Rich Rod article on SB Nation
LINK:
Bill Connelly's preview of Arizona, titled,
The Arizona Wildcats are checking every box on the Program Collapse Checklist
Rodriguez fired Jeff Casteel. Greg Byrne (who hired RR) left to be the AD at Alabama. Rodriguez just went 3-9 in his 5th season at Arizona.
It's not looking good for the ol' Rich Rod.
A historically horrific defense, an offense that repeatedly got shut down against any defense with a pulse, humiliated by OSU and MSU every year.
Hope you have a nice life and find success at Arizona, but honestly, good riddance.
Funny how all the people talking RR are all the people complaining that people are talking about RR. You're like the 10th comment complaining about it.
so imagine the Simpsons old guy entering then leaving the bar right away gif. k thx bye
to remember the laughing stock of all college football coaches was Gerry Faust and ND fans still talk about him to this day if they're old enough.
Rich Rod is our Gerry Faust, embrace it and move on. Lessons learned, hopefully retained forever, Michigan found its soul and never loses it again.
When do we move on from Rich Rod? I've seen like two posts on him in the last week.
It is closing in on a decade when he was last the Michigan coach.
A very odd discussion that continues to happen around here regarding this man.
well, consider this Uncle Leo ...for a half-century the MICHIGAN Football program has had ..
Bo ..
No Mo Bo, So Let's Go Mo ..
Carr ..
Rich Rod
Hoke
Harbaugh ... to be continued
By contrast, football powerhouse Miami (FL) has had FIFTEEN coaches (with Nick's Daddy Lou who posted a 9-13 record) in that same time period, including some very dominating coaches and some real losers.
And Iowa has had basically TWO - Frye and Ferentz, but technically four. But really just the two.
Maybe you were joking, but Nick and Lou are not related. From wiki:
"Saban shares his last name with another famous football coach, Lou Saban. They were called "distant cousins" in a 2005 article where Lou comments on the younger Saban's success. Upon the death of Lou Saban his widow Joyce Saban said the two men might have been second cousins but their families say they are not related."
Oddly enough, Nick's dad has a middle name of Lou.
It is hard to say shit about Amaker. He wasn't a great coach at Michigan, but he did what he could and moved on. And he's a class act.
This thread was created with the intention to show how RR is failing. It's silly to continue to slam the dude, he was here 7 freaking years ago. Doesn't do the heart any good to hold ill will for him anymore.
I think there is a general interest level to those of us who do not intend to shit on Rich Rod. I for one, am of the belief that he had a lot stacked against him which certainly didn't help his career at Michigan, but it also simply wasn't a good fit. OTOH, I think he's a good guy and root for him to have success.
WIth that being said, I still to this day (7 years removed) will very broadly pay attention to how Arizona has done throughout the season because it is a former Michigan coach. Just like I do with Amaker and Harvard, did with with Fisher and SDSU, and would with Hoke if he was a head coach somewhere else. Threads like this during the off season which start from an article about RR's career starting to dwindle (with a small part due to unlucky circumstances) at Arizona are perfectly reasonable because he has a connection to our school and football program.
It's odd to talk about a former coach at Michigan? This statement undervalues what it means to be Michigan's coach and underappreciates what it means to be on the internet.
What now? Undervalues what it means to be Michigan's coach? I'm having pain-staking efforts trying to see how you are connecting that with this conversation.
Dude was here 7 years ago. Every thread about RR is made with the intention of talking about how much he sucks and how much better Michigan is without him (which has, surprise, surprise, happened in this one).
because it hasn't been 7 years since we fired Hoke.....
Record isn't everything but I'll respect your wishes not to get into this particular dicussion and leave it at that....
The guy's a bad football coach. He sucked at Michigan, he sucks at Arizona.
I don't know why we continue to hold ill will towards him. It's football, not life. The thread was made with the sole purpose to discuss how much he sucks and how much better Michigan is without him.
7 years is a pretty long ass period of time. And I have seen FAR more threads about Rich Rod compared to Hoke, who was equally as shit.
And I'll leave it at this. It's just horribly poor taste to continue to beat the dude up 7 years after the fact.
We all know what he did here. There's nothing else to cover regarding his time at Michigan.
He's clearly not doing well at Arizona.
Life's too short for threads like this that beat up a guy who Michigan has CLEARLY moved on from
That's funny, because I'm having a lot of difficult understanding how you don't see the connection. To not talk about one of Michigan's head football coaches undervalues what it means to have been, and to be, Michigan's head football coach. A rare few have held the position. It is one of the most valued coaching jobs in all of sports. Anyone who has held the position, espeically if that person is still coaching somewhere, is of interest to Michigan fans. I'm not sure how you miss that, other than to undervalue the position.
Furhter, to talk about what has happened with the coach since he was here helps us understand what happened when he was here. It helps us understand our recent history. Seems like something of interest to me.
Spare me with that whole "most valued coaching jobs in all of sports."
I don't know if you realized this, but it's not 1970 any more. This team hasn't won a BTT since 2004.
If it wasn't for the miraculous efforts of Hackett and a ridiculous amount of patience with Harbaugh, this team would be left picking from the scrap heap and would have ended up with a guy like Dan Mullen who was apparently one of the top options during that search.
The elitism just reeks in this post. Wake up, Michigan has been a VERY AVERAGE program for the better part of the last decade, and that's all that matters to recruits and to the general fan anymore. I'm tired of hearing about the all-time record and the whole "Michigan Man" crap. Time to win.
Hahahah, wow. Lots of issues there. You do realize, dont you, that one of the main reasons that Michigan has been very average is due to RR? And also due to Hoke? The mediocrity of MIchigan you are so angered by is one of the reasons people still want to know what those guys are up to. Yet no matter the mediocrity, Michigan has been, is, and will likely always be, one of the bastions of college football and all sports (and I said one of the most valued, not 'the most valued', but nice try). That does not mean that there are not other bastions, but Michigan is up there. If Michigan wasnt up there, Harbaugh would not be down here. It's not elitism, its the culture and history of college football and sports more generally. I never said we are better than others, and not capable of doing dumb things (hence RR and Hoke). But we are more valued than many others, while a few others are more valued than us. There is a difference there.
It seems like there is a lot of anger and many other issues in your posts. I never mentioned anyting about 'Michigan Man or 'all time' anything. You are reading things into my posts that are not there. Maybe you need to deal with whatever you are really mad about, perhaps in another thread.
Just get exhausted hearing about the over-inflated value that people continue to put in a program from alum and people stuck in their ways.
"We are more valued than others" does not equal "We are better than others?" (????)
No, I can just tell from the entire tenure of your post that you believe in the idea of a Michigan Man and that Michigan still holds this incredible allure (that it really doesn't anymore).
Brady Hoke was a Plan C. If Harbaugh happens to leave down the road (which I think he will), you aren't going to see 900 great suitors lining up for this job.
Damn dude, I wasnt planning to get into nuances of rational thought this morning, and I'm realizing it's might be a lost cause here. Ok, on the value vs. egoism thing: It's possible to think that Michigan is a valued program, valued coaching position, valued brand, and more valued than many others, and to also know that Michigan is, in reality, not a better program or better at football than many others. There is a perception vs. reality issue there. I am guessing you already know that in other parts of your life. If not, many things will begin to make a lot more sense.
As for the Michigan Man, I have never been a fan of the phrase. You are definitely reading your issues with that phrase into my posts. It's great to hold fast to certain values, and to organize those values around having been educated at Michigan, but that's all it means to me. People do that sort of thing at many, many institutions. I think the idea has value, but can also be damaging to the program.
As for your issues with the program, maybe its time to find another team - one that you dont hate so much.
As I thought. The elitism just REEKS through your post again.
Okay sorry. I'll fall in line with the board. Go blue! Best program in the world!
RichRod's success and reputation was due to Steve Slaton and Pat White. Without them he never gets a look from Michigan, Arizona, or Alabama.
...which makes his subsequent inability to run a defense a head scratcher.
He'll probably end up as Ohio State's next offensive coordinator.
Wow, imagine that.
Anyone know what their jersey sales are like though? That usually means something.
I just took a glance at Arizona's last two recruiting classes and this stood out to me: 8 safeties and 2 OL.
Jimmys and Joes, Rich.
I just... um. RR always made so many curious decisions.
If coaches consistently recruit classes that are ranked in the top 10, then I think it's fair to expect their teams to finish in the top 10, on average.
On that basis, I would say RR was consistently an overachiever while LC was an underachiever.
I like RR as a person and appreciate how his ideas have changed the way the game is played. I don't want to see him do badly. I'd much rather see him do well, while we are doing well, and let the past be the past.
That said, I think it's time to put to bed certain questionable arguments about his time here. Yes certain people made his job more difficult here, but we were bad because he did not know how to recruit for, develop, run, or hire people to run a defense.
This is same reason he's on the hot seat in Arizona. And Jeff Casteel wasn't the solution either.
Hope he can turn it around and keep his job.