Richrod update
Story today about Richrod in the NYT (link below), discussing his time at Michigan and his impending move to (the state of) Florida. Money quote:
“To imply that we didn’t understand a tradition or you had to be there to understand all the things that are at Michigan, I kind of laugh at that,” he said. “We tried to embody that since the day we got there.”
http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/rodriguez-reflects-on-his-d…
February 6th, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^
I am an alum, a season ticket holder, and a Victors Club member. I am an ardent admirer of what Rich Rodriguez tried to do here. I resent and abhor what the media did to Rich Rodriguez. And I am curious and very cautious in thinking about what Brady Hoke might do here.
That puts me in the same demographic as a lot of people (however many, I don't much care), including the host of MGoBlog.
February 6th, 2011 at 2:50 PM ^
It is the overwhelming similarity between certain Rodriguez-hating elements on this Board, with what I have seen at Spartan Tailgate, Freep.com, MLive.com, bbc, 11W, etc.
February 6th, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^
You've been hanging out at those places?
February 6th, 2011 at 4:02 PM ^
There is worthwhile Michigan-related content on "Spartan Tailgate"? I know there's none on the Free Press site......
February 6th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
Anyone else getting tired of the RichRod love-in? He was a good coach before Michigan, he wasn't a very good coach at Michigan (despite all of the rhetoric that none of oit was his fault), he'll most likely be a good coach again in a better situation. He's not a dick, he's a nice enough guy, he's been "classy" (although I think you could dispute that given a couple of his recent comments), but wow - portraying him as some kind of martyr every time he opens his mouth is getting really, really old.
As a human being I hope he succeeds wherever he goes next, not because he is a "Michigan Man". And no, I won't be "cheering" for him wherever he goes next, I only have enough "cheering" for one NCAA team, and he no longer coaches there.
Let's all move on.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^
This is pretty much exactly how I feel. I hope things work out for him, but I don't get the "cheering" thing.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
+1 million if I could
February 6th, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
...I sure as hell am. I'm with you 1000% on this.
February 6th, 2011 at 2:33 PM ^
Has anyone really posted ANY threads since he's been fired to say bad things about Rich? If so, the list has to be really really short. The reaction usually comes from all this martyrdom sainthood bullshit that keeps being brought up again....and again....and again....
If people could just let him go, and stop turning all his failures into some giant conspiracy theory rather than him not being able to win games, there'd be no need to even mention him anymore. Positively or negatively.
But what it comes down to is after 3 years of drinking kool-aid and being so stringent in their opinions, some people just can't find it in them to admit they were ever wrong.
February 6th, 2011 at 4:11 PM ^
like several of the ones seen below the NYTimes story that gave rise to this thread, and, in about a dozen of the commenters in this thread.
Why don't you tell the Free Press to "let it go"? There has not been a week since Coach Rodriguez's departure, in which the Free Press hasn't taken a shot at him. There's hardly been a day on this Board, on which there hasn't been a comment made against him.
When you berate us to "admit we were wrong," ("wrong" about what?) and accuse us of "drinking the Kool Aid," that is the kind of thing that pushes me into the odd and uncomfortable position of somehow having to make a false choice between Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. If you are really going to continue to push that button, saying that people were "wrong" to have supported Rich Rodriguez, you might find some people hoping for Michigan's 2011 offense to collapse. Just to prove that you are "wrong."
Again, I say to you and all others on this Board. I strongly suspect that I am more closely aligned in my thinking about the recent history of Michigan's Head Football Coaching position with this Blog's Host and Proprietor, than you are, M-Wolverine. I'm no outlier; not compared with Brian Cook, I'm not...
February 6th, 2011 at 4:31 PM ^
"There's hardly been a day on this Board, on which there hasn't been a comment made against him."
WOW!!! A board with hundreds if not thousands of comments made each day may have one or two "against" Rodriguez.
Give it up, dude. Most of the anti-Rodriguez comments here, if you could even call them that, are tough-but-fair things like "He might be here right now if we were actually prepared to play a bowl game" or factual items like "We had historically bad defense and special teams play when he was here, and that's not on the media."
February 7th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
Tough but fair things like his bowl game or bad defense? Yet you RR bashers ignore things like the youth of the football team or the lack of contribution from the players left from Carr's regime?
There is nothing fair in blaming the failures of the team on RR when he was never given a fair shot. Three years is not enough when there is little to no contributions from the upperclass players left by the previous coaching staff.
If Rich Rod wins big at another school and goes on to win a national title will dumb Michigan fans still think he couldn't win here or in the Big Ten? I mean really?? Hopefully people acknowledge the fact that he was rebuilding this program and didn't have the time to do so. If not, then I for one look forward to excuses as to why RR succeeded at every stop of his coaching career other than Michigan.
It's going to be funny listening to fans and media in Michigan rationalize why RR was successful everywhere but here without admitting the most obvious fact of RR's tenure as coach. He was given a shit roster and was never accepted from day 1 when he was the coach at Michigan. He was given a situation that would cause any coach to fail and yet he was still turning the corner despite all of the problems he faced.
February 6th, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
zzzzzzzzz...tired, old, boring.
And I don't think he means "wrong to support" RichRod, I'm pretty sure he means "wrong to think he was going to be successful at Michigan".
So as the starter of this sub-section of this thread ("Anyone else getting tired of...") let me start: I was wrong to think RichRod could be a successful coach at Michigan. My doubts started early but were solidified at this year's MSU game, which I attended. That was the turning point, and watching what happened for the rest of the year, I had seen enough.
Up until then I really thought he could do it.
I work in a profession where the very best in the business are wrong 40% of every decision they make, so maybe its easier for me to admit it, but I was wrong.
Not everything was his fault, but a lot of it was. It wasn't going to work and not solely because there was a conspiracy against him from the MSM and inside the Athletic Department.
This fan base is truly bizarre, anywhere else - a coach with his record would be despised, not beloved.
But as I said, let's move on instead of creating post after post as to what a great guy he is, and how you will support him no matter where he goes.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
this a digression, but hope someone with good knowledge on this subject can answer.
i know that schiano was offered the job (twice) and he turned it down. and i presume he was plan A. then i understand rodriguez was offered, and he accepted. my question is.... if rodriguez decided not to leave wva and turn down martin's offer.... who likely would have been offered next and/or been the next coach???? surely this has been asked before but i cannot find it. thanks.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
I remember hearing KC Keeler was on the short list, but I can't remember where I read/heard that.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
if so, then that is just simply amazing.... that bill martin had zero perspective. no candidates from within, instead, all these guys like schiano and rodriguez and keeler, with no ties to program nor with recruiting ties to the midwest. sounds like martin has a god complex.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^
They would have doubled up efforts and gone after Ferentz aggressively. Lloyd Carr LOVES Ferentz and so does MSC. At the time Ferentz was on the fence and hadn't signed a contract extension yet.
February 6th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^
Name one candidate from "within" at that time who even approached Rodriguez, Schiano or even Keeler.
Don't even say Hoke because his stock didn't soar until after that with the Ball State '08 and San Diego State '10 seasons.
February 6th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
Thanks, you said it well, and I second that.
February 6th, 2011 at 1:27 PM ^
just like we already have competing narratives with Lloyd, there will be competing narratives with RR.
Lloyd the stale, old guy with outdated ideas who lost us too many games with his lack of openness to the new vs Lloyd the national championship winning guy who always kept Michigan competitive.
RR the terrible coach who never understood Michigan, tried the spread in a power conference and failed vs RR the progressive man with new ideas who was railroaded from day one by Carrite program reactionaries and was never given a fair shot.
Hoke seriously needs to be a winner or else the divisions will only get deeper as the competing narratives get new material added on to them...
February 6th, 2011 at 1:48 PM ^
I have no clue why this got negged.
February 6th, 2011 at 2:11 PM ^
As much as I did like RIchrod, there was something that just didn't fit here. I'm not going to say he wasn't a michigan man or anything like that, but there was definitely something, which is unfortunate because I really liked him.
February 6th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
Rich Rod stepped into a giant and he didn't see that at first until his job was threatened. He screwed himself up by not trying to keep the players here. He instead went after pryor and other recruits, when the true MICHIGAN men were sitting right in front of him. I give him props for doing his best at MICHIGAN. It just was program that was not meant for him.
February 6th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
Give us names, and be specific about all of the details as to how Coach Rodriguez "screwed himself up by not trying to keep the players here." Details matter.
February 6th, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
I was wondering that myself....I'm fairly new to Ann Arbor and when I hear about why we were so bad over the last few years, people attribute it to everybody leaving the program. Why was that the case then, but now with a new coach and system nobody is leaving?
I really think RichRod was a lot more of a stubborn fool than people made him out to be. He had a system that could win in crappy conferences and devised an offensive system that isnt really as novel as it used to be. Coaching / system changes happen every year in football, and I have a hard time believing that every time this happens, teams undergo their 3 worst seasons in program history.
February 7th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
We didn't have a good roster when RR took over. Even if Mallett and Boren would have stayed the talent was very, very bad at the tail end of Carr's regime. Look at the junior and seniors on the roster by RR's third year. That will tell you enough of the recruiting that Carr did prior to RR showing up. You can't expect success when you have nearly zero production from the seniors and juniors on the roster.
By year 3 RR was relying nearly entirely on his own recruited players. Name one coach that has taken over a team where he could not rely on the previous coaches players. It's shocking that RR improved his record over the past three seasons with the terrible depth left from the previous coaching staff. He had to rebuild the entire team from scratch and had a winning record with the youngest team in college football. Pretty damn good job if you ask me.
Also you are a fool if you think RR's system only wins in "crappy" conferences. Oregon and Auburn beg to differ. The "crappy" Big East conference in Rich Rod's days destroyed Oklahoma and Georgia in bowl games. Guess the Sec and Big 12 are crappy too...
February 7th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^
It's been said that "every team can win any week, but not every team can win every week." You're putting waaaaay too much stock into a one-off exhibition game, in which the teams have varying degrees of motivation, if you think that RR's WVU teams could have competed on a week in, week out basis with the best of the SEC and Big XII.
February 6th, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
hey lets stop fighting and head over to the RCMB and enjoy the sparty implosion on that board.
February 6th, 2011 at 3:11 PM ^
Puppy bowl!!!! it is on animal planet!
February 6th, 2011 at 3:44 PM ^
Rich Rodriguez has the WORST record of any head coach in Michigan HISTORY. The only other coaching tenure even close to his ridiculously bad record is some two-headed monster of a coaching staff back in 1891 that went 4-5 in Michigan's first season with coaches. No real coach of Michigan has ever gone under .500. And RR's .250 winning percentage in the Big Ten will almost assuredly remain the worst conference record by a Michigan coach for all eternity.
You can make all the excuses and arguments you want. The reality is, Rodriguez was fired because of the results on the field, which point to him having the worst record of any coach in Michigan history. I don't care who you are or where you coach. If after 3 years, you have the worst record in school history, you are probably going to be fired.
February 6th, 2011 at 3:50 PM ^
You know what's funny....our current coach has a losing record as a head coach. It's funny because you don't see the irony in everything you just typed.
February 6th, 2011 at 7:58 PM ^
Gary Moeller had a 6-24-3 record before he was hired at U-M.
February 6th, 2011 at 6:04 PM ^
When Hoke took over Ball State, they hadn't had a winning season in 7 years. When he took over SDSU, they hadn't had a winning season in 11 years.
When Rodriguez took over Michigan, they hadn't had a losing season in 40 years.
But yeah, Hoke must stink because despite the fact that he turned both floundering teams around, it took him a few seasons to do so.
February 7th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^
When Rodriguez took over Michigan he had a terrible roster. Why ignore that fact and only judge on past records? It makes you look bad when you ignore important information. I don't care if Michigan won the National Championship the year before RR took over, the team didn't have the same players the next year. Are you that blind to ignore this MAJOR fact?
RR had to rebuild the Michigan program just as much as Hoke had to rebuild Ball State. They both took over terrible rosters. The difference is that you are stuck in the past history of the programs rather than the players they were coaching. It took more than a few seasons for Hoke to turn around Ball State. RR had the roster finally turned over for Michigan way before he reached a year 5 like Hoke did with Ball State. RR was ahead of Hokes pace on rebuilding. RR now has Michigan's roster set for big things. So when Hoke takes over and wins with his players, he can thank RR!
February 6th, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^
This is the dumbest thread of all time. (Because of the comments, not the OP.)
February 6th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^
Rich Rod has barely been fired a month and I think there have been 10 topics that lead to this exact same discussion.
Basically, the arguments boil down to:
- "Rich Rod got screwed by Drew Sharp and the Freep and MLive crowd and I'm annoyed they think they were right so I hope RR does well to prove them wrong and shut them up." (Note this ignores the reality that they don't care and won't shut up).
- "Rich Rod is a good guy but he didn't understand Michigan and lost too much so he's gone."
- "Rich Rod is an arrogant idiot who didn't try to keep any players and wasn't a Michigan Man, blah blah blah"
The dumbest part about all of this is not that we've had this conversation a million times before it's that which if any of the above are true is meaningless at this point.
February 6th, 2011 at 8:41 PM ^
Not because of the OP, but because of some of the asinine responses.
February 6th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^
He thinks he understands. If he really understood, then he would at some point say he can't blame DB one bit for not giving him another year and just say it was time to move on. He obviously doesn't understand now. So did he ever? Not really.
He tried to understand, but when he talked of Pitt-WVU when saying how he understood rivalries.... come on. He never understood getting destroyed every year by OSU is just flat-out unacceptable. I would think he would now since it got him fired. And even when DB gave him one more look, we get pounded in the Gator Bowl.
Just the fact that he thinks he deserves another year proves he doesn't understand. And maybe those people on this board who thinks he deserved another year don't understand Michigan Tradition either. They just think they do.
February 7th, 2011 at 2:54 PM ^
This is some friendly advice to you, from your friend "stillMichigan."
Win. Win, in a hurry. You've got just three years to beat Ohio State. You've probably got less than three years to get Michigan into the newly-created B1G Championship game. It will not be enough for you to play Michigan State tough; Rich Rodriguez did that, and took Sparty to overtime in E. Lansing. It won't be enough for you to beat Wisconsin. Rich Rodriguez did that, too. Rich Rodriguez had a winning record versus Notre Dame in some exciting and heroic performances by his offense. So don't think that a couple of big wins over Notre Dame will save your job. It won't even be enough for you to show year-to-year substantial improvement with, say, your defense. Rich Rodriguez put a historically great Michigan offense on the field in his thrid year. It wasn't enough for him to retain his job, with two full years left on his contract.
No, Coach Hoke; under the Rodriguez Standard, you absolutely need to beat Ohio State and you've got exactly three years to get it done. Notwithstanding OSU's recently-gaudy recruiting classes. We'll be meeting with you at the end of the 2013 season. Mark your calendar for, say, 10 am on Friday, Jan. 11, 2013.
February 11th, 2011 at 9:48 PM ^
Dear Brady,
Don't stress. As long as you don't lose bowl games by nearly 40 points and give up 40+ points against any ranked team, Michigan fans will embrace the progress they see on the field, even if it comes slowly. As long as your defenses don't allow Wisconsin to punish your football team without need to even throw a pass in the 2nd half, we'll still support you. As long as you don't allow 3rd string QBs torch your defense in blowouts in Happy Valley, we'll still have your back. And as a bonus, if your offense can score a few touchdowns after the first drive of the game, that would be pretty sweet too.
February 8th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^
Rich Rod sucks, his name should no longer be mentioned
February 10th, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^
I don't care what RR is doing (or lack there of). I only wanna hear if A: he's named coach at osu B: He dies by the hand of an angry osu fan for making them suck even more.
That is all.....
February 11th, 2011 at 9:10 PM ^
I supported Rich Rod until this season drew to a close and the point came where I didn't see our roadmap to future success anymore. We weren't just 7-6, but as Brian said, it was just about the worst 7-6 imaginable. However, I was not on "team Hoke" during The Process either.
But it's all over now. Rich Rod is gone, we didn't land Harbaugh and we've got a new coaching staff led by Hoke. So far they haven't done anything soul-destroying, but have kept Denard and the entire roster from last year (aside from Tate), brought in some experienced coaches for the staff and salvaged a potential recruiting apocalypse. That's a good start, but nothing more or less.
Generally speaking, it's important not to live in the past, and not to support coaches or offensive philosophies instead of your school. It's also important not to make judgements before there's any evidence. Hoke will have to prove himself to keep his job, but he also has to prove himself wrong to deserve being written off. Those are both impossible before a single game has been played. I wish more people had had this attitude in 2007, and I wish more people had it now.
For RR, best of luck at your next job. I appreciate the effort you put in for us, and am genuinely sorry it didn't work out.