Charles Woodson: It’s okay to hold the coaches accountable

Submitted by Michwolve21 on January 7th, 2019 at 11:45 PM

As Charles Woodson said: the coaches need to be held accountable as well. Warde Manuel also needs to be held accountable. I haven’t paid my PSD yet, I suggest others hold out as well. Don’t fool yourself, Warde will feel pressure if not many PSDs are coming in.

samdrussBLUE

January 7th, 2019 at 11:57 PM ^

Feel pressure how? PSD are due this month. You’re PSD will literally have nothing to do with the end of this season/next season.

ndscott50

January 8th, 2019 at 12:00 AM ^

Still not sure what this boycott of seat licenses is seeking to accomplish.  You indicated Warde should do “anything”. Beat Harbaugh with a stick? Make him apologize for not winning? Do you want him fired? Should he come out and declare current performance “unacceptable”? Would that make you feel better? Is that the goal? 

 

Hail to the Vi…

January 8th, 2019 at 12:03 AM ^

If you don't want to buy tickets, then don't. I get you're frustrated. No one likes getting their ass kicked by Ohio State.

When was the last time Michigan won 10 games in 3/4 years? I could check, but won't, has that ever happened? Late 80's? We're getting there.

Dabo Sweeney just won his second National Championship, he started his career at Clemson 0- and fucking-5 against South Carolina.

Remember when a faction of the fan base wanted John Beilein fired after year 5? He's a savant and the court at Crisler is named after him now. It takes some time to rebuild a program. And yes - after the RichRod and Hoke years - this was a rebuild.

If you want to jump ship, then jump.

Just don't have the gull to come back and say you stuck with the program all along.. but I'm sure you will.

Nervous Bird

January 8th, 2019 at 12:32 AM ^

If I had points, I'd upvote this! Harbaugh is a victim of his own success. No one expected 10 years in year 1, and a playoff capable team in year 2. Once the expectations were raised, 8-5 last year, and then a really bad showing in THE GAME this year set many fans' hair on fire. Had the coaching staff not done such a good job the first couple of years, then the outlook over these past 2 years would be more optimistic. 

Further, many saw the quick turnaround of the Harbaugh led 49ers in the NFL and thought that would be replicated at Michigan. Well, the NFL has a more equitable distribution of talent (bottom up draft, salary cap), whereas college is highly concentrated at the top. Michigan hasn't been at the top in quite a few years, and the game of catch-up is taking a bit longer than 4 years. However, what these irrational fans need to understand is that Harbaugh's Michigan team is NOT far away. In 2 of his 4 years, the team has gone into The Game as a playoff entrant. 2016 was the Crime in Columbus, and this year was simply a bad, bad game. The staff mismanaged the defensive personnel in The Game, as well as the gameplan. It happens... Ask Nick Saban. His last 4 losses were by a combined 29 points. He lost this National Championship game by 28! And, against a team he soundly beat last year in the playoff. 

I doubt it will happen, but these irrational fans need to remove their hands from the panic button. 

MoCarrBo

January 8th, 2019 at 12:50 AM ^

Please name the Michigan coaches who got to schedule Maryland and Rutgers every year.

 

Better yet name the Michigan coaches who lost 4 straight games to Ohio State and were 1-9 against top 10 opponents. 

 

Nobody cares about Harbaighs padded 10 win record. Nationally he is a joke

MoCarrBo

January 8th, 2019 at 12:50 AM ^

Please name the Michigan coaches who got to schedule Maryland and Rutgers every year.

 

Better yet name the Michigan coaches who lost 4 straight games to Ohio State and were 1-9 against top 10 opponents. 

 

Nobody cares about Harbaighs padded 10 win record. Nationally he is a joke

old98blue

January 8th, 2019 at 11:11 AM ^

The 1-9 thing is fuzzy numbers. People who try to prove a point always point to where the team was when Michigan played them, a team ranked high at the beginning of the season may not be as good as people thought. While a team ranked high at the end of the season is generally more accurate. If you look at the end of the season just a couple years ago Michigan beat Penn State, Wisconsin and Colorado, all 3 were in the top 10 at the end of the regular season. 

And again he's three and one against James Franklin, yes he's 2-2 against Dantonio but we all know he should be at least 3-1 against Dantonio minus a fluke dropped punt. So then they say well those weren't good Dantonio teams that he beat , well they weren't good Michigan teams that Dantonio beat either also the dropped punt happened against Dntonio's playoff team.

I'm not giving Harbaugh a free pass however he does seem to be the only coach in the country that gets this scrutiny

OwenGoBlue

January 8th, 2019 at 12:08 AM ^

If enough of us don't promptly pay our PSDs or communicate about said payment in any meaningful way, the AD will magically make Michigan unbeatable.

There's even a "yet" in the OP implying you'll pay eventually. You'll show them!

Adductor Magnus

January 8th, 2019 at 12:09 AM ^

It took Dabo 5-6 years before he got everything in place, viz. having the right coordinators and an effective system for offense and defense.

Harbaugh needs to be held accountable, but not fired. I'm hoping those 10-3 seasons these past four seasons can become 11-2s, 13-1s, 14-1s, etc.

bo_lives

January 8th, 2019 at 12:22 AM ^

This is a good point, as is the comment above about Dabo being 0-5 against Spurrier at South Carolina. Unfortunately, Michigan can't win the division without beating OSU, and hence every season is going to seem like a failure until that happens. If Harbaugh loses to Ryan Day at home next year, you will *really* start to hear the groans.

A Lot of Milk

January 8th, 2019 at 1:27 AM ^

That's partly why I'm so frustrated the last few years: Harbaugh has had his fair share of gaffes, but holy shit has his luck been bad. 2015 Sparty, 2016 OSU, Maryland vs OSU AND Penn State vs OSU this year. If ONE of those random plays is changed in our favor, you have a division title and a likely big ten championship. He's been here for four years, with the exception of 2017 we've been alive for a shot to go to indy going into the OSU game every single year. And you could argue that we should have made it in 2016 and this year if not for the spot and for Maryland missing a 2 point conversion. Two division championships in four years totally changes the narrative

bo_lives

January 8th, 2019 at 12:13 AM ^

Warde will feel the pressure if Harbaugh doesn't beat OSU and win the Big Ten sometime in the next 2 seasons. No way can you justify re-signing Harbaugh for $7M/year if that's the case.

The Denarding

January 8th, 2019 at 1:24 AM ^

Dabo Swinney once said "this team isn't tough enough - both lines have to be tougher, bigger, stronger.   Without that we will be also rans".  We started the year with two tackles that we as a fanbase honestly thought would get Shea killed.   Brian literally wrote that Brandon Wimbush was able to run wild because without Mo Hurst there is no interior push whatsoever.   These coaches...the same ones EVERYBODY (it feels like) is crapping on - somehow won ten games in a row with two of the most GLARING problems in line play I have ever seen.   There isn't enough talent and depth up front on this team YET to be what we want to be.  The chickens came home to roost against OSU.   No interior push meant one on one coverage where we got dissected.   No tackles (especially. with JBB out) means edge pressure and no way to pull into traps and power sets that this team uses to PASS from.   If we aren't running power and/or stretch plays effectively our play action game gets annihilated.   

It is totally rational to say "we had two weak tackles why not just RPO other teams and leverage our strengths"?   Can't do what you don't know when you are in trouble.   You prepare to avoid trouble.  Once they couldn't hold up inside on defense and didn't have enough plays designed to implement in the RPO set they were toast.

This team will get better - this program will eventually beat OSU and then who knows?   Beat the ONLY thing that matters is beating OSU.   And without two lines with depth that cause havoc and clear lanes - this will never happen.   

LSAClassOf2000

January 8th, 2019 at 7:00 AM ^

I agree with him - it's fine to hold coaches accountable. That said, withholding my PSD along with other people isn't going to inspire such a revelation internally in the department, at least not by itself, and I do credit them with being more introspective than you may believe.

HHW

January 8th, 2019 at 7:13 AM ^

10-3. This isn’t RR’s Michigan.  I imagine you’d be part of the ‘bama contingent that wanted to hold off on the PSD because they got smoked in the CFP final.

First 4 full years: 

Dabo: 36-18

Jim: 38-14

R-E-L-A-X

 

Zerodarkwolverine

January 8th, 2019 at 7:44 AM ^

Dabo’s faith shouldn’t be up for mockery. Yes, he has faith and is southern. Two things many people here don’t like. He wins big and Michigan/Harbaugh have not. Take a look in the mirror. 

McBuck85

January 12th, 2019 at 12:57 PM ^

I think when that happens we're seeing a confluence of Northern and secular stereotypes about intelligence. I was raised evangelical in Appalachia and now I'm an agnostic in Pennsylvania, so I've heard both rhetorics in play. Skepticism is one thing; mockery is another. Part of what gets tricky is that evangelical Christianity is one of the most judgmental of faith traditions; sometimes I find myself doing a sort of pre-emptive judging..not very cool on my part.

Quail2theVict0r

January 8th, 2019 at 8:18 AM ^

Nah man. All that would happen is you'll lose your tickets and it will go to someone else. I love football saturdays too much to risk my tickets over an offensive coordinator. 

Sten Carlson

January 8th, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^

“I just make plays ... “

— C. Woodson, 1997

Players make plays, or don’t.  Nobody would be complaining — well, I take that back, it’s Michigan so someone will ALWAYS be complaining — if Shea hit 10% more his deep passes, of if Higdon actually saw and exploited 10% more of the holes the OL opened for him, or if Gentry caught those passes, etc.  

Those plays weren’t missed because of Pep, or because of body blows, or because of Bo, they were missed because the PLAYERS missed them.  They seem to understand this, but fans seem obsessed with putting every miss on the coaches.  Bama missed A TON of plays yesterday, does that mean Saban sucks?

Make plays!

JFW

January 8th, 2019 at 9:37 AM ^

Hold out for what? 

You want him to fire Harbaugh? 

You want Harbaugh to change his offense based on what the fans in the stands say? 

I can't think of a faster way to program doom. 

'We fired Harbaugh and brought in Lincoln Riley. But  in year 3 we aren't doing as well as we thought. So the fans want you fired Lincoln, and are holding their PSD's... sorry pal....'

Atlanta_Blue

January 8th, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^

I stopped paying my PSD last year and have never looked back (no longer a "D" btw, thanks to the tax law change).  I'll take my couch, heat, food, and clean bathroom and keep my $3800.

Arb lover

January 8th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^

It's a preferred Seat Contribution now. Since it isn't due till the end of the month, even on the off chance that many people elected to use this as a method of protest, Warde wouldn't get the  message until most of the national coaching changes had been worked out, and there is nobody good left to grab.

Also, next year has a lot of really good home games. You are welcome to hold out, there are probably 5 dudes waiting to jump in behind you.