My question:

What the heck has happened to Brandon Herron? His play allowed Roh to play as a DE. Herron gets injured against Notre Dame, is now off the injury report, and ???????????

Hadn't even heard this rumor. Sorta wish I still hadn't actually.

Having the name  "Roh" and word "transfer" in a sentence is disturbing.  From the pressers, obviously the defensive players are not pleased or happy with their performance.  But, if they are expressing concern with their position or maybe the scheme, something is wrong on a deeper level.  Granted, there are injuries and freshman playing so some shifting has to happen but damn we are 8 games into the season.  Some of these things should have been figured out earlier. 

When positive posts like Tom's turn into yet another witch hunt thread, it tells me there are a lot more problems with impatient fans than there are with the team.  At least the team has room for growth. 

"He loves Michigan, and doesn't want to transfer. I spoke with someone I trust about this, and they told me that the rumor is not true."

Guys, the rumor is true!

it's about time for defensive players to have a mutiny... I'm very glad to hear that Craig confronted the issue.

...but of COURSE he's thinking about transferring.  who wouldn't, with a defensive coaching staff that is constantly asking people to do things that fall outside of their skill sets?  craig roh is a terrific edge pass rusher, so let's ask him to play in space.

fucking a.  would a transfer surprise anyone?  not me.

When Greg Robinson was Head Coach and Co-Defensive Coordinator at Syracuse, defenses with his players, his assistants and his schemes ranked in the bottom 20 of all FBS schools during his final three seasons there.  He had a fourth-string running back named Doug Hogue who had been a very good RB and linebacker during his high school career.  While Robinson played an undersized MLB named Mike Mele (who started at MLB for UMass against Michigan this season), Doug Hogue watched from the sidelines.

After Robinson was fired and Scott Shafer became Syracuse's Defensive Coordinator following the 2008 season, Doug Hogue was switched to linebacker.  For his performance this season in Syracuse's win over West Virginia, Hogue was chosen as the Walter Camp Foundation's National Defensive Player of the Week.   In 2009, for his performance in Syracuse's win over Rutgers, Hogue also was named as the Walter Camp Foundation's National Defensive Player of the Week.

Before this season started, it was reasonable to expect that Craig Roh's performance as a freshman at Michigan would have led to significant improvement in his play this year.  He was considered to be a key part of what was going to be a strong foundation for the Michigan defense for three seasons. Any speculation and rumors about his possible transfer may be no more legitimate than claims that it will cost $200 million a day for President Obama to spend five days in India this month.  But it would be nice to think that next season, while working for a different Defensive Coordinator, Craig Roh might be earning a Walter Camp Foundation award as National Defensive Player of the Week -- for Michigan.

#1). Going into the Iowa game, it was no longer possible to ignore the consistently horrible performance of LB Obi Ezeh, and it was announced that Kenny Demens was going to start. Demens immediately makes the first two tackles on defense, and shortly after that he's out of the game, Ezeh is back in, and we promptly give up a big play. RR notices what's happened, storms toward GR yelling and screaming, and LB Demens goes right back in.

#2). Chatster's account of how LB Doug Hogue was misused at Syracuse.

#3). LB Demens has to ask the defensive coaching staff to move back from the LOS.

#4). Craig Roh, whose assignment at LB has been the subject of much criticism by a number of MGoBloggers, including some who are currently coaches, asks to be put back at his more natural position on the DL.

#5). Greg Robinson coaches the linebackers.

Items #1 and #2 indicate to me that it's not RR who is unable to recognize LB talent. Items #4 and #5 indicated that the linebacker coach not only does not recognize who and who does not have ability at that position, he also doesn't know how to position them on the field, either.

I am not trying to state that RR is not responsible for the defense; on the contrary, he's ultimately 100% responsible as head coach, since he's hired all of the defensive assistants including Robinson. Even the most enthusiastic RR supporters would be denying reality if they tried to assert that RR hasn't done a poor job in his selection of the defensive staff, considering Shafer, Hopson, and now Robinson.

However, the evidence points much more directly to Robinson than it does to RR when it comes to talent evaluation and in-game deployment of linebackers.

the 3-3-5, GERG, The Stack, WTFeva.is an Epic Fail.  Can the brain trust in Schembechler Hall get their collective heads out of their arses and let best players do what they do best.  Even I know Roh is a liability at LB.  He is a rushing DE.  Come On!  Blitz someone NOW!

If someone's got nothing better to do and can do some searching (I may have read this on the Rivals site), there was an exceptionally prescient and bone-chilling quote from Craig Roh over the summer.  Roh was asked about his new responsibilities in the revamped defense, and he responded as follows (this isn't 100% verbatim, but it's awfully close, because it stuck in my head so firmly):

"There's more thinking involved.  The main thing is to read and react, so I can't be as aggressive, so that's going to take some getting used to."  

I remember reading that and sinking feeling that came with it.  *sigh*  

I wonder if GERG will call in 2 defensive sets and let the players vote on which one they think will be most effective.

Let the kid play D-end Gerg!

and the weekly news coming from it is a train wreck. Everyone knows the staff is going to be gone so why hesitate. It wont affect recruiting, not negatively anyway, just fire them all and lets see what pans out. At least we'd know they're taking a step in the right direction.

roh's right.  but i hope his "position change" doesn't require another position change wherein we have someone who doesn't know his role.  like cam gordon moving up last week.

People are worried about a transition to a new coach. Bah. They will HAVE to transition on defense no matter what. This is ridiculous. The players seem to actually know more than the coaches! The fact that, after three years, we are in the position is sickening.

All evidence points us toward another three years of bad defensive coaching. There is no evidence that decisions on the defensive side of the ball will turn positive, is there?  Anyone?  Can you help me find some evidence that the current coaching regime can turn things around defensively?

So, why is it that the coaches are the very last ones to catch on to the fact that Roh is a DE?

leaves me with feelings of pride.

Story about Denard, the Zoltan article, and now reading about how Roh is being pro-active about how he can contribute... these are just the most recent examples of kids on this team that are exceptional student athletes.

It's great to be a Wolverine.

It really speaks to the fact that the whole defensive staff needs to go and Rich needs to leave the new DC alone. I blame RR 100% for the defensive woes.

Could this finally mean a switch to a 4-2-5 as the base formation like I've been advocating for a while now?  I don't mind the spur/bandit hybrid safely LB positions, in fact I think it's better than having to rotate different packages in and out constantly, but given the personnel and coaching situation with this team I think a four man front would be more effective at this point.

... I'd just as soon see the inmates running.  Roh, Demens, and probably the other kids seem to know better than their elders how they should be used. 

Any top-rated defensive recruit (and his parents, coaches and other advisors) with access to a computer will have no problem researching Greg Robinson's performance as a college coach over four seasons at Syracuse and two seasons in Ann Arbor.  For someone who was hailed by Syracuse as a "defensive guru" when he was hired there to replace Paul Pasqualoni as Head Coach, Greg Robinson has failed to live up to that reputation.

Granted, injuries and defections may be at the core of this Michigan team's defensive woes.  But if lack of talented defensive players is part of Michigan's problem, then I can't imagine that too many highly talented potential recruits this year are saying, "Wow, I've gotta get up to Michigan to play for Greg Robinson.  His defense is awesome!"

At this point in the season, maybe it would not be too crazy to let Mike Martin, Craig Roh, Jordan Kovacs and Troy Woolfolk (who could coach from the coaches' box) devise the defensive game plan.