Goodbye Coach Rodriguez

Editors note:  This has been sitting in my draft box for a couple days now.  It's not in my nature to give up on a season, or this team, but at some point reality sets in, however difficult.  This weekend was a deep dose of reality.  I hope and pray that we find a way to recover, that what I saw Saturday was the exception for the 2010 Wolverines and not the rule.  I hope that I can look back on this post and laugh at how wrong I was.

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There were times when I thought I'd be writing this post earlier in the season, other times I thought maybe it wouldn't need to be written, and even other times I thought I wouldn't get around to it before he was gone. But this is going to have to be the time. Because we are a people without much patience. And that makes me sad. Sad because I would have liked to have known what could have happened had this been allowed to reach its potential. Throughout my Michigan Football fan career, this team was predicated on slow, powerful, methodical, boring play that resulted in wins 80% of the time, and that's not bad.  But so wasted was the talent, and so predictable was the playcalling and the system, that an end around or double reverse resulted in a fan reaction tantamount to that at a donkey show (don't look that up). The losing 20%? Losses on the west coast to faster teams, losses in bowl games to faster teams, losses to any team with a somewhat mobile quarterback.

And maybe that should have been enough for me. It was for many other Michigan Fans. Expectations of greatness, and results somewhere below those expectations, year in and year out, forvever. Of course, I wanted more. I wanted more 1997's. A string of them perhaps. Florida-like domination... USC-like (sanctions aside) dynasties. The greatest college football team of all time morphing into the greatest college football team of the modern era. That's all...just the world on a platter, served to me by a envious, teary-eyed, groveling group of OSU and MSU fans.

There was only one way to get there: SPEED.

So enter Rich Rodriguez, whose life work is speed. Offensive firepower based on lighting quick decisions and a team full of track stars. It's a hell of a plan. The problem is, when the system in place is so slow, you really need to start over. Michigan Football became a spread offense equivalent of an expansion team. You want speed? This is the sacrafice. You want to compete out of this conference? Then the players you have that hail from the state of Michigan simply aren't good enough. So he knew what he had to do, and he did an amazing job being nice about it. You just can't come out and say that a player just isn't athletic enough to play in your system. You can't hold a press conference and talk about a kid being slow. You don't belittle Nick Sheridan, you instead tell the world that he's competing for the staring job with Forcier and Robinson. And that's what Rodriguez did. He showed an amazing amount of patience and compassion with the hand he had been dealt. This was a team that lost the previous year to Appalachain State, and then graduated every player of any consequence, and performed a coaching search and coaching hire 60 days before signing day. What is he supposed to say? No, no, no....we don't want any of those guys that committed. That wouldn't have gone over so well.

So there's a lost class. So now your spread offense expansion team also has to take on another class of unqualified players.  It could already be considered a perfect storm...new coach attrition, new system attrition, poor coach hiring process, poor coach hiring timing, and drastic contrast between new offensive system and old offensive system.

But there was more.

There was also a defense. A defense so lacking in properly recruited talent that it could not have competed in any league, let alone the Big Ten. Lacking enough to result in the demise of one defensive coordinator...and two years later it's on the precipice of forcing the unceremonious exit of another. If you haven't taken the time to read Misogopan's opus "The Decimated Defense," you should probably do that right now. Eye opening to say the least.

The results of that perfect storm?  3-9.  A shock to the system of Michigan fans everywhere. And while there has been a drastic improvement from the offensive side of the ball since that campaign, it hasn't been fast enough. Certainly not fast enough to compensate for a defense that could not and did not improve, and also not fast enough to overcome decent Big Ten defenses in only its second real year of recruiting and implementation.

In a perfect world, the defense could have carried us through the transition, maybe just snagging a couple of extra wins here and there to keep the wolves at bay. Unfortunately, it did the opposite, sabotaging games and leaving us with a sour taste even after victories. Every amazing play by Denard Robinson has been met by an equally alarming and disappointing play on the other side of the ball. What we've been watching, when we are seemingly being successful, has not been football. It's been like a hockey shootout. Everybody scores most of the time, and the rare win at the end is somewhat unsatisfying.

And that brings us to the final leg of this journey, last weekend's contest against MSU. Again, the offense isn't quite ready for primetime, and the defense isn't even ready for storytime. The result is a 2nd consecutive loss to Sparty AT HOME, and a 3rd consecutive overall. They dominated us, turnovers or not. And Michigan State is no world beater. They've got an unexpected loss coming up in the next couple weeks. We will face better offenses later this season. We will face better defenses later this season. The problem is, we will also face worse offenses this year, and we will lose to them too.

It all builds up...and now it's over. To recover and avoid a near repeat of last year would be a colossal surprise to me.  With each loss, the pressure will build around the program. The aura of instability will ultimately be our demise if we don't react swiftly. "Lame duck" are the two most dangerous words in recruiting. That's right, Harbaugh will be here soon enough, wasting talent and flirting with chicks 30 years his junior at Rick's, marching the Wolverines back to high expectations and results that fall below those expectations.

Thanks for...well...just thanks Coach. You had a no-win situation, and you gave me a glimpse of the offense I always wanted. And despite your portrayal in the media, I always thought of you as a man of class and character. I'm sure you will have success somewhere where there isn't a perfect storm. I will think of you in a couple years when the alumni are yelling out the type and direction of the offensive plays before the snap...and they'll be right 80% of the time.

Foreward

The last couple of seasons have taken the edge off of my ability to hate. It's hard to pick on your rivals when they're beating you, it's even harder when everybody is beating you. So I went into this season focusing my efforts inward. What's wrong with my team? What does my team need to do to be relevant again?  How do we get back to 8-4, so we can move forward to 13-0?

They've taken it step by step...game by game.  And with each step, the doubters only added doubts.  First UCONN is good, then we beat UCONN, so now UCONN sucks.  Somehow our Notre Dame win (on the road) wasn't nearly as impressive as MSU's (home, overtime, fake field goal).  The UMASS win was treated as a loss.  The Bowling Green win was brushed off.  And Indiana, despite having the #11 passing offense in the country BEFORE the Michigan game, is still considered Indiana.

But why can't the sum be greater than its parts?

I had an epiphany during the Indiana game on Saturday as I sat amongst the Michigan fans in Memorial Stadium (which was not sold out):  As long as teams don't figure out a way to score more than one touchdown in a single drive, we're going to be alright.  I mean, Indiana basically scored every time.  They put up astronomical offensive numbers.  It's impossible for it to be any worse.  I guess they could have scored faster, but then we would just have gotten the ball more.  Basically what I'm saying is that when it comes to offenses playing our defense, Indiana = UMASS = Florida = the 1999 St. Louis Rams.  So bring it on Big Ten.  You are all so lucky that our defense is super super shitty.  Because if it was just shitty, we'd be polishing that crystal football in January.  By my calculations, we've got two years to figure out how to put together a shitty defense, and when we do, you're all screwed.

And this just in....you might be screwed anyway.

More or Less Confused

UMASS beat Stoney Brook under the lights on Saturday night by a final score of 26-21. UMASS put up 455 yards on the Seawolves, just 16 yards more than they put up on our fair Wolverines. The Minutemen intercepted a pass with a little over a minute to go to seal the victory in front of a Lavalle Stadium capacity crowd of...wait for it...8,136.

If you are looking for a defining moment for this team, for this season, right now it's the two touchdowns Denard orchestrated in less than 30 seconds to end the first half against UMASS. It was those two quick scores that took the wind out of the Minutemen's sails. They went into the locker room down by 4, and they could have, and should have, been up by ten. They didn't get their swagger back until the interception-turned-fumble in the 4th, which they followed up with a touchdown and a blocked punt...and another touchdown. Quickly it became a case of "if you seek an unpleasant Michigan fan with hands together on top of their head in disbelief, look about you." And though it wasn't a disaster, it became the sign of an impending one.

Is it really only a matter of time?

And then Bowling Green came to town.  Shoelace broke another run for you to file in your mental highlight reel.  Just a little something for you to tell your kids about.  Then he went down hard, living up to the predictions of all of the haters that label him as Mr. Glass.  But in came Devin, followed by Tate.  And nary a beat was skipped.  Sure, the breakaway speed isn't there, but these kids know the offense.  Denard is the kind of talent that only comes around once in a while, but Tate is no slouch.  He went 12 for 12 through the air, and allowed Denard to get the day off we expected him to have last week.  In the process, Tate opened up the discussion of what the limits are for this scheme, this system.  Will we see Tate and Denard together in the backfield?  Will Devin be there too? Is that where this is going?  I can't wait.  And if the defense and special teams continue to be as embarrassing as they are, maybe Rich can't wait either, as Michigan is still near the bottom (93rd in NCAA) in total defense.  We give up, on average, 175 more yards per game than the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The 11th ranked passing game in the nation is waiting for the Wolverines next week in Bloomington.  Disaster seems so close.  And yet, so does relief.  Michigan only needs to win it's next two games to get a lot of monkeys off of their backs.  Bowl eligibility...check.  Winning the only really vital rivalry game...check.  Momentum...check.

Sanity...check.

Sagarin ratings of our four opponents through 9/25 (Michigan is 26th):

UCONN 69th

Notre Dame 64th

UMASS 84th

Bowling Green 94th

Sagarin ratings of our next four opponents through 9/25:

Indiana 85th

Michigan State 41st

Iowa 27th

Penn State 22nd

Again, Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing. Eyes Right, Mind Right , Stay Hungry and Sell Out.

Pictures from the Bacon Tailgate are right here:

It's Really Not OK

I've racked my brain the last couple of days trying to figure out how the UMASS game was "OK."  It hasn't been easy.  I tried to tell myself that this is a game of emotion and momentum, and that the Minutemen came in fired up, had some early game success, and rode that wave into a great performance.  And Michigan was disinterested in this FCS opponent, created a defensive gameplan to combat the deep ball problems of Notre Dame, and was caught off guard by a bruising, in-your-face running attack.

The problem is, while some of these things might be true, the reality of the situation is we got our ass kicked.  UMASS dominated the line of scrimmage, often both on offenseand defense.  The way they attacked our defense is the EXACT way the teams of the Big Ten are going to attack our defense, the difference is that MSU and Iowa aren't going to be coming at us with transfers from Hofstra.  All signs point to Michigan being in some pretty deep shit.  UMASS dictated our offensive gameplan, forcing Denard to the air, when we should have been able to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted.  Lucky for us, Denard was up to the challenge.

So the question remains, how long can Robinson hide all the things that are wrong with this team?  Last year I thought the defense would grow as the season went on...they regressed.  Why would this year be different?  Also, hands down the worst set of kickers, and that includes placekicking, kicking off, and punting, that we have had at Michigan.  And Jeremy Gallon must have pictures of Rich Rod shredding documents...there's no other explanation for why he continues to be the punt returner.  The defensive scheme rarely put players in position to make plays, usually because they had a UMASS player driving them right off of the field.  But when it did put them in a good position, they did a tremendous job of missing tackles.  Everything you thought was good enough now sucks.  We've been exposed.  And it's just a matter of time before our weaknesses are exploited.

But....

We didn't lose.

Not losing makes this game go away, like 10-7 over Utah in 2002, 24-21 over San Diego State in 2004, or 34-26 over Ball State in 2006.  And even though there's that feeling that we've been here before (because we actually HAVE been here before) maybe we'll be like Iowa...

I can point to Iowa's 2009 season, which started out with a one-point win over Northern Iowa in which the Hawkeyes were outgained and had to block two(!) field goals on consecutive plays to avoid the killer upset. Four games later Iowa survived 24-21 against Arkansas State; they ended the year by whipping Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

Whatever.  I'm fairly certain the whole Big Ten sucks anyway, so maybe we have a chance to get that elusive 6th win.  But that is looking ahead, and if Saturday taught us anything, it's that we cannot look past the team in front of us.  So, ya...Bowling Green.  Here's to hoping we hold them under 400 yards.

Tailgate pics here...

Holy

Notre Dame Stadium is not all that big.  Their press box isn't very impressive, and the scoreboards remind me of the pixelated version from early-90's Crisler Arena that used to blink "BIG NOOK" when Juwan Howard was introduced.  The "open bowl" setup lends itself to having the noise escape a la the pre-suite Big House.  The student section is small, as is the school in general, about 1/4 the size of the University of Michigan.  In short, on paper, Notre Dame is not all that intimidating of a place to play.  The reality however, is that the second you enter the stadium, you can literally feel the tradition, like you're in a museum, or a hall of fame.  The pageantry of the Notre Dame marching band, the boisterous student section's male and female portioned cheers, the gold helmets, and there's like a garden with shrubbery and ivy, green as Ireland, behind both the benches.  Seriously, it's beautiful.  And while I've never actually met a Notre Dame fan that actually attended Notre Dame, they are still very passionate, and enjoy looking down their noses at you.

But there's something about the place.  Something is different there.  It's hard to describe.  Sometimes called "luck" or "magic," and often playfully given religious metaphors.  This power, this certain something, this twelfth man that Notre Dame possesses for each and every home game...it's real.  I've seen it.  And I'm not talking about touchdown Jesus, though after staring into his eyes for the better part of 4 hours on Saturday,  I know that each time I looked to the heavens for help with my team, he scrambled the signal.

That's why I was never comfortable.  A 14-point lead is nothing against the power of that place.  Even referees are unable to resist the mystique.

Early on, we knocked Notre Dame quarterback Dane Crist silly, whose last name is an h short of being the messiah, and they brought in Joe Montana's son.  Seriously...Joe Montana's son.  He rode in to the stadium on a unicorn.  He had on his dad's NFL number.  And he had giant calves from wearing shape-ups.

With just under 4 minutes to go in the game, the sky, which had been thick overcast, parted, and sun hit the field for the first time all day.  And a rainbow in the distance hooked around and landed on the 50-yard line.  Ten seconds later, Crist, back in the game for the second half after guzzling holy water, threw a 95-yard touchdown pass to a tight end to give ND their first lead since the first quarter.  The PA announcer actually said "95-yard touchdown pass from Dane Crist to Kyle Rudolph, and a rainbow on the 50-yard line."

I'm not making this shit up...except for maybe the unicorn.

But there was Denard.  And Denard is something that the football gods, or the gods, or god Himself may have not been prepared for.  Notre Dame, despite seeing the films from the previous week, certainly was not.  Denard broke the rules of tradition.  Denard broke records.  He now holds the mark for the longest run in the history of Notre Dame stadium.  He is also the first person to use the Heisman pose out of necessity since the guy they modeled the statue after did it in 1934.  Denard doesn't know or care who Knute Rockne is, and he doesn't know or care about his own stats.  He only cares about the team.

And this is a team my friends.  Coach Rodriguez is building his own family here.  He's creating his own Michigan men.  Don't kid yourself, he created the phenomenon that is known by many as "shoelace."  He took a sprinter and made him a football player.  Rich Rodriguez created Denard Robinson to take everything that is wrong with these Wolverines, from the placekicking to the punting to the defense's inexperience, and eliminate them from the equation of football completely. 

They say special teams wins games, and defense wins championships.  We have very little of either, yet we have a chance to win both.