Moeller was my coach, and take note.

Submitted by Gino on

Gary Moeller took over when I was a sophomore, and although I was sorry to see Bo go, I preferred Moeller because he was an extension of him, a younger version but in the modern era.

Moeller's teams were tough as nails, an extension of him... an OSU LB and team captain. They were VERY exciting to watch, and were worthy of the finest spot in Wolverine fans hearts.....yet the memory of him and his teams were overly replaced by his DC Lloyd Carr, who your coach to most of you who post here.

Let me tell you something, and this is not due to pride of ownership.  Carr's teams were alot softer.  Sure they won the title....and I'm happy... but that title is part of Moeller's too as far as I am concerned.

Since most of you view all those great players that went to the NFL, especially the QBs.. well Moeller spurned it. Yes, Bo did too. But the kudos given to Moeller relative to Carr when it comes to it, is vastly understated. Again, I am not dissing Carr...I am trying to make many of you realize is what you yearn for was Moeller's teams more than Carrs.

And look at Moeller's staffs...how many assistants were head coach quality, or could have continued our tradition?  First is Carr, then Les Miles, then Cameron, and others. And look at Carr's coaches...none... now look at....

BUT I DIGRESS.....

Sorry Rodriguez..... but this is just piss/poor.  It is like watching Millen's Lions, had Millen signed Vick.

Special teams are a complete joke.  A joke.  NO chance of a long return, let alone a TD possibility.

No pressure on defensive line. None.  A sack is a distant memory.

None of the LBs should be starting.

Defensive backfield is mostly true freshmen, as you will say, but in my years true freshmen did fine.

Im so sick of seeing the same stupid ass  run play sending Vincent Smith or Denard into the same wall, and TOGETHER.

This coaching staff... are any of you confident in them being coaches somewhere else? All talked about is Barwis the trainer.

One thing I always wondered is if all of this is karmic punishment to us for never truly appreciating what we had in Gary Moeller. Do you realize that OSU was petrified of him? Carr won a few games vs them but evidently it faded, and now they have been crushing us. Some of you may point to Moeller's teams being 8-4 but at least he crushed OSU and MSU all the time, and at least it was Michigan football...not this bullshit undersized cant-tackle team.

If you want the right brand of football, stop yearning for the return of the Carr years and do one better and yearn for Moellers. Only then will this heartache end.

MGoBoard

aaamichfan

October 30th, 2010 at 10:14 PM ^

Didn't teams have like 95 scholarships when Moeller was coach? I think that may have had something to do with it.

Joined: 10/23/2009

MGoPoints: 14362

david from wyoming

October 30th, 2010 at 10:40 PM ^

Saying this

Im so sick of seeing the same stupid ass  run play sending Vincent Smith or Denard into the same wall, and TOGETHER.

while your sig is this

It's All About Denard

is a big steaming pile of horsecrap. Denard is the new face of Michigan football. The zone read is what Denard does really well and it is what made him a Heisman contender as a true sophomore. I understand if you don't like the new Michigan football, even though I don't agree with you. But you can not have it both ways. So please change your sig or stop bitching about Rich Rod.

Joined: 03/15/2009

MGoPoints: 2981

Gino

October 30th, 2010 at 10:43 PM ^

Don't agree with me, eh David? What do you disagree on?  I guess you're the new M stereotype...   the kind that yearns for the ESPN highlight play, couldn't care less that OSU has crushed us the last DECADE...that the #1 jersey tradition is gone, that we cant play D, that we dont tackle, etc.    Please humor me and tell me what you "don't agree" with?

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 24

david from wyoming

October 30th, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^

Ah, would you like to keep this on one topic please. I'm trying to point how hypercritical this thread stating how you don't like the new style of Michigan football is when your signature is pro Denard, and hence pro the new style of Michigan football.

Joined: 03/15/2009

MGoPoints: 2981

skunk bear

October 30th, 2010 at 10:24 PM ^

I thought that when they took the "interim" away from Coach Carr's title that it was a mistake. I doubted that Lloyd was the best man for the job, or even a decent choice. Then came the NC and I thought maybe I had been wrong.

Lloyd talked about leaving the program in better shape than when he found it in his retirement speech. I think Lloyd thought that he had. But, he hadn't.

The Michigan program got stale and we are now seeing the results.

I would like to see a program that got back to what Michigan stood for, for over a century: Solid play at the lines. Disciplined play. Hardnosed play. Superb execution of a base set of plays offensively and defensively. Also, solid, smart special teams play, the biggest thing that was missing from Bo's and Mo's teams.

Joined: 03/09/2010

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Gino

October 30th, 2010 at 10:24 PM ^

Skunk...   how is what you described, not Moeller's teams?  The only thing you left out was that the needs to crush OSU and MSU...oh, and that the staff ideally should have come from the rib of OSU, which it did.

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 24

Winged Helmet Fan

October 30th, 2010 at 10:21 PM ^

I loved Mo, a good friend played for him and loved him too. In fact, in my mind he was the last coach the Lions were successful under. And I hate to say this, but I believe you are preaching to the choir..

Joined: 09/28/2009

MGoPoints: 301

Gino

October 30th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^

Preaching to the choir? Oh really?  80% of the people here have never seen a game of Moeller's, nor even on video later. All they know is Carr. And Carr wasn't Moeller. Carr was great and happy to have him, but too many here forget that OSU got the upper hand on his watch. These people yearn for the return of Carr play, whereas they should do one better, but don't know better, and yearn for Mo.   And I think Harbaugh would bring it, for what its worth.

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 24

A2MIKE

October 30th, 2010 at 10:30 PM ^

I wouldn't mind seeing Pat Fitzgerald as the next head coach.  Not sure if he would come to Michigan, but I like the spread he runs and the intensity on defense.  

Joined: 10/10/2009

MGoPoints: 1811

dearbornpeds

October 30th, 2010 at 11:32 PM ^

     One of the standby excuses for the poor defensive play is the youth and inexperience.  However, these guys have played more than half a season and I haven't seen any improvement. We have been carved up by teams without a running game (Indiana) and by walk on QB's with little or no experience (PSU).

     What is the rationale for believing they will be better next year?  I know Martin was hurt tonight but we can't stop anyone when he's in the game.  I remember the Moeller years very well and I do remember a hard nosed defense that has been missing for more than just the last three years.  It is a sad situation when my greatest thrill comes from watching Sparty lose

Joined: 11/07/2009

MGoPoints: 1672

Simple Boy fro…

October 30th, 2010 at 10:55 PM ^

I was an athlete at Michigan and my best friend roommate played for Bo/Mo and Lloyd (position coach).  Mo was able to recruit more talent than Bo did and his offense was far more exciting however Bo was a far better motivator and he could control the egos.  It was pretty well known that Mo did not command the same respect from the players as Bo did.  

I have heard the stories first hand of Bo throwing Tony Boles out of the first practice of the season before it ever started because he missed plenty of summer workouts.  Or the time Bo threw Jon Vaughan out of a team meeting for removing his pads while Bo was speaking.  From what I heard, the star players walked on Mo.  But like Bo, Mo was a huge believer in Gidleson.  Gidleson pushed the players mental and physical toughness to their max.  However, it is pretty well known that Lloyd asked Gildeson to back off of his intense S&C routines with the players. This request from Lloyd showed up on the field with Lloyd's teams over time.

Like Gino said, for the first time in my life we are the undersized team in every real game (OSU, MSU, IOWA, PSU).  Personally, RR seems like a pretty grounded guy today now that he got the arrogance that he came in with knock out of him by year two.  In the end, when you make the money that he makes and you have the opportunity to coach a legendary program you take all of the responsibility of wins and losses.  Not your DC, not your players and not past coaches. The D being pathetic has been the theme for three straight years.  He is the coach not the just the OC.  His recruiting on D has been pathetic.  His player development on the D is pathetic.  

Now that we are eight games into the season our SoS has dropped like a rock.  Teams like UMass, Indiana, UConn and a bad PSU team torch our defense for the last three years.

I wish no person or family hard times but three years is plenty of time to assess a coaches performance.  There are plenty of coaches nationwide that have started with less resources and done much much more.  Time to be a realist.   

Like Bear Bryant said, "Momma called. And when Momma calls, you just have to come runnin."  Bring Harbough home.

Joined: 10/30/2010

MGoPoints: 313

Clarence Beeks

October 30th, 2010 at 11:25 PM ^

but that title is part of Moeller's too as far as I am concerned.

I was thinking about this earlier today, actually.  Right on the money and he gets very little (if any) credit.

Joined: 09/06/2008

MGoPoints: 22814

go16blue

October 30th, 2010 at 11:46 PM ^

I have to do it. please ignore this, i just gotta vent.

Im 16. I have grown up in a family where I am the only michigan fan. Maybe its the fact that i have grown as a michigan fan with RR as the coach, but i fucking love the guy. Nothing made me happier than hearing him cuss out the ref, although that probably says more about the game than what he did. He steps over field markers. i do that all the time with cracks in the sidewalk. I feel bad for the guy. Today, i watched the game with my dad and one of his friends. it reminded me about what i hate about some fans. between suggesting stupid things and bitching about the coaching, im not sure i could have been too happy even if we did win. To these people on the blog i say this: fuck off. None of my friends are football fans. the closest person i have to somebody i can talk sports with is one of my friends girlfriends. it sucks. that is all

Joined: 04/28/2010

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Feat of Clay

October 31st, 2010 at 12:00 PM ^

Kid, I am glad you have this board, and I am glad you are a Michigan fan.

And I'd much rather have you next to me in the stands screaming your head off in support of your team than some guy enumerating all the reasons he's unhappy with this year.

Michigan football has ups and downs, and most of us are fans through thick and thin just like you.  Hopefully in your long future life we'll have way more ups.

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 3759

UMMAN83

October 30th, 2010 at 11:40 PM ^

so he has at least ten years in him.  This embarrassment has to end ... what better way than to bring back Mo ( ... and some Bo)

Joined: 11/26/2009

MGoPoints: 1491

nucegin60

October 31st, 2010 at 2:05 AM ^

Geez the way you were talking about how you know what the coaches were like, and how Moeller was "your coach", you would think that you played for both of them.

Joined: 02/18/2009

MGoPoints: 211

Feat of Clay

October 31st, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^

That has always been my attitude, but I'm intrigued by the comments in another thread, which (1) avowed that Moeller was nearly always moderate, it not teetotaling, when out with the team and (2) that the infamous episode came at an extraordinarily low point in his personal life.   So I'm wondering if I should cut him a lot more slack than I have previously.

Joined: 08/10/2009

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