Where would Michigan be if Les Miles was hired in 2008?

In 2008 we had probably the worst roster ever. It didnt help that Mallet was homesick and Aarington and Mannigham left. Maybe the defense's would have been a little bit better, and we would have gone 5-7 or 6-6 but thats all. After that it would have gotten better, except we never would have had Denard.

Isn't this a pointless exercise?  I suppose wild and reckless speculation can be fun, but, I'm not sure what we gain from this... besides maybe a bit of fun.

I think we'd have switched from turf to grass for Les though.

Grass on the field

I always think about this, too. Yeah, Les is a little crazy and does shady stuff, but the guy wins a lot. I really wanted him to be our coach after Carr and frankly, I would still take him if Harbaugh is not an option (and I don't think he ever will be because he has a hard on for the terrible NFL). MIND YOU ALL...I am still OK with Hoke's being our coach. I hope it works out for him, but if it doesn't within the next two or three seasons, he needs to be replaced. Another guy who interests me is David Shaw from Stanford, but I think he is also NFL bound some day or will stay at Stanford. He has it good there right now.

there was no way Miles was going to leave LSU.

 

This thread will go well.

Probably on probation for recruiting violations, but looking a lot better on the field.

We would all be more entertained and the term manball would be never spoken again.

Somebody else's wife woulda gotten slept with, is my guess.

 

Impossible to speculate as far as win-loss and championships, or violations, for that matter, but a few things I'd comfortably wager...

2008-09 would probably still have been rough. Maybe not "eight wins in two seasons" rough, as MAYBE Mallett stays and that in turn possibly convinces Manningham and Arrington to do so as well, but still fairly rough as o-line and defense issues were coming with Lloyd's late recruiting drop-off. However, I think that would have been the bottom.

Offensive line recruiting crater doesn't happen. Mark Dantonio isn't handed the state of Michigan on a silver platter.

Definitely not back to '90s-level domination of Ohio State, but I doubt Les would be 1-4 against them, en route to being 1-5, as Michigan currently stands since 2008. Les vs Urban would be considered one of the hottest rivalries in football.

Highly doubt Dantonio is 5-2 against Michigan.

Horrible losses in that span which MAY not be? I'll go with Toledo and Northwestern 2008, Illinois and Purdue 2009, Penn State 2010, Iowa 2011, ND and Nebraska 2012, obviously Penn State and Nebraska 2013. Even Michigan State 2011 is a toss-up, he'd have had upperclass recruits by then.

Someone's going to say I'm an idiot and putting way too much stock in merely having a different coach, but I'm not going overboard saying Michigan would have won multiple NCs or would be the new scourge of the Big Ten, I'm simply saying I feel there would have been a greater level of competence, focus, and aggressiveness, and Michigan wouldn't be where it is right now, with a host of embarrassing losses the last few years, and hilarious ineptitude in the games that matter most.     

 

 

Well our press conferences would sure be a hell of a lot more eventful than they are right now.

This is really just a pointless exercise, though. Yeah, it can be fun to speculate, but he didn't come here. He's not coming here, and he never will. That doesn't mean there won't be plenty of good candidates out there should Hoke not be the right guy.

We'd be the top team in the big ten and always in the top ten of the ap top 25. We'd be tough and exciting to watch and we'd be relevant. I wish he was our coach still to this day.

Who cares?  They didn't hire him, and at this point we might be better off if he who can't be named without spread hating true blue fans blowing up were still coaching.

announced we were getting Miles.  He's shady and definitely crazy but a good coach that just wins.  There wouldn't have been any investigations or any fractured fanbases, but Llyod would have disappeared. 

I think we'd be farther ahead if for no other reason, 2008 and 2009 wouldn't have happened and the bowl streak would still be intact.

At LSU he was taking over from Saban so the cupboard was stacked. He is able to pull in Louisiana recruits now because they are playing at home. LSU as an SEC school is allowed to bring in JuCo players to fill in gaps that develop. Even still he has only had two bites at the apple and one championship. True that is more than about 120 other programs in the BCS era.

It isn't even the cries of "over signing" or such nonsense. It is just being a school in a state that has more NFl talent per capita than any other.

I do not see that level of success at Michigan.

That being said I could definitely see some trips to the Rose Bowl.

Where would Alabama - and Michigan - be if Rodriguez had taken the Alabama job after the 2006 season?

A large part of RR's problem was the trouble off the field, such as a lack of support from higher-ups, including Lloyd.  Now Lloyd famously didn't want Les, so if we hire him and there's that same void of support and Lloyd freely lets any player transfer that wants to, we still probably get a hellish 2008 maybe 2009.  Who knows what other off-the-field issues we might have had besides.

Alternatively, what if we had hired Hoke then?  Would he have been able to keep it going after Carr?

Wait three more years and we'll know.

Is the correct answer.

I'm starting to feel like Lloyd Carr did a great job of screwing Michigan football and then placing the blame on RR.

but only because I go with the assumption now he would be in the sixth year of his systems and his recruits.

We had a few years off if recruiting and you can't do that in this landscape anymore.

There is something amiss right now but what it is is hard to say. Youth is a reason and I'm not sure yet if Borges is a reason or an excuse, but by all accounts of those who write up about Michigan practices there was as much teaching and attention to detail as they had seen anywhere. So I struggle with understanding the gap.

I liked this discussion better when Miles was named Tubby Smith. John Beilein just called...he wants his third year collapse(and ensuing overreaction/panic) back.

probation.

We would have lost in the national championship after going undefeated in the easiest schedule we've ever had  2011. 

 

Better quesiton is where would we be if Brandon had just let Rich Rod hire Casteel and given him backing the way he gave it to Beilein when he was struggling in year three.

The University of Michigan hospital would have made history as the first hospital to surgically remove field turf from a coach's esophagus.  

Looking for a new coach.