to see the snap, and didn't see anyone lined up above him.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^
Can you go through the responsibilities of everyone on that play so I can verify if they executed as you say they did? Be sure to include pre-snap reads and checks.
There is a HUGE difference between "we didnt execute" (especially when the cocach takes responsibility for the lack of execution) and "Vince Lombardi couldnt coach this defense"
October 28th, 2011 at 5:30 PM ^
The phrase you just typed in quotes is not a quote because it's not what he actually said. At least quote accurately.
October 28th, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
But also, you make no sense, mainly because you cannot recognize the difference in the amount of pressure the coaches have faced.
Things are not the same for Hoke and Rodriguez.
I agree our team looked beaten down, but its because they'd been involved in an endless storm of negativity. Every single day having to hear that they were the worst Michigan this, the worst Michigan that, fire the coach, etc.
Plus, Rodriguez said that behind closed doors. Do you really think that what Hoke says to the press and what he says to someone in his office is exactly the same.
In contrast, Hoke has had a very cushy time thus far.
October 28th, 2011 at 11:48 AM ^
I don't get why the cover of 3 and Out doesn't have a picture of RichRod on it. Or why it looks like a quick photoshop job.
October 28th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
In a sense, it was representing what could have been at Michigan. It is the one most iconic football picture of the Rodriguez era of football teams at Michigan, and it incidentally features author John U. Bacon in the lower right corner of the frame. An absolutely amazing coincidence.
I further hope that the dustjacket photo earns the photogrpaher (a Michigan student and Michigan Daily photog) some money.
I'm glad that it was not a photo of Rodriguez. It was and should be all about the amazing kids who work their asses off inside the Michigan football program. And in that regard, a photo of Denard is just right because the one chapter detailing student-athlete life is all about Denard.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
It's a legit sports photo with a shallow depth of field, resulting in the slightly blurry background. To fake that with Photoshop and do it well would not be a "quick photoshop job."
October 28th, 2011 at 11:48 AM ^
Glad to see HOLD ON TO THE DAMN BALL make an appearance.
October 28th, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^
I'm two-thirds of the way through with it, and I can't wait to be done. RR made mistakes, to be sure, but it's hard to see him get kicked in the teeth on page after page.
On another note, I really hope Michigan stomps the balls off of Purdue tomorrow. The book reminded me how much I dislike Danny Hope.
October 28th, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^
I think it's pretty clear by the time he was fired Rich Rodriguez was a broken man and really needed to reboot.
I honestly think he probably woke up every morning, especially during the season, to the thought that there was something wrong.
October 28th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
Bacon notes several times that RR wasn't getting any sleep. People may think that that's weak, but a lack of sleep will impair anyone's judgment. I remember Bill Clinton saying that he realized after his presidency that he'd made a lot of his worst mistakes when he hadn't been sleeping (insert Monica Lewinsky joke here).
October 28th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
... (insert Monica Lewinsky joke here). I don't think Bill Clinton was sleeping when that all went down (pun intended).
October 28th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
It didn't all go down.
October 28th, 2011 at 2:28 PM ^
Something came up?
October 28th, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^
to see RR's UM offense behind a quarterback with more than one year as a starter. It does seem like timing issues are critical and RR was very unlucky in what he inherited. Anyway...bygones (and the defense did suck).
October 28th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
First year starter, second year starter, it didn't matter. The team was bound to struggle if the defense sucked, which it did every single year.
October 28th, 2011 at 1:20 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^
to get Jeff Casteel if someone had told me we were going to undercut WVU in bidding for his services. If I recall, he had a Michigan cell phone already and was that close to coming to Ann Arbor.
October 28th, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 3:40 PM ^
RR was working within a limit imposed by UM and wasn't able to to just pour money on the problem.
It was the same issue that resulted in having to get an up and comer in Schafer and then GERG after him, rather than a more established, proven DC.
With $675,000, i think RR would have done a lot better on the defensive side of the ball.
October 28th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 6:59 PM ^
when you have budget allocated for something in a large organization, you do not have carte blanche in moving things around. He had X amount for weight room renovations and X amount for salaries/staffing. In an org like the M AD, those budgets are set up and controlled by parties other than the head coach. Remember there is public oversight for these kinds of things and a line item in an approved renovation budget for -misc DC $100,000 won't go unnoticed.
The other consideration is that the other staff were brought to M under the M salary structureand perhaps RR could not just provide Casteel a salary level that was completely out of line with the rest of the staff.
Besides, from what I have read/heard, it wasn't the $$ that prevented Casteel from coming, it was the lack of a two year contract, which i am sure was not something withheld by RR, rather a policy of the AD for 'at-will' employment.
By throwing $$ at the problem, I meant just that....dropping an extra $100,000 to address the issue in hindsight seems like an obvious solution, howver at the time it likely wasn't possible and perhaps did not seem that critical.
One thing IS for sure though....had he been given $675,000 after Schaeffer's departure, we would not have ended up with GERG.
October 28th, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
October 28th, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
I completely understand RR's frustration. If you've ever had the experience of managing a large group of young people in either sports or business you'll know EXACTLY how it feels. You as the manager/coach have experience, knowledge and wish for nothing but success for the people you are responsible for. In fact you are judged by their success or failure!
And yet time and time again they will ignore what you ask them to do, do things as they think they should (hitch/4 step drop, ball security, ect) fail miserably and wonder why. Trust me...it's very, very frustrating.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^
Sure, it is frustrating. Nobody is saying that it isn't. But a good coach is able to take that frustration and work with what he has without letting it bring him, and more importantly, his team, down. RR failed at this miserably.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^
the aggravating thing, for me, is in the comments here.
This book seems to have robbed Rodriguez of any agency he had in what occurred. These conversation about Carr, Martin, Rosenberg, what have you distract from the conversation about how Rodriguez performed his job with his players and his coaches.
And before you reply, Section 1, I understand your position is that the aforementioned things made it impossible for him to perform his duties - we disagree.
A second observation:
It seems like Bacon plays the role of Rich's confidante?
October 28th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
But it seems like you're seeing people who want to make an apologia for everthing RR ever did, whereas I see people who saw RR get sucker-punched time and again and make a bunch of mistakes in response.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
I'd agree with your summary as a statement of fact, removing the qualifier of "in response".
I don't see many people saying that.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
That qualifier doesn't capture my entire opinion of the RR era either. He made mistakes that were not all in response to the unfair treatment he was receiving. To me, the book is a series of depressing stories of RR being stabbed in the back one minute and then shooting himself in the foot the next.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
RR made the worst out of a bad situation.
If he was the right coach for the job, he woud have made the best out of things, and he would have won at least a couple more games along the way, if not more (which may have saved his job).
October 28th, 2011 at 2:11 PM ^
Wow. I've never seen it summed up so succinctly. It really illustrates the perfect storm.
October 28th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
that if you removed only the Freep jihad, and with every other stab in the back and gaffe by Rodriguez, he would have had greater success and still be the coach for that 4th year. Without a good defensive coordinator, he would probably not see a 5th year.
October 28th, 2011 at 2:40 PM ^
Like M-W said, wow. I had to comment because a simply upvote isn't enough. You are dead on, a perfect description of what happened. Thanks for this - I'm going to steal it and use it whenever I have a conversation about Rodriguez in the future (plagurism is the ultimate form of flattery!).
October 28th, 2011 at 5:32 PM ^
Everyone says that.
Everyone agrees that he made a complete mess of the defensive situation, some of his hires and had some puzzling, embarassing moments.
Where the argument comes into play: How much did many things that Rodriguez did not have control over affect the team and its performance. People like you tend to take a complete hard line on this issue and not back down one small bit: it had no effect on the team and our entire poor performance over three seasons comes down to solely one Rich Rodriguez. People on the other side of the issue think that it did have a negative effect on the team and it was probably significant enough to cost Michigan some success over the past three years as well as ensure Rodriguez lost his job.
But, once again, those latter people also admit Rodriguez had much to do with his own demise. So really, it is your inability to understand how a toxic atmosphere - that you in your own small way helped contribute too - can affect 18-22 year olds or affect how a man goes about his job.
It is your stubborness that creates the negative atmosphere on this site over issues in regards to Rodriguez.
October 28th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
is exactly my feeling on the book. Whether or not Carr, Martin or Rosenberg had any role in making RR's job harder (I disagree on Carr, sort of agree on Martin, and obviously agree on Rosenberg), the bottom line is that RR completely and totally failed in his performance as head coach of the University of Michigan's football program:
1. 15 wins over 3 seasons is simply not acceptable. Transition, media distractions, lack of support, etc. do not excuse 3 freeking wins. Threet was not a very good QB, but had we ran an offense more suited to him, we win 6 games and keep the bowl streak alive.
2. blaming the players in the presser - on RR
3. failing to acquaint himself with the school's traditions - maybe silly to some - was on him. This would have been an easy thing to do.
4. Poor coaching hires - completely on him.
5. Failing to recruit D talent in his first class, completely on RR.
6. Failing to retain much of the existing talent - on RR. Don't blame Carr for offering to sign papers - at the end of the day, RR did a poor job of keeping those players that he had, and even continued to lose players over this 3 years that he personally recruited.
7. Allowing the atmosphere surrounding the program to permeate the team - that's on RR.
8. Not doing enough to reach out to former players EARLY IN HIS TENURE - on RR.
9. First major violations in school history - sure, party on Rosenberg, but still partially on RR and his staff, as he was the man in charge.
Not looking to pile on, but all of the distraction about Carr, Rosenberg, Martin and others seems to have distracted from RR's total failure as HC.
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