Rittenberg on UM Banquet
Rittenberg (who has quite a bit of respect from the board being a MSM member) doesn't think RR's emotions/words last night were very helpful to his cause as remaining head coach.
Rich Rodriguez, three years into his tenure, shouldn't have to be saying things like, "I hope you realize I want to be a Michigan man." His emotions were genuine Thursday night, and while he's trying to fire up his constituency, you have to question his confidence right now.
Does Rodriguez sound emboldened or desperate? Or a little bit of both?
He needs his boss, Dave Brandon, to make a decision on whether or not he'll return in 2011. Letting this drag on until after Michigan's bowl game doesn't serve the current players, the coaches, the verbally committed recruits or the fans.
I wasn't there tonight, but I can't imagine Brandon came away thrilled by what he saw and heard from his head coach.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:42 AM ^
quite the contrary, i thought RR sounded more confident about his team than ever.
fuck the freep
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^
Rittenberg writes for ESPN....just for the sake of clarification
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
i know,
sorry i forgot the sarcasm (for real)
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:47 AM ^
And now, M is looking like a trip to the Gator Bowl is in their future so of course the SEC loving ESPN peeps gotta keep up the dramatic story lines and controversy.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
He is bordering on Millen territory here. Rich is flailing in the wind and rumors are spreading everywhere. I was going to be patient but we need to have a decision. This is like b school 101. Make up your mind and get on with it.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:02 AM ^
Unless you have already made up your mind and the decision requires this timeline.
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
Preface: I am not saying that this is so - just explaining the comment that you responded to.
By timeline, I think that the poster meant that not announcing a decision was keyed to getting Jim Harbaugh. Many people think (right or wrong) that Harbaugh already has the job locked up OR that DB's goal is to get Harbaugh. Regardless of which it is, this school of thought is that firing RR before Stanford has a chance to play in their BCS Bowl Game would put Harbaugh in the (speculated) Les Miles situation of having to either abandon his team on the eve of their biggest game or hold a press conference declaring no interest in the Michigan job, hense significantly diminishing any chance that we land him.
Not saying that this is so, but it is a popular conspiracy theory floating around.
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^
December 3rd, 2010 at 12:24 PM ^
December 3rd, 2010 at 4:56 PM ^
That all sounds great in theory, but in practice, if you want to land the coach of a top 5 team, you don't issue him ultimatums.
December 3rd, 2010 at 8:34 PM ^
We don't need to look like the bad guys again stirring up the controversy and sweeping in to steal a coach right before his BCS game. Didn't shed the best light on the program the last time we tried it. Don't forget that with a couple of upsets this weekend, Stanford could be playing in the championship game. I am not saying one way or the other about should or is going to happen, but this timeline leads me to believe that RR is gone. It makes no sense otherwise.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^
No he doesn't. He has his timeline and is sticking to it. Submitting to the wims of former players and fans just undermines his leadership. If we lose one or two recruits, then so be it. The program is bigger than one or two recruits.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:33 AM ^
"No Player is more important than the team."
"No coach is more important than the team."
The team. The team. The team.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:46 AM ^
....Bo would appreciate that quote being used to support an indecisive AD that is hurting The Team, The Team, The Team.
Bo is probably thinking something more along the lines of, "quit being such a coward and make a decision".
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:54 AM ^
No, Bo would use his ULTIMATE SUPER PIMP HAND 3 years ago to tell the cry baby former players to STFU about their whining about Les Miles not being here. He also would have pimped slapped the freep too.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^
Maybe if we fired him now we would lose more recruits???
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:08 AM ^
...what Bo might do in this situation.
But you might remember that when Bo was AD and had hired Steve Fisher as interim basketball coach, there were a lot of people (media & fans) pressing him for a permanent decision. Even immediately after Fisher won the Final Four, I recall the reporters asking Bo about the hire. He deferred and stuck to whatever timeline and/or process he had already committed to.
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^
I fail to see how this different than the Steve Fisher situation. Who is to say the AD is indecisive right now? I am all for the AD collecting as much data as he needs. There is a major difference between The Team The Team The Team and recruits who are not even on The Team The Team The Team. Bo is also thinking everyone whining to STFU and gt behind the Team.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:38 AM ^
demands that RRod only gives scholarship offers to wideouts for the next three years, and in order to receive a scholarship, at least half of those wideouts must categorically prove that they are either academically ineligible, chronically and pathologically lazy, or are intending to abuse narcotics in the near future, then no, Brandon is not bordering on Millen territory.
It was pretty sweet when he said, "That's six", though.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
Rittenberg - ESPN Big Ten Blogger
Rosenberg - freep Hack
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
to confuse your Hebrews.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:53 AM ^
This was Rittenberg--not Rosenberg.
EDIT: Here's a link to Rittenberg's column: Rodriguez gets emotional at U-M banquet
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:10 AM ^
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
so his comments get invalidated in my opinion. He has to go based on what he's told and some of that can be slanted based on agendas.
RR seems to be a very inspiring speaker and I get the feeling that if people would let down their guard, they can accept that speech as a way to mend fences and get on the same page.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
I'm curious to hear from someone who was there (who is not a member of the media) whether Rodriguez actually sounded like he was pleading for his job, or maybe even saying farewell in a way. Or is all this just conjecture from the typical media that always try to make stuff up to make an interesting story? I like Rittenberg a lot, but I'm just curious to hear from someone who doesn't have a vested interest in making a story interesting or exciting.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
I agree. Due to having no other info to report, it's pretty obvious that the media is trying to spin this to fit the Harbaugh meme.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:50 AM ^
I don't think Rittenberg cares who coaches Michigan.
The rest of the Michigan MSM is going to have a field day with what RR did last night.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:55 AM ^
Yes, I am afraid of that. The imagery laid out in the AnnArbor.com article was a little bizarre. I was hoping that was all made up.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:15 AM ^
Pete Bigelow, who wrote the article you linked, was at the banquet, so his description of it certainly wasn't "made up."
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
Rittenberg definitely doesn't care.
The banquet itself isn't much of a story. The only reason it's even reportable is because they believe it can be connected to Harbaugh in some way.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:02 AM ^
Well true, it's been connected to Harbaugh for a week now, as to whether he'd attend or not...so that's reportable right there. But now the whole thing of Rich's speech, the tears, the song, the holding hands, that's going to be reported everywhere just because it sounds kinda weird for that to take place at a season ending football banquet. True, heart-felt emotion or not on Rich's part, the MSM is just going to use it as another indictment on him.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:58 AM ^
Right, it's going to have to be someone from the Michigan MSM. Maybe Angelique Chengelis. She always seemed to be the most non-biased writer. I know she was there last night from someone posting from her twitter. I wonder what her twitter says or her articles at detnews.com.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:11 AM ^
Neutral as always. Says he gave a stirring speech.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:00 AM ^
Rittenberg does not care. He is not an SEC biased ESPN reporter, or a Freep hack. He reports on the Big Ten for ESPN and he does his job really well. And for what it's worth, I totally agree with his sentiments in this piece.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:55 AM ^
However IMO I think it is claer that Brandon is exploring the Harbaugh option in earnest. The question that remains and what few had thought going into this strategy is how damaging to RR this ordeal will be after almost a month of speculation.
I for one hope Brandon holds the course and does all he can to get Harbaugh and hell or high water make that decesion as he said he would after the Bowl game.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
Was Rittenburg even there?
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
Reading is fundamental.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:55 AM ^
Eh, you're right. My fault.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:47 AM ^
The last line of his comment says pretty explicitly that he wasn't.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:50 AM ^
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:52 AM ^
you're an idiot... if you'd even seen the speech, those were genuine emotions.
RR is the last person i'd expect to fake tears
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:55 AM ^
I don't think the speech says anything about his confidence... from what I've heard... it seemed more like one las attempt to get alumni, former players, boosters, all behind him to believe in him... not DB. DB is familiar enough with RR to know the skinny.
Does anyone think that DB's mind is made up either way at this point? In my biased mind.. it seems to me that the decision really is. .. RR will return, but the primary question is around whether or not the current Defensive staff is the right blend of coaches? If they're not... who would be? let's rectify this now. We're very close to being where we haven't been in years...
In sum, If DB can't respect that, then his whole perspective is whack, maybe he'll love Rod when he fades to black.
December 3rd, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
It could also be that he's trying to rally support for his defensive coaches. A lot of those guys have coached with RR for a long time, and I would be pretty emotional if I thought my friends weren't being given a fair chance and were going to be fired.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:03 AM ^
Define "fair chance"?
3 years, 3 terrible and progressively worse defenses. The offense started out bad and got better each year while the defense started out bad and did just the opposite.
Gibson can't coach, period. If Rich Rod doesn't want him gone because of his friendship then he should be canned too. Football is a business, there's no room for sentimental decision making. Axe everybody on defense, bring in someone competent, and let the new DC make every single hire and implement whatever scheme he wants on that side of the ball.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:53 AM ^
They have had less to work with each year because there was no young depth when he took over the team. Sure you can blame SOME of the player loss on RR but not all of it. There are lots of reasons why the defense has regressed and maybe if the coaches had some upperclass talent to work with they could field a competent defense. We have seen what the offense has done with even a little bit of experience. A fair chance would be at least allowing RR to have a senior class of his own players...
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:03 AM ^
If the decision is to retain RR then waiting until the bowl game makes no sense. Why cripple recruiting if the decision to retain has been made? If Brandon had made up his mind to retain less GERG then he would have a D coordinator coach in the bowl game could the D be worse less GERG? Releasing GERG might actually help D recruiting as it ends RR speculation.
Brandon is waiting to talk to or in the process of talking to Harbaugh. It also appears Brandon will not be swayed-all things considered he has to hold the course as this will set the tone for Brandon's regime. The remaining question will be RR value after this ordeal and if Brandon can't get Harbaugh will he still want to retain a devalued RR?
WOW!
December 3rd, 2010 at 11:39 AM ^
I don't know anything when it comes to this type of stuff, but perhaps he's got a specific process he abides to from being a CEO.. "wait till end of quarter..." type deals. I don't think it's wise per se, but maybe he's working with RR to understand what RR thinks would help the program get to the next level? Maybe they're combing through all the issues, identifying prospective coaches for defense.
I don't know.. I just really think it's not fair to boot RR after 3 years... He's given up just as much as Michigan has given up to get him, and I think we're bound for something special if people just chill out. It's just amazing that most fans i talk to expected a losing season, or a 7-5 at best... and we hit that mark. Yet people are fuming.
The #1 thing people hold onto is this notion that we (inherently*)can't compete with Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa etc.
*Because RR's 'system' is ineffective in the big ten. If people believe that, they don't know a damn thing about football.
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:12 AM ^
I think DB's mind is made up. If he was certain to keep RR, then dragging out the announcement doesn't make sense. So only two possibilities 1) he has Harbaugh lined up and will announce after the Stanford Bowl game or 2) He really is going to use the bowl game to make up his mind.
If 1, this makes sense because it is out of respect to Harbaugh and more importantly lowers the RR buyout by $1.5 million.
2 is harder to envision, how could the bowl performance this year make or break his decision. I doubt we will even be favored; so expectations should be low.
I can only see DB going for Harbaugh at this point, picking up anyone else would disappoint too many people, afterall releasing RR will disappoint some and not getting Harbaugh would disappoint the rest.
December 3rd, 2010 at 12:41 PM ^
the Jay Z reference, you were one day too early though. December 4th.