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Perspective, Again and Again
Picking up the pieces after a disappointing Saturday is getting old and is all too common. I keep rationalizing what is happening to this Michigan team, and the Michigan football program at large. Using perspective as my friend. It’s hardly fun anymore.
Photo by Det. News
First, Saturday night. Doesn’t it have to be coaching at this point? Denard’s great. The offense is fine. I have no complaints about the offensive performance on Saturday night. Maybe some beef with a couple play calls – like running Vincent Smith up the middle from the I formation on 3rd and 1. On defense though, it’s really, really hard at this point to say that the coaches are doing all they can do with the talent at hand. I don’t think I can buy that anymore. The coaches aren’t putting their guys in position to make plays. The coaches aren’t making the right adjustments to adapt to a play that is gashing you, time after time. It’s one of the most frustrating things to watch in the history of Michigan football.
In the past, my stance has always given Greg Robinson a bit of a pass. I can’t do that any longer, until I see progress. Progress means improvement over time. Improvement over time is not happening for this Michigan defense. It’s that simple. At this point, Michigan cannot afford to not put the ball in the end zone on offense more than a couple times per game. Michigan can only match their opposition scoring opportunity for scoring opportunity – and then hope to get a turnover or two along the way to then outscore the other team on the field.
Rich Rodriguez. If Michigan can eke out a win at Purdue, without turning their offensive unit into all-stars for a day, then Michigan might squeeze into a bowl game. If the defense cannot play better, Michigan can only win one more ball game – and that would be against Purdue. I’ll see an argument against that, but I don’t get how it can be justified at this point. Maybe Michigan catches Illinois or Wisconsin on an off day. I’d enjoy seeing that, instead of Michigan giving every team they play their best-played game of the season, perhaps Michigan gets someone’s seemingly worst shot.
I typically enjoy the board over at Mgoblog, but this is right about when I can barely stand to see what’s new over there. Right now the latest topic is a thread about who the best candidates to replace Rich Rodriguez are – I just don’t feel like participating. Feels like a waste of time to me. Rich Rodriguez is the coach of a 5-3 Michigan team, that has lost three games in a row.
I believe Rich Rodriguez should be Michigan’s coach in 2011 – regardless of how this season ends. If Michigan had a pulse on defense – they win Saturday night. I don’t think Greg Robinson is the answer at defensive coordinator – and I do think RR should catch some heat for the GR hire, but RR should stay.
I’ll be totally irrational. Did you see RR try and fire up the defense before the 4th quarter started? He was in dudes’ faces, yelling, screaming, trying to do everything in his power to get them excited and fired up. I like seeing that. That guy has some serious fire within him. Greg Robinson doesn’t – or has failed to show it. GR has failed to say two words to the media about the shortcomings of his defense. Come on dude – let’s hear something out of you.
Alright, perspective time. Michigan has huge problems on defense. Enormous problems. Problems that maybe an offseason, another recruiting class, spring practice, and fall practice can maybe help. Maybe the four remaining teams somehow don’t perform at a high level – or MIchigan’s D catches some breaks, but it ain’t getting any better from here on out.
I look forward to Michigan games like hardcore. All week, all Saturday, I’m geekin’ about the game to come on at 8:00. So, damn it sucks when they play like shit and get worked over by a team that isn’t very good. I need a place to channel that negative energy, a way to rationalize and make the loss feel better and sound better in my head. In dire times, like the latter portion of last season and now, I remember how I felt over the course of Lloyd Carr’s final few seasons at the helm. I couldn’t stand the 4 and 5 loss seasons. I hated the underachieving Michigan teams of Lloyd Carr’s time.
I am okay with taking lumps again this year – for the shot at being an elite program year in and year out. If you are familiar with the youth on the roster – and therefore the youth on the field – then I think that you too can rationalize that, while it totally blows losing and practically not competing at an average level of play in the Big Ten, more positives outweigh negatives. I’m not David Brandon, nor would I want to be right now, but I believe he too will see that the pros outweigh the cons regarding his head coach’s future at Michigan.
On a side note: Dammit Denard barely missed another 200/200 game.
Photo by Det. News
You are in denial…Michigan is vying with Indiana and Minnesota for the title "Worst team in the Big 10". 5-3 mean nothing when those wins are against MAC teams and Indiana (by the skin of our teath). Rich Rod is the problem…he needs to go…he needs to go NOW.
Ok I guess I'm so in denial that I can actually see the progress in the program. All I know is that RR came in and changed the entire philosophy of an offense. It takes time to recruit those players. He came in with a bare cupboard and didn't even get a full recruiting season his first year. I guess we should just go ahead and rebuild again for three years, recruit different style players again and be 3-8 again. Then you can call for that coach to be fired. GENIOUS!!!! Do you forget not too many or any actually of the elite coaches you want to replace RR were jumping at the opportunity when Lloyd left? If I recall, a so called "Michigan Man" Les Miles scoffed at the job… and his fans at LSU don't even want him around. That whole concept is archaic. You are all living in the Bo era…elite kids that are getting recruited today don't even know who he is. Go ahead and scream blasphemy. I mean serioulsy the last time Mich won a national championship incoming freshmen would have been what 3 years old?? These kids want to play fast, be on tv, score points and win major bowls. What is giving hime one more year…. a full recruitment cycle??? I guess that's too much to ask…
Great article. Give Coach Rod a chance up there. Yes the fire in Coach Rod before the fourth quarter started is what we were use to here at WVU. He's a passionate coach who knows what he's doing and he tries his best to get his players to play at that intensity level. He knows what it takes to win and the players have to buy into that. Denard plays at that level and several others but someone needs to get that fire lit under the Michigan defense. Every coach at every position has to have those guys ready to play. The defense looked dead in that last game. GET GOING MICHIGAN – GO BLUE – GO DENARD – GOOD LUCK COACH ROD. STILL MANY OF US CHEERING YOU ON DOWN HERE IN WV!!!!!
Tom: Understand your frustrations, but letting go of him now could further devastate the roster. Not the answer my friend.
GMT: Yup. Off the field – it seems as though this team is more together as a team than the previous two seasons. That means a lot, and with the youth on this team, you've got all your major leaders returning. Next couple years could be big if RR gets to stay in AA.
JAC: Thanks. Right, RR is a passionate dude. People saying he looked desperate there, but hey, in the scope of winning a ball game – that was a desperate time.
I agree with your thoughts on RR and GERG. On the other hand, freshman or not, top-rated recruits or not, the defense looks like they've never played the game before. Come on. Why is the secondary playing 10 yards off the receivers they're supposed to be covering? Don't any of our players have an instinct for the game? This is Michigan. Even if they aren't the best players in the country, they should still be better than what we're seeing.
As you mentioned, there's been no improvement in defense since RR got here, even though in RR's first year, the defense, with the returning players, was supposed to be decent.
I agree with MgoBlog that perhaps RR's "core" group of coaches hamstrings the DC efforts with their defensive dogma that obviously doesn't work in the Big Ten.