Before I started this entry, I wanted to figure out how things got so lost…How they got so out of control. But at the end, what does it really matter? We’re here, and we need to get out of here. So, how do we fix the problem? And if you’re reading this, I’ll warn you right now: You might not like what I conclude….
We hated Lloyd Carr and his conservative ways. We reviewed and hashed out missed plays or opportunities in losses over seasons from years gone by. We figure if WE had been coaching, we could have WON THAT GAME (HE lost)!
Well, we now know that it’s a little tougher. That Michigan doesn’t “recruit itself” and that you need to know a thing or two about X’s and O’s to win at this level. I can’t help but think that DeBord and English are selfishly smiling quietly to themselves at this point, gleefully watching as the Michigan Team crumbles into mediocrity. Silently thumbing their noses at the press and fans, thinking, “SEE! Told you so! We weren’t that bad.”
And you know what? They’re right. Those guys supported and coached their hearts out and maintained the Wolverine Football program in steady fashion. It might not have always been pretty, but it worked the majority of the time. But when it didn’t, it failed miserably.
Which means those two, or three, if you want to count Carr, were also wrong. Just because a system was working well, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a different way to do things. And sometimes different is better. But if you’re going to do it different, if you’re going to “take the plunge”, make sure you’re taking it with the right guy, the right personality to get you where you need to go. And I mean he has to be Teflon. He needs to deflect all the bullshit that’s going to come his way during the process.
I don’t know at this point if the Rod is the right guy for Michigan. But his current team of “Those Who Cannot” isn’t looking like it has a direction, a purpose, or any kind of mission to turn anything around any time soon. However, Rod is saying the right things. He’s fighting the good fight. But as Sean Connery said to Nicolas Cage in the movie, “The Rock”,
John Mason: Are you sure you're ready for this?
Stanley Goodspeed: I'll do my best.
John Mason: Your "best"!?!? Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen. Stanley Goodspeed: Carla was the prom queen.
John Mason: Really?
Stanley Goodspeed: [cocks his gun] Yeah.
So, just because the Rod is doing his best, I am not ready to hand over another two years without seeing something – ANYTHING – that would convince me that this team can do what it needs to do to take the reins of the Big 10 back over from, seemingly, everyone else. And, unfortunately, a bunch of close losses doesn’t convince me.
Fucking the Prom Queen would do it – In other words – Beat OSU.
But I can’t just can the guy. Not yet. For several reasons:
1. For those that want the Rod’s head RIGHT NOW, I have this to say: Who are you going to go get? Les Miles is gone. There is no Les Miles. Les Miles has history with Michigan that is good and bad and may be linked, in some weird twisted way, depending on what you read a believe, to a drunken night with Garry Moeller at the Excalibur…That bridge burned, fell and will be impossible to rebuild. It would be easier to make a clone of Les Miles and call him More Miles than it would be to get Les Miles to come to Michigan and for Michigan to accept him at this point in time.
2. Jim Harbaugh. Forget that pipe dream, too. Jim’s got attitude and that plays well when he’s your guy, but there have been too many off field (DUI-2005) and on field (Going for 2 up 48-21 against USC) incidents to let that go unnoticed. And he would really tick some people off if he were in Ann Arbor. But in Jim’s defense, when PC’s USC machines were trying to get BCS style points by destroying the lesser ability of the PAC 10, Stanford included, I am sure he didn’t build up a whole lot of sympathy. So, do unto others Pete....
3. After that, you’re back to a search. An ugly, unproductive search where we lose another two years getting rid of the recruits that were brought in to play in a system under one guy. The new guy will claim that the recruits the Rod brought in were too small, ill-equipped for HIS system, etc, etc, etc.
4. If you can even get any decent talent to TALK to you. Look at this from a candidate’s perspective: He sees a highly regarded coach get run after two years on the job. Now, he says to the new AD, “Look: I think it’s going to take at least 3 to 4 years for me to get my system in place. What guarantees do I have you’re not going to run me in two years?”
5. Wouldn’t it make you ill if RR left Michigan, went to some other big school and in two years built a wining program capable of competing on the National Scene? Wouldn’t it? Of course, I can play what if’s all day long and that’s not the point of this entry…
6. Here’s another reason:
The 2010 Season Schedule:
TEAM MMQ’s Prediction
Connecticut W
At DOMERS W – Clausen’s and offense is gone..CW, too
Massachusetts W
Bowling Green W
AT INDIANA W
Sparty Iffy - W
Iowa (Home Coming) Iffy
AT PENN STATE L
Illinois W
AT PURDUE Iffy
Wisconsin L
AT OSU L
Bowl ??????
Rich Rod was given the benefit of coming in on an even year, meaning, Lloyd probably knew the transition coach would have a bad season and he was therefore stuck with OSU, PSU and The Domers on the road – which is ideal for starting out. Guess what? Next year, any new guy would get the same big three: OSU, PSU and Domers on the road…Think anyone wants to come into THAT season as a first year coach with a questionable squad? I mean, hell, even PURDUE has won two straight on us and we have them late in the season away…Yeah, I know. Rich Rod might not do any better given these circumstances. But he’s made the bed. Let’s see if he can get busy in it…To coin a phrase.
7. And remember where I said no one is going to like me after this blog? Now, bear with me on this next part: If we give the Rod another year – next year, you’re going to have to automatically give him the 4th year as well. Before everyone starts ripping my head off, hear me out: If you can the guy after a hopefully mediocre (7-5) 3rd year that gets you to a bowl game, what then? Now, you look even worse than you did when you canned him after year two, right? He improved the program every year he was there, right? And you canned him? Of course, he will STILL NOT HAVE BEATEN OSU OR PSU in 3 tries.
8. Of course, if he doesn’t make a bowl, well, good riddance and Michigan is in deeper stink that I even want to think about at this point in time…
9. Which leads me to the counter point of why Michigan may need to can the man:
Maybe, just maybe, Rich Rodriguez ISN’T the right coach for this job. And I believe at the end of 4 years, you’re going to be able to make a much better decision on that than anyone can make right now. Unfortunately, with today’s guaranteed contracts and buy out clauses, both the university and the coach are literally, “All In”, to use a poker term and this year’s rallying cry for the Wolverines. It makes sense now, doesn’t it? Michigan pushed OUR money in the pot pre-flop and Rich is our hand. We’ve seen our hole cards and they were something like A-K suited – Great hand with HUGE potential, at least it seemed that way (Year 1). We’ve now seen the flop (Year 2) which didn’t hit us at all and was something like “5-7-no bowl” and now we need to catch up on the turn (a bowl game) and the river (BCS BOWL) in order to beat the other guy’s pair of deuces. It’s not impossible, but the odds are stacked against The Rod at this point. Michigan pushed and they have to finish the hand…
Another parallel, unfortunately, is the DOMERS (JEEZ I HATE THESE GUYS!) and what they did initially with Bob Davie, how abruptly they acted with Tyrone Willingham, and how patient they were – or have been, rightly or not – with Wide End. The Domers now know that any move in the future needs to be carefully calculated, thought out, and can’t just be handed over to the “best candidate” available at that time. It’s not like hiring for other positions in a university.
What do I mean but not giving it to the “Best Name Available”? Football, like a lot of sports, is tradition rich and it helps to have people and players that are schooled in that tradition. And they in turn hand that tradition down to the generations that come after them, educating them on the rivalries and the emotions with playing for a university and a program like Michigan. That’s why I was VERY NERVOUS to bring in a Non-Michigan Man to run this program. I could have cared less if he started playing the spread on offense, a 3-4, 4-3, 5-2 or 1-2-3-4 and do-si-do out the door on defense….What I wanted was the importance of why you put that number on every game day and what it means for you to wear it…How you carry the traditions of every player to wear the number 1 – Carter, Edwards, McMurtry and others…Or how number 2 has become symbolic with excellence and toughness on defense – Woodson, and Walter Smith…That responsibility when taught from the coaches and handed down by the players starts to mean something in the 4 or 5 years you’re with the program. And it becomes a very powerful motivational tool. Ask Bo Schembechler (who’s rolling over multiple times at this point) what the power of knowing everyone’s name of the person that wore the Jersey number before you. You have to carry on that tradition. You are responsible. And therefore, motivated.
That was my biggest fear. Because when a bad season comes along, and they will, you at least have the tradition to fall back on – the heritage of those who went before you and when you pull that winged helmet on, you understand that you are among the “Leaders and the Best”. And maybe the Rod hasn’t gotten that part yet. He was blind to it and just didn’t get it. He claims he knows and he understands, but really, does he?
So, back to the moral of the story: If Rich isn’t the guy, and I am not saying he is or he isn’t at this point, but if he isn’t, then who is?
That may be a question that remains for the next AD to decide, or maybe the Rod finds religion and gets the players he needs to turn the Titanic around…
And I do mean Titanic. This program is on a course for somewhere – destiny TBD and Rich Rod is the captain of that ship. Anyone who comes in now is going to have a lot of work to do. If Rod can somehow make it all work, so be it. If not, Michigan is in desperate times indeed.
I am not saying that a BCS bowl game is 10 years in the offing, but unless something changes, it’s going to start feeling like it.
The MMQ
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