At What Point Is Enough, Enough?

Submitted by gnarles woodson on

First, I am a Rich Rodriguez fan and I really want him to succeed here, at Michigan.  But when is it time to pull the plug?  Mark Dantonio has as many conference wins in Ann Arbor as RichRod has....and Ron Zook could match that soon.

I think Rich Rod is a great coach and he seems like a good guy.  I know he never has gotten a fair shake here from a lot of people.  But it is starting to look like he isn't a good fit for Michigan.  I don't buy the idea that his offense won't work in the Big Ten, so I am not saying that.  I'm sure that I will get neg'd for asking the question, but that is all I am doing.  

For the record, I would love to see him succeed here and make a lot of people eat crow. But I am starting to have doubts about the possibility of that happening. 

BlockM

October 16th, 2010 at 10:57 PM ^

Partially, yes. I think the recruiting on the defensive side of the ball may have been mismanaged at times. I think he's also had a run of epically bad luck as far as TWoolf's injury, Turner not showing up to play, and the other transfers.

The main reason I'm frustrated tonight is that we've lost to two good teams and people are seemingly not willing to wait until the end of the season to make judgements. I saw a team fighting with everything they have. I saw a stadium full of the most passionate fans I've seen in the Big House (granted, I've never been there for a super emotional game before). I saw a fierce offense that stumbled on a few occasions again, and a defense that will continue to grow and learn, but just doesn't have the pieces in place to be great this year.

Mitch Cumstein

October 16th, 2010 at 11:04 PM ^

And I agree with you.  I just see people throw out the "young/thin secondary" in defense of RR and part of me agrees that it is a legit excuse, but the other part of me considers personnel or lack there of to be a responsibility of the coach, especially in year 3.

I also agree with the wait till the end of the season thing, I just think the frustrating part is that we really haven't beaten any good teams, and the only two good teams we've played were real good. So its hard to actually know if we're improved from last year or not. I think you're seeing some anxiety from that aspect.

BlueTimesTwo

October 16th, 2010 at 11:16 PM ^

Okay, but in year 3 RR's recruits should be RS sophomores, if everything worked according to plan.  Due to injuries, attrition and bad luck, that has not been the case.  Guys are forced to play early, and we still don't have any experienced guys to teach the young players in the secondary.  Only time (and T-Woolf's rehab) will change that fact.

tenerson

October 17th, 2010 at 2:20 AM ^

You cannot hold him accountable for the 08 class. He didn't have time to put that together. What you can look at, though is the fact that two very highly recruited guys haven;t worked out, one guy left early and one is hurt. If Turner is half of what he was suppossed to be, Cissoko stays clean, Warren stays a year and Woolfol is healthy all of a sudden, your secondary is likely, Warren, Cissoko, Kovacs and Woolfolk with Turner coming in instead of JR, the switch, and three true freshman. Cissoko was out of RR's contol. Warren and Woolfolk also were. I don't know Turners deal for sure,. but I woudl lean toward the same if it's true he was comingin out of shape and not willing to do what it takes. That is a huge difference. So, then you are looking at two classes so they are either RS FR, or Sophomores of which neither are what you want back there.

ST3

October 16th, 2010 at 11:27 PM ^

You think that "personnel or lack there of" is a responsibility of the coach in year 3? The juniors on this year's team were likely recruited by Lloyd Carr during a season in which he knew he was hanging it up. It was up to RichRod to convince those guys to stay, but everyone knew he was bringing in a whole new system. There are 12 seniors on the roster. TWELVE!!! Sorry for yelling, but we get 85 scholarships, so you'd expect on average 21 seniors. One of the seniors is Troy Woolfolk. I'm sure his ankle is somehow RichRod's fault as well. Moundros, a walkon, is one of the seniors. The rest of the guy's are RichRod's responsibility. Freshmen and sophomores are going to make mistakes. That's how they learn. They will be better for it.

PurpleStuff

October 17th, 2010 at 2:59 AM ^

Burfict was a longtime USC commit who ended up going to ASU.  We had zero chance of ever landing him.  What is your point?  Yes, our defense would be a lot better if every single 5-star recruit the last two years had decided to come to Michigan.  That is impossible, so I don't know what you are getting at.

MichiganExile

October 17th, 2010 at 3:37 AM ^

Burfict ultimately ended up at ASU because he was advised and knew that he would have problems getting admitted to SC, that's how bad his academic situation was. How do you think he would have fared with UM's admissions?

LSCrepair

October 16th, 2010 at 10:57 PM ^

Warren was a 3 year player no matter who was coaching.

BooBoo was a screw up no matter the coach.

Woolfolk destroyed his ankle in a freak accident.

Michigan hasnt had a standout safety in recent memory.

RR brought in a solid class of freshman recruits for the secondary. The thing is... they are freshman.

The secondary is about a 4 recruiting class project. We are on year 2.

WolvinLA2

October 17th, 2010 at 12:52 AM ^

Exactly.  If you're upset with our talent at DB, blame Lloyd Carr.  Anyone from a RR class is a soph or lower right now.  It's a bummer that Justin Turner happened, it's a bummer that Witty happened, it's a bummer that Dorsey happened, but those things all range from somewhat RR's fault to not RR's fault, and those guys would still be underclassmen this year anyway. 

We have young guys, but they all show signs of talent.  Whichever 5 DB's we start next fall will be solid, no doubt in my mind.

Brandon_L

October 16th, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^

THIS IN MY YELLING VOICE THAT THIS TALK IS REDICULOUS. WE HAVE 3 WINNABLE GAMES IN A ROW AND WE HONESTLY NEED TO RELAX. WE LOST TO 2 BIG TEN CONTENDERS. HONESTLY WE ARE A FEW MISTAKES AWAY FROM BRIDGING THE GAP. WE FINISH 8-4 THIS YEAR AND WE ARE BACK TO SQUARE ONE BEFORE RICH ROD WHERE WE FINISHED 8-4. HMMMM EVENTUALLY THESE MOTIVATED YOUNG FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORES WILL BECOME JUNIORS AND SENIORS WITH YET ANOTHER CHIP ON THERE SHOULDER AND THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY. BUT I CANT TELL ANYONE ANYTHING BECAUSE WE ALL WANT TO JUMP A CLIFF OR PUCH RICH OVER ONE. BUT LETS BE OPTIMOSTIC AND SHUT THE HELL UP BECAUSE WE DONT HAVE AN EFFCET ON THE DECISIONS. COACH ROD KNOWS IF HE IS OUSTED THAT WE TURN INTO NEBRASKA. GUESS WHAT COACH ROD WILL BE BACK BECAUSE DAVID BRANDON KNOWS CIACH ROD WILL GET IT DONE AND HE WOULD RATHER NOT SEE REBUILDING TIMES TWO. ITS GOING TO BE EASIER TO LET ROD HAVE A YEAR 3 BECAUSE YEAR ONE DOESNT COUNT BECAUSE GUESS WHAT COACH ROD DIDNT EVEN KNOW HOW BARE THE TALENT WOULD BE. SO ILL BE THE GUY WHO DRINKS THE KOOL AID AND ILL WORK MY WAY TO THE FRONT OF THE BUS BUT WHEN THE RIDE STARTS TO GET LESS BUMPY STAY THE HELL OF IT.

 

THE TEAM THE TEAM THE TEAM

GO BLUE! DOWN GO THE BUCKEYES!! TERELLE PRYOR LOOKED GREAT RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE LOOKING FOR A PRAYER.

da shiz

October 16th, 2010 at 11:35 PM ^

I don't know about Gibson, but Brian gave a good reason not to blame GERG in his post earlier today. USC (yes, that USC) is struggling defensively due to an inexperienced secondary and they have Monte Kiffen. His NFL defenses were always among the top ten best in the league.

jmblue

October 17th, 2010 at 1:41 AM ^

The key difference there is that Monte Kiffin's track record strongly suggests that SC will rebound and field a dominant defense down the road.  Does GERG's do the same?  I would have to say no.  My concern is not that we're struggling now, with an admittedly shorthanded lineup, but that later on, even when we have better talent/depth, it may underachieve under GERG's watch.

nazooq

October 17th, 2010 at 3:35 AM ^

That's not just factually wrong (Carr did beat Tressel in 2003) but irrelavant.  Your point was that Michigan doesn't have a tradition of losing to OSU while the truth is that they do lose to OSU about half the time.  Carr continued along that historical norm.