patrue

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 5:30 p.m.

Football is so unpredictable as to how the game develops that outcomes based on what should happen often are weirdly wrong. Michigan likely will be very much "up" for the game, in that they have more to gain from a victory, not only for themselves but also for their coach. But all of this trashing of RRod seems based more on nonsense than commonsense. Is RRod responsible for the injury to Troy Wolflk, the bad decision of Donovan Warren to go pro, and other injuries and transfers of DB's? And while RRod can be charged with inconsistencies as to defensive coaches and their schemes, he can't be charged with injuries or having to play 2 or 3 true freshman on defense. Those who yearn for Harbaugh are rooting for a possibility, not a sure thing. Harbaugh's first three years very much like RRods at U of M. As to Michigan men for coaches, please check in at the facts department. Michigan's greatest coaches were all non-Michigan men: Yost, Chrisler, and Bo. Michigan's poorest coach in modern times was Bump Elliott, followed by Bennie Oosterban; records for Bump were 51-43; and for Benny, 62-33. RRod should stay; next season could be a very good one.

3 And Out

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 4:51 p.m.

chiro19...perfectly said man. Nice post.

missionbrazil

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 12:59 p.m.

chiro19 "What will happen is that Mich. will have prepared for 1 month to stop 10-15 different plays and they will be ok at it. Miss. St. will make adjustments to their offense and not be stopped again because Michigans D coaches really have no football IQ in making adjustments." Good point about making adjustments during the game. I would say that this is not only true of the D, but also in other phases of the game, including the O. We never adjusted from the same strategy of running DRob 30 times a game, even when it was obvious he was getting beat up week after week. We never adjusted from our fast paced offense, even though that meant our poor D would be on the field more. We never adjusted our team or strategy to utilize our strengths and to minimize our weaknesses. Good coaches constantly make adjustments during the games and throughout the season. Tressel is a good example of a coach who makes good adjustments during the course of a game. When we played OSU this year, our O started out well in the first quarter and we gained many yards, but unfortunately didn't score as many points as we could have. Then they adjusted on D and absolutely shut us down the rest of the game. Our D stopped them on the first 2 or 3 drives, and then it all fell apart after that.

chiro19

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 11:48 a.m.

RR would deserve, in my opinion, another year if games where competitive. This current team would lose to OSU 99 out of 100 times badly if they played it that many times. There is a entitlement attitude with the coaching staff. Every time RR opens his mouth he sounds very weak and confused at what is going on with his team on the defensive side of the ball and special teams. There is a lack of understanding how to play football by RR and his coaching staff! There is a lack of organizational skill by RR as well. Is it just me, or does it seem like everytime the camera is on RR during games it is panic time?! It seems as though this team has not once physically dominated a decent team! I do not know if that is attitude or a horrible strength and conditioning program. I have said this before. The coaching staff has had 1 month to adjust and game plan for the bowl and get guys healthy and prepared. I expect to see michigan stop Miss St. on the first few series and then get blown out after the 2nd quarter. What will happen is that Mich. will have prepared for 1 month to stop 10-15 different plays and they will be ok at it. Miss. St. will make adjustments to their offense and not be stopped again because Michigans D coaches really have no football IQ in making adjustments. Linebackers and D backs will be all over the place running around like a chicken with its head cut off just like they have all year. Miss. St. will run misdirection plays and create huge plays off of them because of Michigans inability to stay responsible in positioning! It would be nice to have this be wrong but I am just going off of the last 3 years of RR Defense. Papa Bear151- 1)It will not hurt recruiting. (If players believe that someone like Harbough is coming in they will still be interested in Mich. It goes beyond the style of play in recruiting) We may lose some players based on style of play with RR but you will gain some because of Harboughs style of play and connection to the NFL. 2)Financially it makes sense in saving money. 3)If you look at the statements it only makes sense that a decision has already been made. RR knows this that is why he was crying at the banquet they had. If RR was staying Brandon would not use the bowl game as a measuring stick. He would make it clear that RR is staying for a 4th year. 4)There is no influence of a bowl game on another coach if you wait until his game is over. He can make a clear cut decision based on the school asking him to come not what is going on in the next month with games and other things like that. With this you avoid the issues that came up last time when hiring RR and losing Miles in the process. 5)You keep Herbstreit from leaking inaccurate information on purpose.

chiro19

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 11:41 a.m.

RR would deserve, in my opinion, another year if games where competitive. This current team would lose to OSU 99 out of 100 times badly if they played it that many times. There is a entitlement attitude with the coaching staff. Every time RR opens his mouth he sounds very weak and confused at what is going on with his team on the defensive side of the ball and special teams. There is a lack of understanding how to play football by RR and his coaching staff! There is a lack of organizational skill by RR as well. Is it just me, or does it seem like everytime the camera is on RR during games it is panic time?! It seems as though this team has not once physically dominated a decent team! I do not know if that is attitude or a horrible strength and conditioning program. I have said this before. The coaching staff has had 1 month to adjust and game plan for the bowl and get guys healthy and prepared. I expect to see michigan stop Miss St. on the first few series and then get blown out after the 2nd quarter. What will happen is that Mich. will have prepared for 1 month to stop 10-15 different plays and they will be ok at it. Miss. St. will make adjustments to their offense and not be stopped again because Michigans D coaches really have no football IQ in making adjustments. Linebackers and D backs will be all over the place running around like a chicken with its head cut off just like they have all year. Miss. St. will run misdirection plays and create huge plays off of them because of Michigans inability to stay responsible in positioning! It would be nice to have this be wrong but I am just going off of the last 3 years of RR Defense. Papa Bear151- 1)It will not hurt recruiting. (If players believe that someone like Harbough is coming in they will still be interested in Mich. It goes beyond the style of play in recruiting) We may lose some players based on style of play with RR but you will gain some because of Harboughs style of play and connection to the NFL. 2)Financially it makes sense in saving money. 3)If you look at the statements it only makes sense that a decision has already been made. RR knows this that is why he was crying at the banquet they had. If RR was staying Brandon would not use the bowl game as a measuring stick. He would make it clear that RR is staying for a 4th year. 4)There is no influence of a bowl game on another coach if you wait until his game is over. He can make a clear cut decision based on the school asking him to come not what is going on in the next month with games and other things like that. With this you avoid the issues that came up last time when hiring RR and losing Miles in the process. 5)You keep Herbstreit from leaking inaccurate information on purpose.

GettingBluer

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 8:32 a.m.

It also doesn't help that our kicking game (punting and field goals) is SO bad that by the end of the season we were playing every fourth down or even testing the waters to see if DR was amazing at this as well (unfortunately, he wasn't). RR is toast.

GettingBluer

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 8:28 a.m.

Pete said: "Tough call. Like I said in the chat today, I see both sides. I'd err on the side of giving Rich Rodriguez another year." The key word in your statement is that you believe it is "to err" to give RR another year. This is like holding onto a stock too long, hoping its value recovers, while it plummets to zero. If you're looking at total wins only, RR looks a little better. However, if you look at WHO the wins were against AND how diverse our offense (=DR) is, you'll see that it is time to cut our losses and move on.

Blu-n-Tpa

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 7:22 a.m.

@ PeteB Interesting show yesterday, good job. You answered that RR deserves another year and I respect that given your background. (Your experience, you've been around the block more than once, seen it done it.) I watch football games a little different that the average fan, especially Michigan games, which I am very faithful. You can tell if a team is progressing by watching special teams. Since I join in here, to express my frustration over the lack of improvement vs the big boys of the BT, I have mentioned STs a lot. COACHING special teams requires the ability to evaluate skills from the whole team, blend those picked into a coordinated unit (or units), prepare them week-to-week for each game. The mistakes on ST started early and continued until the complete meltdown at OSU. Leaving your punter at home for cause is not a problem in my book. He did or didn't do something require of all the players so he paid the piper. My problem is there wasn't ANYONE ready to step in and take his place. Every well COACHED special teams unit has backups ready to go in case of injury. Michigan didn't have a kicker ready all season and apparently no back-up punter. You add kick and punt returners who make boneheaded decisions with the ball weekly, lack of decent coverage on kickoffs and punts and the worst part? It got worse as the year went on. The only move that was in the right direction was the last game when the COACHES finally got someone back on KO and punts to just run the da-- ball up the field. The special teams coordinator is the assistant HC and defensive backfield COACH and since there has been no moves by RR to change COACHES after the OSU game, DB has no choice but to make the move. My son, 13, told me at lunch the other day, "RR is not doing his job because he is worried about losing his job." How can that help the team? Pete, I went back and watched the OSU game again, (gag, choke, cough, etc..) and the lack of a kicking game changed the entire sequence and flow of the game for Michigan. It's not like fighting with one arm tied behind your back, it's fighting with one LEG tied behind your back. So if you can't COACH up special teams after fall camp and 12 weeks of the fall season and you can't be prepared for your biggest rivalry game, then you shouldn't be allowed to COACH at Michigan. "Sometimes more isn't better, it's just more." One more year of RR is "more" than we need.

3 And Out

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 7:53 p.m.

Now...about the game! Our best shot at MSU is to be able to jump out to a big lead... at least 14-0 early on...and somehow have enough wrinkles put in the D scheme (hello GERG) to confuse the MSU offense and keep them off balance early. Eventually MSU will score points vs. us, and our only real shot at winning this game is to a) jump out big early and b) dont turn the ball over

3 And Out

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 7:51 p.m.

With the Alabama in Texas marquee game in 012... I would suspect that Brandon would like a more solid program in place for that game...since it will be on such a major stage.... no doubt that a small part of his evaluation will be to ask "if we are non competitive again in the Big Ten next year, which is likely...what are the ramifications for that game if I have to make the coaching change a year from now" and that is a microcosm for the entire issue: Is Rich Rod going to be Dave Brandon's guy? Does he share the same philosophy for this coach who he did not hire, and has no allegences to... in addition to the poor track record of RR at Michigan. There really are not many signs of a turn around at all, other than D Rob. Regarding the "improvement" from 3-9, 5-7, 7-5... if you look below the surface, its not hard to see major cracks in that. First of all, each of the past 2 years has had 1 win vs. bad FCS (formerly DII) teams.... should that really count as a big win? Secondly, RR is still something like 0-12 vs. teams that finish with winning records in the Big Ten Conference play. He is 0-9 vs. the 3 major BT rivals...and has 0 Big Ten "signature wins" unless you count the come from behind win vs. a mediocre Wisky team in 08 with Lloyd's player btw... Thirdly, the conference record under RR has been 2-6, 1-7, 3-5...hardly "improvement" across the board...and the Big Ten conference is what matters most. RR's teams have consistently faded down the stretch in BT play. Fourthly, there have been a larger number of blow out losses under RR and it doesnt seem to be getting any better. 37-7 to OSU? Come ON Man! I did some math and vs. OSU, Sparty, Wisky, PSU and Iowa we were outscored approximately 114-35 at Halftime cumulatively...! That is not competitive during the first half vs. superior teams. The team is overmatched vs. good competition. Fifthly... RRs teams have been at the bottom of the Big Ten in turnover margin all 3 of his seasons. They play sloppy / loose, undisciplined football.... not acceptable. In contrast, Stanford is in the top 5 nationally in Turn over margin this year and averages 41 points a game, while giving up 17 on D. THAT is a disciplined team! That is more "Michigan Like" than anything that RR has put up at Michigan. Sixthly... (well could go on but enough said)...

missionbrazil

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 5:50 p.m.

Papabear, you might want to check with Lorain to see if DB has heard from Bo yet about this whole RR mess. Bo is pretty hard to get ahold of these days, so that might be what has been taking so long.

EVRYBDYZGT1

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 5:28 p.m.

...And the chant continues from the crowd, "One more year! One more year!" "Ladies and gentlemen, please settle down. It's time for tonights headliner, Petey Biggs and the Petopians!!" The crowd erupts.

michboy40

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 5:08 p.m.

paperbear, It seems obvious to me that DB is going to fire RichRod, and he is waiting because he wants to avoid the same situation that happened when Lloyd retired. If he fires him now, then you get speculation, media mongers, and possible disaster trying to hire a coach that is in the middle of preparations for his biggest game as a head coach. I totally agree...if he is firing him without a plan in place, or keeping him, then he should have done that the day after the OSU game.

Brad

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 5:07 p.m.

Miss St. fan here. Actually AZWolverine, our top 2 WR's heading into this season will be out for the Gator Bowl. Our receiving corp is very talented but very very young. Our only Sr., Leon Berry, went down for the season in our third game and then our dynamic little guy (the Percy Harvin type that Mullen recruited after coming to State) Chad Bumphis broke his collar bone in our season ending victory over Ole Miss. So, we are down to a pretty talented but raw pair of sophmores Brandon Heavens and Chris Smith to see most of the action. Arceto Clark is listed as a DB but fills in at WR some and is actually quite a handful...not too polished on route running but is a burner. LeDarius Perkins is a very capable and speedy guy who figures into the receiving coming out of the backfield. Make no mistake though, our weakest area is receiver.

3 And Out

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 4:44 p.m.

Pete, first off...nice chat...good opinions and informative answers to most of the questions. Secondly... Rich Rod does not 'deserve' 4 years. Not with all of the negativity and losses that he has brought to this program. Tearing it down in talent, unable to build it up (save one dynamic player that he brought in due to 2 QBs decommitting), terrible decline of the defense and special teams (cant even kick a FG) under his watch, NCAA violations, constant turmoil, crying and making excuses constantly, never ever taking personal responsibility for any of it etc. etc. This is all on Rich Rod. Brandon knows this. The perception and reality of Michigan football is at an all time low right now, because of this bad hire. Therefore to imply that this coach 'deserves' anything other than a dismissal, would be ignoring the fact that all of this has added up to a big mess for Michigan Football. Other than the success of 1 player, there has been nothing positive about the Rich Rod Error. For Brandon to bring Rod back, he would have to be acknowledging that a) RR is my guy now and b)RR is not a lame duck coach. But what happens if the team is poor again next year...? lame duck coach and all...imagine the turmoil that the program would be in then...the national joke would continue to get worse.... therefore Dave Brandon looks at this objectively and asks "is bringing this guy and the problems that he has created back, more beneficial to our program than cutting him loose and starting over with a better fit?" Its pretty easy to see the logical answer to that one. RR does not deserve a 4th year.

tulsatom

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 2:37 p.m.

Papabear151, Nobody but Dave Brandon and Susan Coleman knows for sure what is goig on but I suspect that money has a lot to do with the timing of it. If they are going to fire RR, it is a lot cheaper (by one million or more dollars) to do so after Jan 1st because that is when his buyout becomes a lot cheaper according to his contract. Also, if they are going to replace him with Harbaugh, they are probably waiting until Stanford's bowl game is over out of respect for Harbaugh, who wants to finish out the season with his team since they are in the Orange Bowl. Your point about the potential effect on the recruiting is valid.

Papabear151

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 2:05 p.m.

Can anyone explain to me why DB would wait to announce his decision until after the bowl game? 1) If RR is staying, why wait, only hurts recruiting and morale 2) If RR is going, why wait, only hurts recruiting and morale. 3) Do you really think 1 bowl game is gonna make all the negatives of the last 3 years go away, all the extra crap outside of football piled on top of the big pile of crap that is now Michigan football? I can't possibly see why you would make this decision after the bowl game unless you already had a coach in waiting, no other decision is the good decision. Can someone explain to me why anyone thinks this scenario will play out any way other than RR getting fired and us already having a coach lined up?

azwolverine

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 11:58 a.m.

What about on the Miss St side? Isn't their starting receiver out? That should help our pass defense a bit, too.

tulsatom

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 11:29 a.m.

Thanks for the info on the injured players, michboy40. A healthy Mike Martin in the middle of the defensive line is critically important to the defense's chances of trying to slow down Miss State's running game.

michboy40

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 11:22 a.m.

Martin is good to go. Stonum is practicing and will play, but his ankle is heavily taped...not sure how effective he will be. Martavious Odems is practicing!...and seems to be having a Wes Welker like recovery. D Rob is healthy. That's all I have

tulsatom

Tue, Dec 28, 2010 : 10:37 a.m.

I'd like to know if the players who were stuck in airports on Dec 26th finally made it to Jacksonville and which players who were injured during the season might be able to play in the Gator Bowl.