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.