5 Truths That Should Keep Us Grounded as a Fan Base

You have probably already made your judgment regarding the future of coach Rod, but before you make your verdict final, the facts behind what happened this year (and in years past) in college football should be examined.

1. Michigan was 22nd in total offense in college football this year with 34.3 points per game.
They averaged only 20 points per game against ranked teams (with only 7 points coming against OSU).

2. Rich Rodriguez's team lost to Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State this year.
He is now 0-9 against these teams as head coach of Michigan.

3. Michigan was 102nd in total defense this year surrendering 33.8 points per game.
Do we really need numbers here? Watching that defense was like repeatedly sticking a fork in your eye.

4. Michigan's record has gotten better every year.
3-9... 5-7 ....7-5 (7-6 with bowl game)

5. The Big Ten was not great this year.
Michigan's very average record this year cannot be excused by great in-conference competition. It's not that the Big Ten was necessarily bad, but did you see who went 11-1 in the regular season? Did you see any of the New Year's Day bowl games?...YIKES!

Josh Groban? Football? It better be game over for Rodriguez

Disclaimer: What you are about to read is both opinionated and offends good taste.

GAMETIME

In case you missed seeing it somewhere in the news, the Michigan football team had their annual end of the season banquet yesterday in Livonia. The most newsworthy of the events that occurred was a Rich Rodriguez speech in which he emotionally stated his strong desire to be a Michigan man. Something also to note was that Rodriguez had his team hold hands to the song "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban.

TIMEOUT

Josh Groban? Football?

Rich Rodriguez, based on my potentially biased opinion, has all but told us that he is out the door after the bowl game. If this is true, the Josh Groban song is acceptable because this banquet was like a funeral- the death of an era. People get teary and emotional at funerals, I understand. But the extent of my empathy is only contingent on the fact that Rich Rodriguez knows he's gone.

TIME IN

And if he doesn't know the status of his employment at the University of Michigan next year?

SHAME ON HIM. What's with this nonsense about Rich Rodriguez acting so soft in front of crowds? He moped about the NCAA allegations, he moped about his defensive woes all season, he moped about the injury problems on his team, and now this? Josh Groban?

Coach: Crying (or coming damn near it) never solved anything. If you don't know that you're going to get fired, then stop acting so feeble. It doesn't resonate well with fans, administration, or recruits.

When Tim Tebow's Florida Gators got beat in 2008 by an inferior Ole Miss team, potentially ruining a championship season, how long did he feel sorry for himself? About 5 minutes. Then he stood up in front of a crowd of media, delivered (regardless of what you think of Tim Tebow) a great speech about how hard the team the was going to work the rest of the season, and then got it done by winning a national championship. Tebow's leadership turned sorrow into determination.

And Rodriguez? Well, after months of having his tail between his legs in front of the media and alumni, it appears that it will remain there. This submissiveness, I'm sure, is doing wonders for the public's perception of him as a strong-minded football coach.

GAME OVER

Michigan had a winning record, but not a winning season. A winning season breeds optimism, support, and a determination to improve. Instead, the Michigan football team is currently surrounded by pessimism amongst supporters, de-committing recruits, and a student body that has the right to feel sorry themselves for having to live through the Dark Years of modern day Michigan football. When you're a junior at Michigan and you have yet to beat Michigan State, Penn State, or Ohio State, a little bit of wallowing in self-pity isn't hard to accomplish.

I can never fault a man for getting upset over losing his job, but as long as Rich Rodriguez is publicly known as the head coach of Michigan, he owes it to the Michigan fan base paying his multi-million dollar salary to act the part. Michigan fans are simple creatures: they like to win, and they like to be around people who are determined to win. Excuses, moping, and an affinity for Josh Groban, have not, and will not ever, fulfill this simple desire.

(Updated) Should He Stay or Should He Go: The Rich Rodriguez Saga

At this point, Michigan fans have had a couple weeks to know about where the football program would finish this season, and people have been finalizing their opinions on Coach Rodriguez's job security for some time now.

I think it's fair to say the majority of the fanbase as a whole wants Coach Rod canned - the NCAA violations, the spread, the Big Ten record, losing streaks to conference powers and rivals, the complete and utter lack of defense. It's a wholly reasonable opinion, as Rodriguez's tenure at Michigan has been an utter embarrassment, and it's hard to keep coming up with excuses for the coach. Emotionally, Michigan fans feel like enough is enough, and are ready to forgive Jim Harbaugh's comments about Michigan's standards to hire the architect of the turnaround in Palo Alto.

There's another sizable contingent who says Rodriguez deserves another year. Three years is a short amount of time in the scheme of things, and he's still getting his recruits in place and up to speed in his schemes. Rodriguez has been the victim of an absurd amount of transfers, injuries, and admissions snafus, and inherited a certifiably awful 2007 recruiting class from Lloyd Carr. He's demonstrated progress - an explosive offense behind the nation's most electrifying player and seven wins and a bowl in his third season. Giving Rodriguez another year to get Michigan back to contending for the Big Ten championship would help avoid what could be a rash of transfers and would provide some much needed continuity that's important for player development and recruiting.

Dave Brandon does not have an enviable position as he heads home tonight, cell phone surely buzzing off the hook with alumni, former players, and friends offer their opinions on the fate of the coaching spot at the nation's winningest program. Whatever his decision, a couple things are clear:

• Anyone less than Jim Harbaugh will be a disappointment. The Stanford coach and "Michigan Man" (ed. some of us haven't forgiven his previous treachery) has expressed a desire to coach at his alma mater in the past, and he absolutely is the #1 choice of Michigan fans everywhere. Hiring anyone else would have fans scratching their heads and wringing their hands.
• Whoever coaches at Michigan next year should have a minimum expectation of 9 wins. Michigan will return 19 starters, will have one of the nation's most explosive offenses returning almost entirely intact, and will have improved depth and experience on defense. Michigan will have the talent to win 9 games next year, and anything less will be a major disappointment, no matter who the coach is.
• Michigan fans will continue to support their team wholeheartedly. Fans support the team far more than the coach, and nobody will care who coaches the team as long as the team is succeeding.

Sports Directors' Decisions

Bill: Fire Rodriguez. The time has come to make the change, and we owe Rodriguez nothing. Bring on Jim Harbaugh.

Andrew: Rodriguez should get one more year, for most of the reasons listed above. However, I won't be heartbroken if RichRod is out at Michigan. I like Rodriguez more than most people, and want badly for him to succeed, but I want much more for Michigan to succeed, and if Harbaugh gives Michigan that chance then so be it. I think it would be premature to fire Rodriguez, but I can certainly understand the decision if it happens.

AD Dave Brandon will surely have to do some damage control if he plans on keeping Rodriguez, and you should expect the former CEO to crank up the PR very soon if Rodriguez is the guy. If he decides to fire Rodriguez, expect the decision to come sooner than later, and expect Harbaugh to be the pick. We'll know a lot more on Monday.

Bonus rumor: Update - We're going to go ahead and repost the rumor. It's precisely that, a rumor, and it should by no means be interpreted as anything more. If the powers that be have an issue with this, please email me at amgodd@umich.edu.

Following the fiasco in Columbus, a couple WCBN personalities were informed by a source that Rich Rodriguez would be replaced by Jim Harbaugh, and that Rodriguez would be headed to Miami to take over the head coaching job there. We were initially highly skeptical, but with the firing of Randy Shannon a few hours after we received this tip, have reason to be a bit more confident that this will happen. Some of us are much more skeptical than others, and the Shannon firing wasn't exactly a major surprise, but there's enough here in our minds to leave it up on the blog. It's all very interesting. We'll see how it plays out.

Update II - WCBN has learned through a source within the University of Miami administration that the U and Rich Rodriguez have been in contact. What this means, however, is unknown. Everybody contacts everybody with these coaching searches, and it could be nothing more than Miami reaching out to RichRod only to be rebuffed. However, we believe there has been contact, which is interesting enough to pass along.

Whoever the coach - forever and always, Go Blue.

Three Spankings and You're Out!

Can Rich Rodriguez afford to lose this weekend to keep his job? Yes.

Can Rich Rodriguez afford for his team to get walloped in the biggest rivalry game in sports three times in a row? I doubt it.

I like Rich Rodriguez, but let's be honest: the man has done a poor job coaching arguably the best college football program in the country. I know the cupboard was empty when he came in 2008, I know he's faced an onslaught of freak injuries that continue to cripple his defense, and I know that it takes time to institute a new system such as the spread... but some things are simply inexcusable. Getting thwacked by Jim Tressel's Buckeyes after three years of building your program, no matter how decimated with injuries the Wolverines currently seem, is one of those things.

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon has been adamant about keeping Rich Rodriguez around Michigan's campus since the day Brandon was hired. According to Brandon, immediate success would not gauge Rich Rod's job security, but rather, "progress" would be key.

Call me crazy, but "progress" has yet to be accomplished by Rich Rod against the Big Ten's elite. Heck, some might say Michigan's regressed. Just last year the Michigan State Spartans and the Iowa Hawkeyes beat the Wolverines by margins of 6 and 2 respectively. And this year? Well, let's just say the combined margin was greater than 25, with both schools beating Michigan AT HOME by double digits.

Where is the progress? It's true that the maize and blue have improved their record every year under Rich Rodriguez, but Michigan has looked silly against Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, and Wisconsin this year. No progress, it seems, has been made regarding how the Wolverines stack up to the top teams in the Big Ten conference.

The only good news for Rodriguez is that the trump card is still in play for 2010. The one game that matters more than the rest has yet to be played. A win against Ohio State, in my opinion, constitutes progress. Shoot, even a close game (within 10 points) would show that this team is on the rebound. But if history repeats itself and Michigan gets dominated by another Big Ten powerhouse, I'm just not so sure that Dave Brandon, with his self-imposed standards, can justify keeping Rich Rodriguez as the head coach of the University of Michigan football team.

I think three Buckeye-decorated spankings for Rich Rodriguez in three years, regardless of the circumstances, will mean he's out.

Coach Rodriguez...Take Notes

January was supposed to be a month to cleanse our souls from the evils of the 2009 Michigan football season--one that began with a quartet of promise and ended in conference contempt. College football has given way to hoops and hockey, although many Michiganders are busy commiserating over the Pistons, Red Wings, and Wolverines. But as the weather turns, I'm left reflecting on a football season gone awry and the prospects for improvement in 2010.

Football's 2009 Big Ten conference is largely reminiscent of basketball's Big Ten conference the preceding season. They came in with relatively low expectations and, by the end of the season, appeared to be a conference on the rise. The bowls have become a huge source of optimism for fans of college football's longest standing conference, with the Big Ten winning its four most prominent bowl games:

Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin 20 - Miami (FL) 14

Capital One Bowl: Penn St. 19 - LSU 17

Rose Bowl: Ohio St. 26 - Oregon 17

Orange Bowl: Iowa 24 - Georgia Tech 14

Perhaps most notable about the Big Ten's bowl dominance was the fact that each Big Ten team in the four games listed above was an underdog (Penn St.-LSU was nearly a pick'em game) in Vegas. The Big Ten, by all accounts, vastly exceeded expectations, and nearly went 7-0 in the bowl season (Michigan State led in the fourth quarter against Texas Tech, Northwestern lost in overtime against Auburn, and Minnesota lost by one against Iowa State).

And let's be clear; these games were a clash of styles. Wisconsin beat the athletes at the "U." Ohio St. beat the Pac-10 spread. Iowa took care of a gimmicky, option offense. And maybe--just maybe--while Rich Rodriguez presumably watched the Big Ten compete with the nation's best, the thought crossed the embattled coach's mind that Michigan was doing something right before he got here.

Maybe, just maybe, a team can win in the Big Ten with the type of players used by Lloyd Carr when Michigan thoroughly dismantled Tim Tebow and Florida at the 2008 Capital One Bowl. Maybe, just maybe, throwing out the playbook used by Yost, Crisler, and Schembechler was not the brightest idea. Maybe, just maybe, it was not the best idea to stop recruiting the likes of Chad Henne and Mike Hart--the top-flight NFL prospects whom Michigan could attract with their cold-weather grind-it-out style of play.

The problem with Michigan football fans today is that we are so faithfully devoted to the winged helmet that we are willing to move the bar each year for a coach who has yet to win more than two games in the Big Ten. When he got here, we expected to win the Big Ten in 2010. After a three-win 2008 season, we just wanted to reach a Bowl Game in 2009 and compete with the class of the Big Ten in 2010.

Now, we'd be content with a seven-win season against the likes of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Bowling Green. Now, we simply roll our eyes when Tony Grimes eschews the Wolverines for Maryland, Mississippi, or some school with a warmer climate than Ann Arbor. Now, we hope that our defense couldn't possibly be any worse, even after losing Brandon Graham, Stevie Brown, and Donovan Warren.

Is Rich Rodriguez the best coach for the current Michigan team? Absolutely. Would any available coach win more games for Michigan in 2010 than Rodriguez? Probably not. But that's not my question today, as I reflect on 2009.

Are we building a championship program?

I surely don't think so. And if you don't, after 2 seasons and nearly two complete recruiting classes, it may be time to begin thinking about competing with the rest of the rising Big Ten.

The Rich Rodriguez Debate

What do you, as a fan, expect from Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines in the final two weeks of the season? Is playing a close game with Ohio St. enough for you to feel comfortable with missing a Bowl game for the second consecutive year? Does Michigan have to win one of their final two games for you to consider the 2009 year a success? If you've given up on 2009, what are your expectations for 2010 and what do you feel are the proper repercussions for not meeting those expectations?

WCBNers, feel free to edit this post with your own comments below. Fans, feel free to comment with your thoughts.

Jeremy: I expect Michigan to lose their final two games, but showing heart against Ohio St. would be an impressive way to salvage a disappointing season and head into 2010 with some momentum. Do I think Rich Rodriguez should be fired following a 5-7 season? I'm indifferent. I have no doubt that Rich Rodriguez is the best coach for the 2010 team, so a large part of me wants to see what he'll do with the roster that he has crafted and the system that he has put in place. At the same time, I have zero faith that Rich Rodriguez will meet out expectations of building a championship program (needless to say, Michigan MUST compete for a Big Ten title next year and, at the very least, MUST be playing on January 1st, 2011). And why should I? After Michigan beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl with Rich Rodriguez on the sidelines, the 2008 team was supposed to be led by Ryan Mallett, Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, Justin Boren, etc. They all left. Rodriguez struck out on Pryor, and was too stubborn to fit the system around his quarterback(s). The team, as it was constituted in week one of 2008, was supposed to be a six-win team (although many at WCBN predicted that the team would win seven or eight games). Michigan lost to Toledo (3-9), Purdue (4-8), and Northwestern (at home) and finished the season 3-9. This year, Michigan was supposed to take a step forward, certainly play in a bowl game, and compete with the middle of the Big Ten. Michigan has one Big Ten win and is in danger of missing a Bowl game for the second consecutive year. Rich Rodriguez has yet to prove to me that he can meet expectations--let alone exceed them. So fire him, keep him, whatever. Just please tell me that this school has a contingency plan when it's time to begin competing for a national championship again.

Goddeeris: First of all, I'm really looking forward to beating Ohio State this year. It's going to happen. I can feel it. It'll be a great way to get bowl eligible and I will proudly hang the picture of Brandon Graham crying tears of joy on my bedroom wall.

This has been argued at WCBN before, but I don't think Rodriguez can be blamed for players like Mallett and Manningham (and certainly not Boren, whose father was upset his younger brother Zach wasn't offered and pulled Justin from Michigan) leaving. Mallett saw an opportunity to play for his dream school, Arkansas, after Mustain transferred. Players leave during coaching changes, that's just how it is. Yes, he's been stubborn with his offense and play calling, but he's building a system and a program from (yes) a bare cupboard (especially on defense) and as painful as these last two seasons have been, I still have faith in Coach Rodriguez to right the ship and take Michigan back to the top.

Rich Rodriguez simply cannot be fired after this season. There is supposedly no greater mind behind the spread offense than Rodriguez, and bringing in a different spread coach makes no sense to me. If Michigan wanted to bring in a coach who ran more of a pro-style offense, I see us running into a problem with our lack of dominant outside WR, tiny O-linemen, and other personnel recruited to play Rodriguez's offense. That said, Rodriguez needs to put together a Big Ten Championship caliber season next year, and be contending for a national championship in year four. My health demands it. Go Blue!

Brian over at MGoBlog joined the debate today, coincidentally. Link lives here: http://mgoblog.com/content/when-can-we-fire-guy

Listen: Michigan Attempts to Secure a Bowl Bid

Tune in to WCBN Sports today as Michigan hopes to return to Bowl eligibility against Purdue at noon from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

Game: Purdue Boilermakers at Michigan Wolverines

Time: Noon

Venue: Michigan Stadium

Line: Michigan -6.5

Broadcast Link: YouCastr

Back to Business

So far this Spring, a lot of fans and skeptics I've talked to have been quick to write off the Wolverines as nothing more than a punch-line on their way to a 5-7 season in 2009. They see a quarterback jumping ship, and a depleted defensive front, and the scathing sarcasm rolls off their tongues like this is just another season. Wolverine fans have always been tough to impress and, often times, impossible to please.

But don't think the Wolverine players have bought into the talk.

Tell Tate Forcier this season will be similar to the last one. He's been spotted in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse practicing roll-out drills and firing pass after pass into the chest of a practice dummy. This all happens after strength drills and each teammate has gone home to ice sore limbs... and after you can still hear a faint echo of Coach Barwis' voice ringing in your ears. The lights aren't even turned on as Forcier tries to pop the dummy with a spiral, but hey.... its not like the Big House has lights, either. Good practice for night games.

Tell Stevie Brown this season will be just like his previous two. He was burned on more slant patterns than a Detroit Lions cornerback. But he can't hear the talk. He's too busy with becoming one of the quickest guys on the team and making sure he has calf muscles Usain Bolt would approve of.

Tell Will Campbell his presence won't make a difference. He could have stayed in school to hang with his football buddies for one last semester. But, instead, he graduated early to vacation on Barwis Beach and show his coaches he was born to play on weekends. Hey, after all, Prom is on a Friday and Cass Tech is only an hour away.

Lastly, tell Coach Rich Rodriguez this season might not turn out the way he wants. He'll just flash his patented "half-smile" and tell you about how good this team's young core is going to be. He knows that by the time the first leaves of autumn hit the ground, he'll have a state of the art practice facility and stadium (almost done) that would make any Midwest recruiter cringe with fear. Think he's worried about the future?

Still a long way to go until football season (I'm not going to break down positions that could possibly change hands five times before September), but these are the things you can see now that shows all this "talk" about Michigan's last season is just....well, "talk."

Photo from spawn of m zone

Barwis owes WVU 50,000

Looks like Coach Rich Rodriguez isn't the only guy that owes WVU some cash. 

Michigan Strength and Conditioning coach Mike Barwis reportedly owes 50,000 dollars to his former employer under a damages clause in his contract.  The AP picked up this story early this morning although it hasn't gotten much publicity yet.  If people remember, Rodriguez also ended up owing WVU money due to his departure midway through his own contract with the Mountaineers.

For more on this story, click here.

Bitter Braylon

The Michigan Football program came under fire once again Tuesday, this time from its most prestigious alum in recent history. In an interview with ESPN's Mike Tirico on ESPN Radio Tuesday, Braylon Edwards expressed his displeasure towards Coach Rich Rodriguez's decision to assign the "No.1 Jersey" to incoming freshman J.T. Floyd, a defensive back. Tirico (a frequent visitor to the Ann Arbor area and Michigan sporting events) asked Edwards if he had any comment on the new regime in Ann Arbor, and Edwards took the opportunity in stride. Edwards said he had no problem with Rich Rod as a coach, but was noticeably upset that Rodriguez had disrupted the tradition of the No.1 Jersey being worn by the team's best wideout. This tradition had dated back to the Anthony Carter days, and has been passed on through the years to the likes of David Terrell and Barylon Edwards most recently. Edwards also recently endowed the jersey with a 500,000 dollar scholarship fund, which provides scholarship money to the player currently sporting Braylon's old uniform. Edwards' generosity is the largest scholarship donation made by any former player in program history.

I haven't always been a huge Braylon Edwards fan, but I have to side with him on this one. If I just put down half a million bucks for a rookie to wear the jersey I had to wait two years to wear, I'd be a little steamed, too. The thing that really gets me is the fact that no one said anything to Coach Rod when this happened. Umm Coach? Number 1 is sort of a big deal around here. That was in the first chapter of the assigned reading about Michigan Tradition. Oh, and there is 500 grand attached to it by an All-Pro alum. Just a heads up. I understand he's new, but come on! There had to be SOMEBODY who said something to the guy. All in all, it was not a good week for Coach Rod (Earlier in the week, Charlie "I only recruit trust fund babies" Weiss called out him and the University in anticipation for making excuses for a potentially sub par 2008 season).

Does Braylon have a point? Or should Coach Rod give Bo's Lasting Lessons another read-through?

Rich Rod Presser

For the second time in less than a week new University of Michigan football coach Rich Rod held a press conference. This time the presser took place in the Michigan Football Meeting Room at Schembechler Hall-a place that got the nick name "Fort Schembechler " due to the reluctance of the program to welcome members of the media. However, all that seems to be changing with Coach Rod giving the media a level of inclusion not found around Ann Arbor in 40 some years.

There are two new signs up on the walls, one reading, "Spot The Ball" an offensive reference and on the other wall, "Hold The Rope" no doubt for the defense. Then a quote on the front of the wall which I loved, "When the time comes to perform, the time to prepare has passed."

I'll run down some of the more interesting quotes from the presser, today was the first practice in pads for the boys.

-Rod said three times that the players are still out of shape and still need to condition. Now, I know it has been the off season and the boys have been eating hamburgers, donuts, and milkshakes but how can they be THIS out of shape? It makes you wonder what "in shape" was under the Carr staff and just how different it is under Rod.

-The guys lift on Mondays and Wednesdays-Kevin Grady practiced full today, back from the sore hamstring he had. Not so lucky was running back Carlos Brown who broke a finger while lifting weights.

-Rod said he would not know the starting QB until Aug, and all three are learning the system as best as they can at this point in the process.

-There will be a Spring Game taking place on April 12th, and it will be at a local high school TBA. It will not be a game but an offense vs. defense scrimmage because there are simply not enough guys practicing to play a game. So, if I had to guess it will be much like the last Spring Game with the crazy scoring system they had in place.

-There is a lack of leadership on this team, and I guess thats to be expected with all the talent that left from last year's team. Right now Brandon Minor and Morgan Trent are starting emerge at the vocal leaders of the team but the coaches want more players to start stepping up, particularly the seniors.

-The topic of Captains came up and it will be quite different than what Michigan fas are used too. It was a bit confusing but here is what we gathered-there will be different captains for the offense and defense for every game next season. Then, at the end of the season the team will select the permanent captains at the end of the season, which will go into the record books. Sounds like Trent will be the guy on defense, offense might have to search for awhile.

-Michigan is very thin at three positions: Wide Receiver, where M only has 5 right now and they want 10. QB-Only 3 on the roster and only one coming in the fall. OL-future recruiting classes will fill these voids in the years to come.

-Michigan seems to be right on schedule making the transition to Rod's system. He said that the team is at the same point all his previous teams have been at this time, and he is seeing and experiencing the same frustrations that he has every where else. That's the good news, the bad news? In Rod's first season at Tulane the team went 7-4. In his first season at West Virginia he went 3-8.

-But without a doubt the best comment came towards the end of the presser when Rod let out this gem in response to if any player is starting to stand out, "Well, I don't pat players on the butt because you might end up with crap on your hands."

The days quoting elegant poets moved on when Lloyd did.