Time to win is now for Michigan’s Rodriguez
I think the Free Press writers need to jump again
I apologize for being a little late to the party with my opinions on this Michigan Football practice time fiasco. Many articles have been written about the topic so I am not really going to dig into the details of the story. You should all be familiar with them by now. If you are not and want a solid recap of the events and how the Detroit Free Press basically presented the story in an unfair, biased way MGoBlog did a great job of reporting the actual facts behind the story. I like how these reporters “jumped to conclusions” and say players are practicing for 12 hours a day, just because they are at the practice facility, without mentioning that not every activity they do during those 12 hours counts towards the NCAA limit. It is because of this vague twisting of the NCAA rules verbage that I do not fully believe everything that was written. I do believe that Michigan was working within the rules and if there were any violations they will be only minor ones. I am just going to sit back and see what happens with the ongoing investigations and reserve judgment until then.
My real problem with this whole situation is that it could have even come up in the first place. Ever since day 1 Rich Rodriguez has not been making many fans with his move to the University of Michigan. There was the lawsuit with West Virginia, the paper shredding incident at WVU’s athletic department, players bad mouthing the program while transferring, the stepping on Michigan’s traditions by giving out the #1 jersey to a freshman, which he later took back, and of course the 3-9 disaster last season. Which was Michigan’s first losing season since 1967 and first ever 9 loss season. Many alumni and Michigan fans did not want to hire a coach outside of the Michigan family. Many wanted to lure LSU’s Les Miles back home to Ann Arbor. With a botched coaching search by AD Bill Martin we had to settle for Rich Rodriguez and the first non “Michigan Man” since Bo Schembechler was hired in 1969. It seemed as soon as he was named head coach there was one negative story after another surrounding the Michigan football team.
Are you all in for Rich Rod?
Because of all the negativity and some what of a media circus surrounding Rodriguez’s arrival in Ann Arbor it was easy for his detractors to point out all the mistakes he has made. Even with some people not wanting him as a coach many fans and alumni were at least willing to give Rich Rod and his spread offense a chance to succeed. We knew we were in for a rocky year last year and were willing to give him 3 years to install his system and get his players to run it. However, as the number of negative stories about Michigan football continue to grow with Rich Rod at the helm my leash for Rodriguez is starting to get a little bit shorter. I seriously fear that Michigan may become the next Notre Dame, Nebraska or University of Miami. A once proud and storied program that has been driven into a world of mediocrity with a myriad of coaching changes. A quick way to turn a once patient fan base into a torch wielding lynch mob is to lose 9 games at Michigan and run the school’s name and reputation through the mud. We may be able to handle one or the other but certainly not the two together.
My advice to Rich Rodriguez on the quickest way to right this ship and get more people to go “all in for Michigan” is to put together a winning season and get Michigan football in the national spotlight for the right reasons. Or else it may be a short lived career with the Leaders and Best.
Posted: September 4th, 2009 under NCAA.
Tags: Michigan Football, Rich Rodriguez, University of Michigan
Comments
Comment from Gridiron Fanatic
Time September 4, 2009 at 7:53 am
Oz,
I do want Rich Rod to succeed if not just for the fact that we do not turn into the programs that I mentioned with a bunch of coaching changes and no cohesiveness among the team. To add to your bullet points and perhaps explain what i was trying to get at a little better:
1) True we did not have Rose Bowl caliber talent on the team but 3-9 at the University of Michigan is unfathomable. 6-6 is even unacceptable. When did we stop demanding the best from our team? Last year it seemed as if the offense was continually trying to put a square peg in a round hole. There was little to no change in the game plan regardless of success. People were expecting a dip in the win total but not that big of a dip.
2) For the sake of not rambling on in the post I left out changing Michigan’s road uniforms to look like West Virginia’s and bringing up the idea that they will pump “hype” music over the loud speakers in Michigan stadium instead of letting the band play. Yes, these are not huge changes but there are some people out there that are die hard traditionalists and do not want to see anything like this changed with the program. These were just a couple more things for them to dislike about Rodriguez when he first came to town.
3) If you think “first 9 loss season” is misleading would you settle for “first losing season in 41 years?” Either way it was a big shock that might have led to more people questioning if he was the right man to hire.
4) Just another reason why some of the real diehards might have been against Rodriguez from the start and more quick to say “ha, I told you so” when he failed. Some of the more arrogant fans out there like to view Michigan through their rose colored glasses. They want to see Michigan play a brand of “Michigan” football and think that outsiders do not know what that means.
5) I wasn’t saying he has to win the Big 10 this year or he will get fired. I just think that with all the negative attention he is bringing to the program he might be speeding up the delivery of his bus ticket out of town. If you are not going to bowl games, even if it is the toilet bowl, and all over the front page of espn.com and tv for the wrong reasons the easiest and quickest way to get people to forget about those stories is to win football games. Not necessarily Big 10 titles and BCS championships this year but more than half of your games to get people to believe things are back on track. You better believe if Rich Rod turns in another 3-9 stink bomb he will be on the hot seat next year, fair or not.
Comment from Jailbait Jerkers
Time September 9, 2009 at 10:53 am
We want College Football Hotties of the week!!!!
Comment from OzOwner
Time September 4, 2009 at 5:45 am
I can’t wait for the season to start so people who are mad about last year can stop stewing in all the anti-Rodriquez hate. Take a few deep breaths and realize a few things.
1) No coach was taking last years team to a Rose Bowl or even the Poinsettia Bowl
2) “stepping on Michigan’s traditions by giving out the #1 jersey to a freshman” – I think this is hardly one of the pillar traditions of Michigan football. It’s not like he’s going to change our helmets and put duck wings on the shoulder pads
3) “first ever 9 loss season” usually followed by “in 130 years” – While I’m not happy about it, they didn’t play 12 game regular seasons until the late ’90s
4) “first non “Michigan Man” since Bo Schembechler was hired in 1969″ – Does it make you a better coach being from or having played/coached at Michigan? I’d say Bo worked out pretty well
5) “a myriad of coaching changes” – that is precisely the best way to set a program back by years so ease up with the win now or else.
What we need to see is progress and I think we’ll get it this year. Just be patient and cheer on your team (and coach)