A few clarifying facts about Oregon-Arizona
Why does this require it's own post? Because some people are going to suggest that Zona' performance is "proof" of RR's status as the next Saban.
Here's why it it questionable.
Oregon's OL is flat out atrocious due to injuries. They gave up 7 sacks to Washington State's crappy defense. If WSU can cause havoc in Oregon's backfield than that suggests Oregon isn't very good at this blocking thing. In all honesty we ought to have been on upset alert after Oregon struggled to beat what is a bad Washington State team.
Secondly, Arizona is 75th in the nation(after tonight) in scoring defense. That is atrocious and reminiscent to what RR did at UM.So contrary to what some have suggested RR still does not have a good defense.Casteel is not the miracle worker some have made him out to be.
It's about fit and RR fits better in the Pac 12 than in the Big Ten. RR's emphasis is on speed while the Big Ten is size and power.
In having said all that it has to feel good for RR for his team to flourish whilst UM's goes Three Mile Island. The injustice he was subjected to by some UM "supporters" while head coach has to have Rodriguez' inner Nelson express itself.
UM is an embarrassment. Arizona is seemingly on the rise. What a perfect storm of suck this is for Dave Brandon and Michigan fans.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:25 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:26 AM ^
2007. When was Michigan's?
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:19 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:09 AM ^
LSU is Lloyd Carr personified. He will never win another NC but will go 10-2 or 11-1 consistently.
Give it time, he will win a NC in Arizona and it will come much sooner than our next one will.
October 4th, 2014 at 1:33 PM ^
I guarantee you Michigan wins a NC before Arizona.
You have some Rich Rod hard on that is just weird.
Even Rich Rod said on SVP and Russillo that "we're just trying to be relevant right now."
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:22 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 12:27 PM ^
And then we fired him because he wasn't a "Michigan Man".
We fired him because
- He went 3-9, 5-7 and 7-6
- His last two defenses were abysmal
- He was crushed in his last 3 games at Michigan in games where we didn't even look competitive
The "Not a Michigan Man" feaux-controversy was a footnote
October 3rd, 2014 at 1:50 PM ^
We fired a coach that was winning more games than the year before. Not a smart move.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:14 AM ^
Arizona beat Oregon who whooped on MSU who has owned us like a bitch.
Arizona would whip us 70-0.
Oregon 63-0.
With MSU this year probably 38-0.
We are the worst team in the Big Ten and will be lucky to win another game - stick that in your "facts".
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:20 AM ^
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October 3rd, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^
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October 3rd, 2014 at 9:18 AM ^
Rich Rodriguez
Clap, clap
Clap clap clap
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:20 AM ^
No way RR is the next Saban but I think Michigan made a mistake by not supporting him more and keeping him longer.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:22 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:24 AM ^
Take a deep breathe.
Here is something you are right about: Rich Rodriguez did not do a good job at Michigan. His record here was really bad. He went 15-22 and that is not good enough and that opens you up to being fired. And he was. All of that is fine and true.
Here is what you don't get: Rodriguez walked into an atrocrious situation, both with the AD and personnel. No coach was going to walk into those years with those players and succeed. There's a reason why most people were fine with coach Hoke last year: Because they know that in year three, its usually not entirely your fault for what goes wrong. It takes some time.
Now, if we had a coach like Jim Harbaugh lined up? Fire Rich Rodriguez. That's an upgrade. But when you have the choice between Hoke and Rodriguez+Casteel? You take the latter. Every time. A smart AD would have weighed his options, realized that Michigan's defense was starting a secondary unit made up entirely of underclassmen and converted wideouts and known that the next year they would return 20 guys, including an offense that looked like with a little time would be very special (you can never acknowledge in your "RR NEVER SCORED ON GOOD DEFENSES" rants that he never had a QB who started a game as an upperclassman) and known the head coach had been very good in the past. And he would have retained RR, hired Jeff Casteel and we would have been just as good as we were in 2011. And we would be in fine shape right now.
But instead, we have Dave Brandon, who is an arrogant prick, who believes that same stupid shit that you do: That you need to play a certain way to win in the super special BIG TEN. You gotta play BIG TEN FOOTBALL. And he believes something that you don't believe: That you need a MICHIGAN MAN to coach at MICHIGAN.
So you were wrong and the proof is showing and you're getting desperate. Its okay. At least you know that firing Rodriguez after three years was an okay decision. It just wasn't the right one.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:43 AM ^
Really well articulated. To use a phrase from the RR era: This guy get's it!
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October 3rd, 2014 at 8:06 AM ^
I wish I could upvote this 10 times.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:43 AM ^
UP VOTE. You nailed it. There wasn't a lot of uproar at that time about DB. Now, we know what happened. While RR may not have been an elite coach like Saban, I wish he was given the same money that give Hoke for the coordinators. He would have excelled in this crappy conference.
The winning recipe against MSU (the MANBALL team) is Oregon in the last couple of years.
ND beat them and they use some spread concepts also.
While RR had some faults (like that stupid song, the kicker debacle), I wish he would have pushed DB to get more money (may be he did).
I was 99% yesterday about DB being the problem, but now I am convinced that DB was the problem.
People bring up that his offense didn't work against MSU or OSU. Guess what? It would have, if he got better recruits and talent. He might have eventually. The problem really was the D, that couldn't get off the field.
Fire DB!
October 3rd, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
Excellent post. I couldn't agree more.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:24 AM ^
I think we are getting the Athletic Department and football program we deserve.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:33 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:18 AM ^
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October 3rd, 2014 at 10:39 AM ^
A large majority of the fans, from students to alums, wanted RR gone--no matter who the replacement was, just get somebody else. Not to mention a number of former players. Beyond valid complaints (e.g., poor defense; struggling in red zone; losing to rivals), it was a "culture" issue. They hated the spread. They hated that we were "soft." They hated the running QB. They hated the coach's diction.
It was a tough time, as RR's teams were improving, but not fast, and it would have taken some vision and patience to give RR (+Casteel, as we finally would pay for assistants) a 4th year. But UM fans (in general) didn't want that; they wanted to "get back" to "real" football.
So, here we are. Our slow, stuck in 1990s, real football team is 2-3, and on a fast train to Palookaville.
October 3rd, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^
So you don't think that Oregon is elite. Are they very good? Are they top 15? Arizona just beat them on the road after crushing them last year at home. When do you see Michigan beating a top 10 team on the road again? Our entitled fanbase chased RR out of Michigan because he didn't represent their idea of some fabled "Michigan Man." Don't give me his record bullshit. We have no idea what would have happened if RR was given the support and resources that Hoke has been given. He was recruiting from behind a cloud of suspicion that he was a dead man walking from day one. He had no chance. As for your other point, I can't say "BS" loud enough. Stop living in the 80's. The college football landscape has left "three yards and a cloud of dust"... well... in the dust. I can't predict how good Michigan could have been under RR if he was supported, but there is enough data to suggest that he was a good coach before Michigan, and now after Michigan.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:29 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:30 AM ^
"It's about fit and RR fits better in the Pac 12 than in the Big Ten. RR's emphasis is on speed while the Big Ten is size and power".
I realllllly hope the people in charge of finding out next coach don't think like you, otherwise it is proof that we learned nothing from our past mistakes. This whole "fit" argument makes no sense. Clearly the best team in the big ten right now (MSU) is based on the Big Ten size and power concept and still lost by double digits to Oregon this year. RR runs an amazing system and just beat one of the best teams in the country. Damn I miss watching that offense
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:33 AM ^
But! But! It never works against good teams!
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:47 AM ^
Just imagine MSU playing AZ in a bowl game and AZ beating them convincingly? The uproar on this site!!!
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:32 AM ^
This is egg on Michigan's face no matter the facts. Name the last time Michigan beat a good team on the road, I can't. Did RR need to go? Yes, moreso because his defenses were terrible and he tried to micromanage that aspect. Do I think he would have been good here if he didn't do that, sure but people also needed to leave him the hell alone. Also, he is going to be better at Arizona because he can pick up the JUCO players that Michigan would not allow him to. Good for him though, that's two years in a row he knocked off Oregon and has beat a ranked team on the road.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:58 AM ^
2* JUCO's are definitely the answer.....doesn't seem fair to limit us to a team loaded with 4* and 5* players no that you mention it.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:13 AM ^
Experience matters, so does player development.Most of his JUCO players are 3* JUCO players, most of our best players are 3* with experience.
October 3rd, 2014 at 9:41 AM ^
Are you talking about life experience or system experience because JUCO's will only have about 1 year of experience, 2 at the most usually, and our guys have 3-4 years worth of experience in Hoke's system. Also, we have many many 4* with experience and Gardner is a 5th YR SR who was a 5* QB prospect.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:36 AM ^
Serious question: Was Oregon's O line atrocious when they scored 46 points on Michigan State? I don't know when the injuries happened that you are referring to.
I don't know what point you are trying to make about the Big Ten's emphasis on size and power but MSU has to be about the best in the conference and they eventually crumbled against Pac 12 speed in the Oregon game.
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October 3rd, 2014 at 8:03 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:12 AM ^
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October 3rd, 2014 at 8:14 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:29 AM ^
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October 3rd, 2014 at 7:40 AM ^
After following MGOBLOG for years, I finally signed up to add my two cents.....
After this week and punctuated with AZ last night, I have nothing,,,I walk away confused...back to my model trains and Silly Putty...
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:43 AM ^
5-0 and beating the #2 team on the road is the only facts you need.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:45 AM ^
I wish Rich Rod all the success in the world at Arizona. It was never going to work for him at Michigan at it was necessary for us to part ways with him. But he seems like a good buy and the Arizona gig seems like a good fit for him. In particular, he never did well here with the media and media fire is Tucson is even less existent than it is in Morgantown.
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:49 AM ^
That is all!
October 3rd, 2014 at 7:49 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:04 AM ^
But did Arizona win? Because all of the excuses and analysis doesn't change the score.
October 6th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
at least not 'fit' in a conference, however fit with a fanbase as arrogant as ours would be the issue.
He just took a bunch of 2 star recruits and beat a team loaded with 4-5 stars....with a freshman QB....on the road......again.
The fact of the matter is that he has taken a shitty AZ team in a MUCH better conference and has them improving steadily in his third year. Imagine if/when he gets recruiting going there?
That AZ team would roll over most teams in the B1G and could beat any of then any given day. His defenses sucked at M because he was given $200k to hire a DC and thus ended up with GERG....give him $650k and I think you get a better defense. Surprise.
Time will tell all, but right now, RR has, quite simply, performed, as he has at every other stop besides Michigan.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:11 AM ^
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:26 AM ^
The dude ran 40 yds to the center of the field and celebrated deliberately in the direction of the opponents bench. That's like TO celebrating on the Dallas star. Hard to justify.
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October 3rd, 2014 at 9:21 AM ^
Excessive celebration- Rule 9-2-1d- lists eight examples of violations, ranging from "Pointing the finger(s), hand(s), arm(s) or ball at an opponent" to "Going into the stands to interact with spectators, or bowing at the waist after a good play."
And let's not forget that Arizona was called for an iffy post-play personal foul earlier in the game that turned a fourth down into a first and goal and subsequent TD.
October 3rd, 2014 at 12:04 PM ^
It was a thrid down play. AZ still could have kicked a mid-range field goal and won the game.
October 3rd, 2014 at 8:18 AM ^
"RR's emphasis is on speed while the Big Ten is size and power."
Words cannot express how much I hate that meme.
The B1G's best team lost to your supposedly overrated Oregon team a few weeks back. MANBALL!