More speculation: Rittenberg thinks that the time table may Benefit RR

Submitted by michgoblue on

Personally, I don't agree with Ritt's take on this, but he believes that the fact that DB is waiting until after the bowl could benefit RR.  Agree or disagree, Ritt is usually a level-headed guy who is not "anti-RR" or "anti-M."

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/20551/brandons-patience-could-benefit-richrod

goblue418

November 30th, 2010 at 9:59 AM ^

 

this is getting ridiculous. enough with the rich is fired, rich isnt fired, rich should be fired threads. he is our coach. db said he is our coach. stop the threads already!

sheepman

November 30th, 2010 at 10:08 AM ^

haha. Don't think anyone is going to neg. I think we all agree. But seriously, who can stop talking about? We are like seething maniacs until this thing shakes out. My wife, my mother and father in law, my 3 year old, all my friends, and even my dog are tired of talking about RR with me. Where else am I going to turn to get this shit off my chest?

profitgoblue

November 30th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^

I'm with you in that my wife just turns a deaf ear now whenever I talk about Michigan football.  But, seriously, all of this "fire the coach" and "keep the coach" threads have to stop.  Its enough already.  How many times can people say the same sh-t over and over again?  Whether its Rittenberg, some other "professional," or someone in the MGoCommunity, its all opinion and all basically worthless.  Even "insider" information is worthless if its simply opinion.  Wait until there's some facts and then post.  Otherwise, I'll just go back to talking to my 2-year-old and laughing when he says "Denard."

michgoblue

November 30th, 2010 at 10:04 AM ^

This was not a "rich is fired, rich isnt fired, rich should be fired thread."  I didn't argue one way or the other.  I actually agree with you that given the complete lack of real information out there, the "rich should be fired" "rich shouldn't be fired" threads are just silly.  This is not that.

All I did was post an article by one of the few journalists that we don't hate in which said journalist lays out his opinions.  Since Ritt probably has more sources than most of us (other than Brian), I thought it would be of interest.

bleuadams

November 30th, 2010 at 4:10 PM ^

*****THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POST TO READ BECAUSE IT'S 'THE' TRUTH*****

#1) Michigan is NOT Jim Harbaugh's 'dream job.'  He wants an NFL job, because him and his brother are so competitive.  SD, SF, Oak and Car (and maybe even Dal and Min) are all going to be fighting over him this off-season.

#2) Dave Brandon is going to be doing absolutely everything he can to convince him to come to Michigan over the next month.

#3) In all likelihood, Rich Rod will be brought back (signing a two year extension after the bowl game), and Greg Robinson will be replaced (along with the 3-3-5).  Ron English is supposedly an early DC candidate. 

Wolverine0056

November 30th, 2010 at 10:00 AM ^

Yeah, Rittenberg usually does a pretty nice job when it comes to being non-biased toward one program or all, IMO. It will be interesting in the next few weeks to a month to see what happens.

BornInAA

November 30th, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^

he has a O with many sophs

a D with many frosh

The games he lost are to the #5, #6, #8 teams filled with seniors and juniors - all these teams with only one loss.

The guy will be given a chance to mold his recruits into their junior and senior years - but we had better beat everyone then!

Section 1

November 30th, 2010 at 3:36 PM ^

It seems to me that there are at least two kinds of rushed coaching decisions.  One is where you are rushed into a decision by  virtue of pressure from some other school (say, LSU) and the media.

The other is where, even without some "other institution" pressure, you are forced to make a decision early and before anyone wants a decision.

In 2007, we had a coaching vacancy.  Lloyd Carr had retired.  In 2010, we don't.  We don't neeed a new coach.  ONLY THE MEDIA IS SUGGESTING THAT A COACHING CHANGE MUST BE MADE, AND MUST BE MADE NOW.

I do agree with Rittenberg.  I despise the idea of succumbing to newspaper-generated pressure in the wake of a bad day in Columbus.  Fuck them.  Fuck.  Them.  If Mike Rosenberg thinks that a decision needs to be made immediately, I take that as a powerful sign to do NOTHING right now.

Jeffy Fresh

November 30th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^

Wants to vomit right now.  I believe this is what is making him angry.  A post saying the same thing over and over and over.  The same nonsense is reiterated 800 times a day.  Brian's info covers it all, and then everyone selects info to back up their argument and diarrheas all over this board all day.  After the bowl game it will start up all over again.  It makes me want to poop on my lunch and eat it.

jdcarrtax

November 30th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^

Do you really think those data points have escaped DB and that he’ll all of a sudden have an epiphany that we’re loaded with underclassmen?  He knows that.  And after 8 months on the job, he knows a lot of other things about RR and has made informed judgments about where this program is headed.  I don’t see how anyone can look at his public statements and actions and not conclude that, at the very least, he has serious misgivings about allowing RR to continue his stewardship of the Michigan football program.  I don’t see how you can conclude at this point that he “will” be back.

cadillacjack333

November 30th, 2010 at 10:14 AM ^

And Rich Rod should be lobbying to go the crappiest bowl possible so he can pick up a much needed win.  I think this year and this year only, a win is more important than going to the best bowl possible and getting the snot kicked out of you by Nebraska or Florida etc.

Bring on Conference USA the MAC or the Big East.

DB should have put him out of his misery yesterday and told Gerg to teach the kids the 4-3 for the next coach and to use the bowl as practice.

michgoblue

November 30th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^

Sorry, but I cannot ever agree that I would rather play the MAC or Conf. USA for an easy win over a real team in a (semi-) real bowl.  When did we become MSU?

What do we get out of winning the Toilet Bowl against Bowling Green's Younger Sister University for the Poor?  Nothing.  I would rather play Nebraska and see how we match up against them.  If we win, or even lose competitively, then we this may give us some hope for a RR-led team.  If we lose in the same manner that we lost to OSU, Wisco, Iowa, MSU, PSU, then that would tell us something about where we are heading going into next year. 

ChalmersE

November 30th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^

I believe Brandon has made up his mind, and I think the decision is that he'll hire Harbaugh if he'll come.  Otherwise, Rodriguez will be back.  Does anyone really think a win (or a loss) against Missouri or Texas A&M or Florida will make a difference in things?  My strong suspicion is that Brandon has already discussed the job with Harbaugh.  The only question is whether Harbaugh a) said he wants to think about it; b) wants to make sure he doesn't slip into the MNC game this coming weekend before taking the job; or c) has said he'll take the job, but wants to coach in the BCS Bowl game before leaving Stanford. 

BlueLaw97

November 30th, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^

Forgive the stream-of-consciousness nature of this...

Should we play the totally nonsensical/hypothetical what-if game, if would be wise of Harbaugh to see how the final BCS standings look before he makes any decision.  Further, Brandon needs to have a candidate wrapped up before he decides anything with regard to Rich.  We cannot have a circa 2007 open-market circus on our hands. 

Brandon has gone on the record about the Michigan "brand", and games like this past Saturday (along with Sparty, Iowa, etc.) drag that brand into the toilet. 

Totally disgree with Rittenberg's logic here.  If anything, this timelines completely undermines RR should he in fact stay.  Letting him twist in the wind for a month while we all get assaulted with 'RR going to school X" coupled with brutal negative recruiting is a dangerous game to play. 

My best guess is that Brandon is trying to time this as best he can in order to minimize carnage.    

Fat Elvis

November 30th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^

I agree with this, too.  Where I think it might "benefit Rodriguez" (though really it could just make life awkward for Brandon) would be if Michigan pounds a good team in the bowl game.  I don't know the bowl scenarios very well, but if we walk out with a big win against Oklahoma State or Nebraska, it'll feel strange to dump Rodriguez in the game's wake.

Webber's Pimp

November 30th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^

I've been a big supporter of Rod and I remain firm on that. However, I wonder if perhaps stretching this drama out hurts our program. My feeling is DBrandon should give Rod a vote of confidence and in that sense he may even want to consider extending his contract an additional year in order to silence all the critics. All the job speculation hurts RRod's efforts on the recruiting trail. Our issues on defense will be solved by way of recruiting and I ask all of you how the hell is the man supposed to recruit when the media and even some alumns on this board are calling for his head??

Tim Waymen

November 30th, 2010 at 10:26 AM ^

I hate losing to OSU.  Each year during the week of the game, I just think about how badly I want us to win.  Obviously, OSU is our biggest rival and it's been too long, but I also think about the long year I have to wait before we play them again.

With RR, there's the added wrinkle of having to hear for another 9 months about how hot his seat is or isn't and how many games he has to win to keep his job.

I'm so tired of it.  It's nothing new.  I'm not implying that there is any particular solution other than winning.  That's partly why losing so badly to OSU kills me, other than losing so badly to OSU.  And it's tough when I think about how maybe the loss could have not been as close or maybe we could have won if X turns out better.  Life of a sports fan.

Fortunately, there is a bowl game.  Obviously, we didn't do well as many have hoped, but there is a bowl game with a possible Heisman frontrunner next year and if Michigan wins dominantly, then the offseason may go a little more smoothly.  Amen.

edventure008

November 30th, 2010 at 10:38 AM ^

I am starting to wonder how  much of an emotional and physical toll RR is taking from this situation.  Honestly, for the sake of health, it may be better to get an assurance from the AD or to just leave (this is not suppose to be a keep or fire RR portion).  The pressures of being a HC at a well known university is hard enough on the body but with having your job status being limbo just compounds the problem. I know Michigan football/ athletics is important to some but i feel health is much more important (not calling RR weak but i think he is strong for going through this).  I do not want/ wish upon anybody the situation that Dantonio had experience.

BlueFish

November 30th, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^

I've wondered about this several times, myself.  There comes a point -- at least for normal people in normal jobs, neither of which might apply here -- where an employee simply gets beat down or burned out and feels underappreciated for the time and effort he (or she) has dedicated to the company/project.  In RR's case, he's dealt with the WVU backlash on the hometown boy, the buyout fiasco, a fanbase that's been divided since the beginning, the Freep jihad, the NCAA investigation and sanctions, the decommitments, the transfers/defections/attrition, the negative press treatment, the losing (and a lot of it), and now, the lack of unequivocal support from the new AD (who didn't hire him and has already indicated a willingness to cleanse the department -- passively or otherwise -- of personnel who were key to the NCAA violations).  I feel like I'm missing something here.  But man, that's a lot of negativity to shoulder.

And I also think it shows in his demeanor, his body language, and his comments.  He looks defeated.  He has no answers.  He's made several questionable comments this year, such as the Vince Lombardi quip.

I just wonder sometimes if he's not actually ready for it to be over.