"This didn't have to happen"

This is a well written article about Michigan and the decision to hire Rich and I agree with every single word that is written. Bravo Lynn Henning, you have summe dup everything I have been saying since day one.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081101/OPINION03/811010439/1131/SPORTS0201

"Jim Tressel's DNA is linked to the Devil at some point, I'm sure of it."
-Doug Karsch "The Big Show"

Michigan Alum
Class of 2008

8-16

I'd like to know how the simple fundamentals of tackling would be different with a different head coach.  This offense put up 42 points today.  They actually looked like they understood the spread and I'm hopeful it will only get better.  However, the article didn't discuss that no matter what system is run on defense, no matter what system is run, that being able to tackle is THE number one thing that a football player is to learn on defense.  Learn how to wrap up a player.  I will hardly say that is a coaching problem.  

Seriously, what college coach spends 95% of their time teaching how to tackle?  It is assumed.  You should be able to wrap up a player 9 times out of 10 if you're playing D-I football.  

The offense (yes, the spread of RR) shined today.  The D laid an egg.  Get over yourself.  

If that's the case, then Michigan should have stayed away from Rich-Rod last December. The goods were here to have had at least a decent, bowl-worthy season in 2008.


Ok....so we hire someone inside the program, or maybe someone outside(which i dont know who we could have since alot of people already turned us down)  But hey, we could have gone to a bowl...YEAH!  I just want a bowl game...I dont want to be competive and go for a national title.  I still love the hire.  I dont throw in the towel after one season.  Some people may, and thats their choice.  But man can you at LEAST give this guy 2 seasons?  really...if he calls ANOTHER bad season I will defer to your position.  I will even say You told me so!  BUT...I want you to conciede that if RR pulls this around, YOU will defer and say you were wrong.  Dont know if you would be so willing to do so, swallowing pride and what not, but what if he does pull it around?!?!

He damn well better turn this around. I honestly think he will. I will take a season like this if Michigan is in the NC picture consistently in 2 years. Would everyone feel better if Michigan was destined for 8-4 seasons every year for the next 10 years? There is obviously no way to forecast what the future holds, but if Michigan has to take lumps the next 2 seasons to be a national power again, I think that is ok. I'll take a few tough seasons followed by a return to the national scene rather than mediocre seasons year after year.

"To be a leader, you've got to play your role in the fray."

Lynn Henning seems to have hit the nail on it's head.

This is sad, very sad..........................

I also think that Henning has pinpointed the issue.  Has RR done one thing this year that has justified his hire.  Can anyone out there identify one thing that he and the coaching staff have done to give this team a better chance to win ?  The much vaunted Barwis conditioning program appears to be vanishing as the 4th quarter collapses mount (Illinois, Toledo, Penn State, MSU and now Purdue).   

I am also getting fed up with those who say that we just need to accept this season as a failure and that next year will improve.  Where is the evidence that this team will improve ?  The defense is getting worse by the game, getting lit up by a 3rd string QB who was a running back two weeks ago.  Purdue, who scored 41 points in the last 4 games, hits us for 48 today.  Can someone please tell me the source of their optimism for next year and the future of M football under RR ?  He has certainly done nothing to justify a 6 year contract !!!

All of our experience lays on the defensive side of the ball. That too, will be gone next year. At this point, I really can't imagine this team being competitive on a national level for at least 3 years. 2-10, 4-8, 6-6. That's my guess for the next 3 seasons, pending more decommits from highly needed recruits, which I expect.

He can't win or compete without a certain type of football player, that pretty much wreaks of failure in itself.

Yeah it is an ok article, but he fails to mention the continued pattern of success he IS still following today. 3-9 type first season, then sizeable improvements yearly. Let's not write of the entire Michigan football program yet. He is still in year #1 of his tenure, and let his pattern of SUCCESS have a chance to blossom.

Oh and remember, Coach K would have been fire from Michigan his first 4 seasons. I know, I know apples to oranges in the sports side, but it's the same theory base.

The_Michigan_Man


OkOk....so we hire someone inside the program, or maybe someone outside(which dontdont know who we could have sialotalot.YEAH!  I just want a bowl game...I dont want to be competive and go for a national title.  

Actdonty, I'd take competitivecompetive.

The whole point of the article is that you could have hired any other coach and the "transition" would have be minimal. 7-5 or 8-4 in the first season and then built from there. We didn't have to go through the worst season in the 129 year history of Michigan football.

"Jim Tressel's DNA is linked to the Devil at some point, I'm sure of it."
-Doug Karsch "The Big Show"

Michigan Alum
Class of 2008

8-16

I just want to know why any other coach would have been better. Mallett was already thinking about leaving. AA and MM were gone no matter what. No telling what the linemen would have done under a different coach, but I don't know if they would have made that big of a difference at this point. With what we have this year, I don't know that any coach in the nation could have taken this team to a bowl game. The fumbles and missed tackles are not due to coaching. It was been stressed repeatedly in practice and most of them are barely forced. Maybe our offense would be a little better and maybe we beat Toledo and Purdue. But I really can't see any coach taking this team to a bowl game unless they squeeked out a 6-6 record. And personally, I would take 2 losing seasons if it meant we turned into a USC type program (in terms of football, not the off-field stuff for those that are going to nitpick). It's pretty assinine to expect us to never have another losing season and always make a bowl game. We're up there with the longest streaks in history, but all good things come to an end. I'm not happy with this season by any means or the blown chances in second halves. We need to get better. But we have shown improvement on offense and we have protected the ball better lately. I don't know what is going on with the defense lately, but maybe they are wearing down after spending about 35 min per game on the field. Maybe they just aren't as good as we thought they were. Or maybe Shafer is trying to give us heart attacks by playing soft zone and rushing 3 on every third down!?!? I just think it's still too early to call this a mistake.

Go Blue!

Michigan Alumnus since 4/28/07

it's obvious that a lot of people got spoiled over the last 30 years.

Miami......fell off
FSU......fell off
Notre Dame.....fell off
Bama......fell off (until now)


all the great schools have gone through some low points.  keep the faith, stay the course, blah blah blah.  the future is bright.  and if it's not, screw that, it is!

 

"ALL IN FOR MICHIGAN"

Wolverine316


it's obvious that a lot of people got spoiled over the last 30 years.

Miami......fell off
FSU......fell off
Notre Dame.....fell off
Bama......fell off (until now)


all the great schools have gone through some low points.  keep the faith, stay the course, blah blah blah.  the future is bright.  and if it's not, screw that, it is!

Truer words have never been spoken, your list just scratches the surface of how many major programs have gone through a period of decline. I`m not sure why some Michigan fans think that Michigan was some how immune from a decline. We've been in a period of slow death since 2000, and have only been saved from losing seasons before this one by the heroics of guys like Braylon, Mario, Hart, and Henne. In truth we should have had 1 maybe 2 losing seasons before this one. This was coming no matter what, maybe not as bad as things are now, but a decline was coming for sure(and I`m not talking about a 7-5 type season being a decline). Yes we could have hired someone that would have made an easier transition, but that would not have kept us from going under. Lets not forget that before RR contacted Martin, Michigan had egg on its face from two very public "thanks but no thanks" from two hire profile coaches/highly successful coaches.  I`m sorry but hiring Brady Hoke or the guy from Iowa would not have fixed the problems at Michigan, yeah we may have gone 10-3 eventually but that would have been our ceiling. We needed someone to do more than get us over the hump, because in truth we were never close to the hump to begin with(you can cite 2003, or 2006 all you want, the truth is at the end of the day what was actually accomplished in those seasons?)
 
We needed monumental change, and now we have it. Change is often hard, and huge changes are usually ugly and we're seeing a lot of that right now. Michigan fans need to be thankful that our decline will only last a few years as oppose to some other programs that have gone through 5-10 years of decline. Unlike programs like Nebraska or Miami we didn't have one coach leave and replace him with a worse or equal coach. We hired a consenses great coach, who only needs time and has proven himself again and again. RR's 1st year at schools are often ugly, but his teams steadily get better. Why some people chose to ignore that fact I don't know, but his record speaks for itself and there is no reason to believe the same won't happen at Michigan where he has access to better resources than he's had anywhere else.

A Star is Born

BigHouseFootball

The_Michigan_Man


OkOk....so we hire someone inside the program, or maybe someone outside(which dontdont know who we could have sialotalot.YEAH!  I just want a bowl game...I dont want to be competive and go for a national title.  

Actdonty, I'd take competitivecompetive.

The whole point of the article is that you could have hired any other coach and the "transition" would have be minimal. 7-5 or 8-4 in the first season and then built from there. We didn't have to go through the worst season in the 129 year history of Michigan football.

BHF, you still haven't answered my question to you; who did you want as our head coach? And you can't say Carr or Bo, they weren't options!
 
Now onto the thread. I do not see, given the talent, or lack there of, how huddling, putting Threet under center, and the tackles' hands on the ground, this team wins 8 games. By hiring a coach that would do that, there is no "transition." And if we're not going to attempt to "transition," could you say before the season that Michigan football was heading in the right direction? Don't know who said it, but "if you're not getting better, you're getting worse." After last years horrid start, the program was not getting better.

"Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise - the other, loyalty."
Fielding Yost

I think it's a well-written article. I think it contains a whack-load of truth. A good coach doesn't win only when he has all the tools he needs for his "system. " I don't know how you can argue against that very simple statement. And please, please, please do not start trotting out the fact that our offense scored 35 points yesterday. Putting up 35 against that Purdue defense is nothing to brag about... especially when we racked up a grand total of 26 points against Toledo and Miami-Ohio combined. Maybe the offense is getting a bit more each week. But no transition should doom a team as talented as UM to a 2-win season. I place this responsibility directly at the feet of the coaching staff.  

Well, lets see. I would have liked Les Miles, Brady Hoke, or Ron English to be the coach. Would the team have to adapt to this new coach? You bet. Would we have been sitting here at 2-7? No chance. For one, the system these guys run would have fit the players already here at UM, and two, they would have identified this team's strengths and played to them. Instead we got a coach who said this is what we are going to run and I don't care if you guys aren't built to run it, or how many games we lose, or how bad we look, this is it.

And keep telling yourself that Mallett was 100% gone after last season. If you say it enough it becomes true in your mind.

"Jim Tressel's DNA is linked to the Devil at some point, I'm sure of it."
-Doug Karsch "The Big Show"

Michigan Alum
Class of 2008

8-16

Thank you canuck you just proved my point for me. For all you out there whining about improvement, Purdue is probably on equal par with miami and toledo this year, and we put up 26 points combined on them, and 42 on purdue. And don't give me, "oh but their defense was bad!" We haven't played a good defense this year. Everyone who has wanted RR canned has stated it's because they saw no improvement. If that's not improvement I gotta go back to first grade.

Don't remember clausen from last year. that clausen will be gone soon enough. By the time he has developed a little bit and the domers o-line isnt scrip scrap he will most likely be phenomenal, no matter how much we'll all try to overlook it.

BigHouseFootball


Well, lets see. I would have liked Les Miles, Brady Hoke, or Ron English to be the coach. Would the team have to adapt to this new coach? You bet. Would we have been sitting here at 2-7? No chance. For one, the system these guys run would have fit the players already here at UM, and two, they would have identified this team's strengths and played to them. Instead we got a coach who said this is what we are going to run and I don't care if you guys aren't built to run it, or how many games we lose, or how bad we look, this is it.

And keep telling yourself that Mallett was 100% gone after last season. If you say it enough it becomes true in your mind.

Keep telling yourself he wasn't, you might be able to sleep a little bit better.

Don't remember clausen from last year. that clausen will be gone soon enough. By the time he has developed a little bit and the domers o-line isnt scrip scrap he will most likely be phenomenal, no matter how much we'll all try to overlook it.

"This didn't have to happen"

Yes it did.

Tiger Woods was the best player in the world in 1997.  What did he do after that?  He changed his swing to become better and didn't win a major for 2 years.

Then, he wasn't satisfied and changed his swing again to become better.  He could have continued to play and win, but he wanted to be the best.

Michigan is no different.  For all of you that want to continue watching Michigan win 8-9 games a year, that's great and that's what you would have got with English or Hoke or another coach from within.  However, I'll take Tiger Woods approach to become the best and not just be satisfied.

Change is hard.  It's not easy and it takes time.  I just hope that you're back here in 3 years celebrating a NC with all of us that stayed the course.

BigHouseFootball


Well, lets see. I would have liked Les Miles, Brady Hoke, or Ron English to be the coach. Would the team have to adapt to this new coach? You bet. Would we have been sitting here at 2-7? No chance. For one, the system these guys run would have fit the players already here at UM, and two, they would have identified this team's strengths and played to them. Instead we got a coach who said this is what we are going to run and I don't care if you guys aren't built to run it, or how many games we lose, or how bad we look, this is it.

And keep telling yourself that Mallett was 100% gone after last season. If you say it enough it becomes true in your mind.

When Hoke's name was mentioned last year most people on this board had a fit.  Yes his system is probably more adaptable to what Michigan had, but not necessarily to what Michigan has.  No coach is going to when when the defense can not stop people on third down.  18 of the last 36 3rd down attempts by Michigan opponents have resulted in first downs. 

BigHouseFootball


Well, lets see. I would have liked Les Miles, Brady Hoke, or Ron English to be the coach. Would the team have to adapt to this new coach? You bet. Would we have been sitting here at 2-7? No chance. For one, the system these guys run would have fit the players already here at UM, and two, they would have identified this team's strengths and played to them. Instead we got a coach who said this is what we are going to run and I don't care if you guys aren't built to run it, or how many games we lose, or how bad we look, this is it.

And keep telling yourself that Mallett was 100% gone after last season. If you say it enough it becomes true in your mind.

The Miles ship had already sailed, he doesn't count.

A Star is Born