A lesson in teamwork from Coach Barwis and staff.

Submitted by FormerWolv on

Now, since we found out pigs are flying, the fat lady is singing and korea is finally united. I have a small info piece about the importance of team from the RRod camp. This might help explain why some players leave like a bat out of hell and some absolutely love it here and come out Michigan Men, and the fact that you will not see any "me players" anytime soon at umich. During the offseason, the football team is broken down into little "squads" as some would call it. About 6 to 8 per squad and the squadmates rack up points for their squad, like going to motts on thursdays, volunteering, etc. They can also lose points for things like being late, missing study hours/class check etc. If your squad drops below a certain threshold, you get to enjoy something courtesy of Coach Barwis called "Torture Tuesday".

It starts promptly at 6am and ain't fun at all. It is a full hour and a half of conditioning. The activities may include 50 yard wheelbarrows, suicides, or my personal favorite "buddy carry" which involves you and your partner to carry each other on your backs doing laps around the football field. If you drop him too much you get another lap and this is usually the last activity, 

Why did I mention this? 

Well, to further solidify the new concept that is flourishing in umich football. I laughed when some former players blamed the "lack of family" for transfering and this could not be further from the truth. There are no star players, there are only teammates. No matter what your position, year, or ability, you are expected to pull your weight and help your teammates pull theirs.

So don't fret when we lose a player to transfer, or we don't get that star recruit. RRod wants teammates who will win for the block M, not people looking for a stepping stone to the NFL. There will be rough patches, but if we stay the course, we will be champions once again. 

HailGoBlue86

August 19th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^

This article is why I'm still really excited for the season, this team is going to be really close knit and very hungry to go out and let everyone know the Wolverines are back starting on September 4th.

BlockM

August 19th, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^

What's awesome, beyond the obvious team unity, is that David Brandon sees this every day. It's things like this that I want from my head coach and the rest of his staff, and if it takes one extra year to get a dynamite product on the field, so be it.

bklein09

August 19th, 2010 at 12:42 PM ^

I know this might rub some people the wrong way, but it is things like this that make me think that Coach Rod isn't all that much different than Bo was.

I think in a lot of ways we have seen over the past few years how Bo would fair in today's college football world. 

With the overly intense media exposure and the treatment of high school kids as superstars, many of Bo's tactics would not have been received very well if he was coaching today. 

I think Rich Rod is a good person. I think he is a good coach. I think he cares about his players and about winning the right way.

Has he made some/many mistakes during his tenure here? Yes. 

Has he had a lot of things go against him that were out of his control? Absolutely.

Bottom line though, as it has been said many times on this blog, is that winning will solve all of his problems.

How do you think Nick Saban would be viewed if he was losing at Alabama? I highly doubt he would be held with such reverence as a hard nosed, but respectable coach.

In the end, RR just needs to win. I just hope he is given the full opportunity to do so.

MGoShoe

August 19th, 2010 at 5:33 PM ^

...of course. I'm an alumnus.  Plus most Canoe Club grads are pompous asses (not really - I'm just supposed to say that since I'm NROTC).

I actually grew up rooting for Army against Navy because my dad was a career Army officer and I was born at West Point.  Over time I've softened my dislike of the Naval Academy and now pull for them to do well.

While I was a student at Michigan, the MBB actually defeated David Robinson's USNA in the first round of the 1987 NCAA tournament 97 - 82.  The Admiral had 50 in that game.  He was basically unstoppable.

Aequitas

August 19th, 2010 at 1:01 PM ^

The Corps instills the ultimate team concept in Marines.  Coach Rod's "hold the rope" sounds like something we had ingrained in us from day one.

I still believe in our coach and this staff and when this thing gets right, the Big House is going to be the most intimidating place in America for opposing teams.