Question for our "Beat Writer"

Submitted by Ziff72 on

I was wondering if Tim can ask questions at the presser. It seems the questions asked leave room for RR to go into coach speak. Couple of questions I think a lot of us would have like to have seen asked. Maybe we can make it into a weekly segment where we vote on the best question and Tim can get it to RR

Can you describe what went wrong in defending the bubble screens?

When you play your CB's 10-12 yards off the ball is it the lb's responsibility to get underneath the hitch pass or are you just conceding 7-8 yds, because it seems impossible for the CB to recover?

On the 3rd and longs we see the lb's guarding the short routes creating space to complete the pass in front of the deep coverage, why do they do this??

On the 3rd and longs why don't we go to a dime package to get more speed and better coverageon the field??

I think if you ask more direct questions about particular plays the coach will tend to talk in more detail. Lloyd would take the time when asked to go thru certain plays without piling on the players. I'm not looking for him call out players, but every week we are mystified at what happens on several plays and it would be nice to know what went wrong. I know(hope) that these coaches are not designing plays that make no sense or don't work so it would be nice to know if it was a blown assignment or the other team made a great play or what they were thinking etc....

Everyone is going nuts over the 3 man line and I'm not a huge fan, but I see it's place as a change up and if Bellichick uses it I'll assume it can work. My problem are the idiots jumping 5yd crossing routes. Brian pointed out in his UFR how the corner got "smashed", I understand in a normal down and distance how this is a tough play for the corner but on 3rd and long he should pick that off he can play off the short route undercut the corner route.

jg2112

October 8th, 2009 at 9:36 AM ^

He was asked a direct question about a D-Lineman for Iowa (Biggs, I believe) yesterday by the AA News guy and he completely skirted the question.

Rich Rod won't answer anything he doesn't want to beyond cliche. Which is, about everything, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Seth9

October 8th, 2009 at 2:13 PM ^

Here's how the conversation would go:

Reporter: What exactly is the problem with Cissoko that leads to him being burned regularly by every competent receiver he faces?

Rodriguez: Cissoko's a great kid, and he's working hard in practice.

Reporter: Stop being [an] evasive [asshole] and answer my [damn] question.

The reporter then is never called upon again, if he's even allowed to be present at press conferences. He is later fired for not being able to get any inside information on Michigan football.

Six Zero

October 8th, 2009 at 9:56 AM ^

I think Rich has developed this reputation about being so much more open and cooperative than Coach Carr, but really I don't think that's the case. He dodges almost as much as Lloyd did, he's just puts on a better show about doing it. (Depending on your own opinion of the Head Football Coach, you can feel free to insert your own lame snake oil or car salesman joke here).

baorao

October 8th, 2009 at 10:36 AM ^

and fairly hostile questions. especially the one about "are you just going to concede 7-8 yards?".

I don't expect them to be asked or answered.

The King of Belch

October 8th, 2009 at 10:54 AM ^

Why is that hostile? It seems like fact to me. He can simply say something like, "Right now we have a young, inexperienced secondary that has also been hit by injuries, and we are more concerned with giving up big plays. Sometimes you have to concede things defensively and try to take other things away."

A hostile question would be something like, "Hey Rich, why can't you beat MSU?"

that's just an example, ladies--don't get yer panties bunched over it.

baorao

October 8th, 2009 at 1:19 PM ^

to include your suggestion for how you might have done his job better is generally frowned upon in the sport community.

its kind of like saying to a baseball player "if you're ahead 3-1 in the count and you know you're probably getting a fastball in the middle, why don't you just hit a home run?"

Ziff72

October 8th, 2009 at 11:06 AM ^

I was expecting Tim to use his journalistic skills to craft that in a way to not seem like a dick when asking. Maybe like so....

Rod, you are recognized as one of the best coaches in the nation so I know that when it looks like your defense is just conceding 7-8 yards based on their alignment you are secretly baiting them into a spectacular disaster, what went wrong with your genius plan on those 5 or 6 successive 7 on 7 drills where you guys looked like you were in a prevent defense in the the 1st qtr.??

Better??

Sarcasm dripping in case you are in fact Obi Ezeh and couldn't diagnose it.

Section 1

October 8th, 2009 at 11:42 AM ^

... they can always ask Rosenberg and Snyder.

I'll feel the tiniest flash of sympathy for our local writers the moment that they start to do their jobs and ask questions about the Freep.

Personally, I am not interested in any information coming out of RR that helps an opponent.

tdeshetler

October 8th, 2009 at 1:21 PM ^

Wasn't going to publish this question for fear the intent would be misconstrued, but since the platform exists...why not.

If I could have 5 minutes and an opportunity to get a meaningful answer, I would ask RR why he choose to pass the ball so much during the overtime. Tate looked spent - as did the State defense after pressing hard the last 4 minutes. After the initial first down inside the 10, why wouldn't you grab Minor by the facemask and say, "You have 4 tries to get it into the end zone...don't screw it up?"

I'd just like to know what they saw and how they approached the overtime...hindsight being 20/20 and all.

jmblue

October 8th, 2009 at 6:47 PM ^

We only ran two pass plays in OT: the sideline throw to Odoms that got the first down and the pass that got picked off. The INT came on 3rd and 5, after two so-so running plays. I'm not sure we could have picked up five on the ground in one play (since you pretty much have to kick the FG on 4th down in OT).

Tim

October 8th, 2009 at 1:19 PM ^

For the record, RR won't be able to answer a thing about defense (which all of your questions pertain to). He'll say "I don't know, you'll have to ask Coach Robinson," then devolve into a bunch of coachspeak.

I know this from experience.