Rich Rodriguez: Michigan practice log issue has been corrected
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez told a Columbus, Ohio, radio station he fixed the problem of unkept practice logs "as soon as I learned of the issue."
"Because of the investigation is still in the process, the NCAA won’t let us comment about it other than the fact that the practice log process, that thing was corrected as soon as I learned of the issue," Rodriguez said Tuesday. "And as soon as this whole thing is over I’ll be happy to discuss all the other details."
Rich Rodriguez
An internal audit conducted in May and released earlier this week showed Michigan failed to detail its practice hours both during last football season and the offseason.
The forms are not required by the NCAA, but used by Michigan's compliance department.
The NCAA is investigating claims Michigan exceeded limits of practice time.
Rodriguez, appearing on "The Big Show" with Chris Spielman and Bruce Hooley, talked about several other issues in advance of Saturday's Michigan-Ohio State game:
• On whether the Michigan experience has been everything he thought it would be so far: "It’s been an experience. I think there was so much drama last year and when I left, and there were so many non-football related issues that it took away, I guess, some of the enjoyment that we could have had in building this process. And certainly when you don’t win, any coach will tell you if you’re not having success it’s not fun. Before we came here we lost five games in three years and played some pretty good teams and all that. Now, we’ve been struggling the last couple of years in the win column."
• On whether there will a concerted effort to target need areas on defense in recruiting: "Yeah, very much so. There was last year 'cause we saw this coming and certainly there will be this coming year and the years forward. We want guys that can run, big guys that can hit and make plays in space and do all those things because we're not as fast defensively as we need to be and we're not as big as we need to be. That's pretty obvious. Everybody wants those big, fast guys, but we got to have them. we've had them here in the past, but it's been several years since we've had the type of defensive talent that it takes to win championships. We've got a few of them, but we've got to get a few more."
• On his team's defensive struggles: "In defense of our defensive coachces, they’re trying everything. We’ve got some really quality coaches and they’re searching scheme-wise and everything to try to put guys ... in the position to make plays. That’s what coaches got to do and the players got to do it. I think our guys are trying, but sometimes we are a little bit overmatched at times."
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
ChelseaBob
Thu, Nov 19, 2009 : 6:48 a.m.
Imagine you are a Michigan player, and you hear your coach talk about how you aren't big enough or fast enough to compete? That has to be great for morale. Win or lose RR doesn't belong at Michigan. It's about character. These are our Cooper years (minus the wins). The sooner we realize that and cut our losses, the better.
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 9:51 p.m.
I hope he's Fielding offers, then.
John of Saline
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 7:28 p.m.
If we get Harbaugh, we'll be hiring away a Stanford coach for the second time in 110 years. The first was Yost.
university brat
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 5:34 p.m.
Some people say a lot and it means nothing. Mostly because they don't know how to be personal. I knew at the end of last season "this guy" was in way over his head and not even in the stadium.
treetowncartel
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 5:01 p.m.
I have seen plenty of Michigan men imbibe and get a little raucous and committ acts of debauchery far worse than what Moeller did thsat day. I wish he was still the coach.
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 4:35 p.m.
I guess when people have nothing to say, they get personal. 129 Seasons before RichRod: defense never allowed more than 279 points in a season. Carr allowed less than 250 in ten of his 13 seasons, Moeller in four of his five seasons. RichRod the Fraud? 347 points allowed last year, likely to break that all-time mark Saturday. The inconvenient truth? The defense was supposed to be the team's strength last season. Instead, it was weaker than an anemic (understandably) offense. Coach Gimmick and the No-Defense Bunch needs to go. I say this as a loyal Michigan fan. We need to start the rebuilding as soon as possible, because this guy is in way over his head.
university brat
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 4:26 p.m.
Pasedena 1198 Looks like the truth is too close to a nerve for posting. I'll guess that's why mine was removed. What Moeller did was to himself. Not to Michigans reputation for integrity. treetowncartel Thanks for the back-up. Pasedena1198 Season tickets have been in the family since '48. You?
treetowncartel
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 4:16 p.m.
I'm assuming University Brat's post was deleted, but Moeller did not deserve to be fired. So he imbibed a little and flirted with his server, big deal.
Pasadena1198
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 3:51 p.m.
University Brat- How old are you? Do you have no idea why Gary Moeller was fired?
FlintMaize
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 3:15 p.m.
Coach Rod inherited a mess! Lloyd Carr's classes were severely over-rated, as by evidence that 89 of our 120 players are either freshman or sophomores. I do have some questions about RR's coaching ability, but let's not forget the bare cubbard the previous coach left Rodriguez! RR has had 1 complete recuriting class. Count them "1"! Only one class that was all his own kids.
A2D2
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 3:07 p.m.
As the steady beat of opinions push along, I think it makes sense to remember that Rich Rod is a qualified, historically succesful coach. He is also an honest man who wants to win, and win, I think, in the right way. The question isn't his qualifications or intent. it really is a question of organizational fit. Over the long run, is Michigan a good cultural and organizational fit for Rodriguez and is Rodriguez a good cultural and organizational fit for Michigan? Does Rich Rod offer Michigan the best opportunity to be the program it wants to be, and does the Michigan job offer Rich Rod the platform to achieve what he personally wants to achieve in his career, both from a wins and loses perspective and a quality of life point of view? I don't think that it takes a PHD to figure out that from both perspectives the fit just isn't there. Tough for me to say, because I'm a "just fix it, doggonnit, just fix it!" kind of guy that wanted and still wants Michigan to be a solid winner with Rich Rod happily at the helm. But really, for Rich's good as well as Michigan's long term good, isn't really time to find the man that will move Michigan back to where it needs to be? For Rich Rod, doesn't he deserve to be in a situation that values him and his contribution?. Just food for thought....................
RASWVU
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:57 p.m.
Is Rich getting ready to throw UM under the bus? UM's auditor stated that no logs were filed until after their report, 1 1/2 years after Rich took over. UM's compliance office has stated that they do extensive and continuing education with all of their coaches about school and NCAA rules and reporting regulations. Rich now says that he made sure that the logs were kept as soon as he was notified that was necessary, and he makes that statement to the media in Columbus, not Ann Arbor. Is it possible that Rich is setting things up, so that if he gets fired over NCAA violations, he can claim he was fired without cause and entitled to his $4 million buyout? It seems to me that he is positioning for a claim that any NCAA violations were the fault of the UM compliance department, since they did not properly educate him on the need to keep logs of players' hours or supervise to see that the data was collected and logs filed.
Yogi
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:49 p.m.
OSU and PSU are afraid of UM recruiting speed. You recruit to win college football games not as a farm system for the NFL. BTW Tim Tebow is the QB of a spread offense for the #1 Gators and Florida seems to send quite a few players to the NFL from that same spread offense. You think anyone in Gainesville is calling for Urban's head?
81wolverine
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:45 p.m.
Agree with Yogi on the defenses since 1997. Recruiting has been part of the problem. Coaching is probably the other part. We've certainly had some good players in that time, but not enough. For some reason, we can't seem to recruit good linebackers any more. In 2005, we signed Brandon Graham who immediately put on a ton of weight before he got to campus, and was switched to D-line. Other than that, we really haven't brought in any good LB's who stuck around. So, today, all we have is a converted safety (Mouton), a walkon (Leach), and a mediocre slow player (Ezeh). Fitzgerald and Demens haven't shown a lot of progress, at least yet. Where does Iowa, Penn St., OSU, and Wisconsin get these good linebackers? I think the problem in the later Carr years (other than recruiting starting to slide in 2005) was that the defensive strategy lacked aggressiveness... not enough blitzing, "bend but don't break" thinking, and playing too far off the receivers. Carr seemed overly worried about giving up the big play - which his strategy failed to stop. As offenses became more sophisticated, Michigan's defensive strategy (in my opinion) failed to keep up with the times. Generally, I think the days when Michigan would shut out opponents on a regular basis are over. Not only do the rules favor the offense in a lot of ways (look at all the ridiculous pass interference calls the last few years), but the competition for really good defensive players has gotten incredibly intense. Unfortunately, Michigan's two poor seasons is making recruiting more of an uphill battle than it's been for us in the past.
salineguy
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:29 p.m.
RR sounds like an infomercial with all the talk about the 'system' and the 'process'. Some fans are no better in that they hide behind RR needing to bring in his recruits, as if everything will be better in a year or two. Do you really think that OSU and Penn State are worried that all the fast and talented guys will want to come to UM? The big time players are looking to become pros. This 'system' does not lend itself to developing many pros. I would say this becomes a recruiting DISadvantage that will be exploited by the other schools. Another year of beat downs and this team risks being the next Nebraska or Notre Dame - years of mediocrity. Sometimes a change can light a fire.
Yogi
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:14 p.m.
Stop worrying about transfers. Transfers happen all the time and with all the highly recruited WR's coming in next year it doesn't surprise me if one (or more) leave.
Man in the Mirror
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:05 p.m.
speaking of recruiting has anyone heard of another WR transferring to Colorado? Don't know if it's a current or former player.
Yogi
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:05 p.m.
I agree with amaizenman.... Has everyone already forgotten about Appalachian State? (Michigan is still the only ranked team to lose to D2 school) Oregon? or any other team with a semi mobile quarterback? The defense had been horrible since 1997 with the exception of one year (2006). Let's face it Lloyd left the defensive cupboard pretty bare.
discgolfgeek
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 2:04 p.m.
Give RichRod a fair chance with his own recruits to win football games. He deserves our support until then -- all this turmoil does is make it easier for opposing coaches to tell recruits not to go to Michigan.
treetowncartel
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 1:47 p.m.
Yeah, defense has been suspect for years, especially in the secondary. I think woodson was the only guy in the last 20 years who you could counton for man coverage to shut down the biggest threat on the other team. There is no problem with him going on Columbus Radio, especially if you want the program and the coach to get exposure for recruiting purposes. Plus, it is with Spielman.
amaizenman
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 1:27 p.m.
Macabre Sunset Obviously you are out to lunch. The defense already was a disaster when RR arrived. We got killed by QB's that could scramble and we were giving up big plays every week. You need to do some homework before you try to make any type of comments because the one you just posted shows your stupidity
Fresh121
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 1:24 p.m.
What fast guy besides BG muton is small obi cant run in space brown is small hmm were our the other guys that were allrdy here?
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 1:11 p.m.
Funny, those big, fast defensive guys were here when RichRod arrived. What did he do to them? Are they locked in an attic somewhere, desperately hoping for a rescue party?
MK
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 1:09 p.m.
why did he do an interview on a colombus radio station. Did he forget where he coaches?
treetowncartel
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 : 12:57 p.m.
Now maybe they can start looking for the playbook.