Michigan fans are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in college football, and I know know one who fits that description better than the Michigan fan who wrote the fpllowing post on his blog.
It is as well written as anything you will ever read.
The link is below.
Rich Rodriguez We Hardly Knew Ye
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Michigan looking to the future
It's now official, Rich Rodriguez has been relieved as the Head Football Coach at the University of Michigan.
Dave Brandon, Michigan's Athletic Director, held a press conference earlier today in Ann Arbor, stating that he would conduct a national search for the Wolverines next coach, and that yes, he has talked to Stanford Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, several times,"in the past."
The end of the three year experiment of bringing in a coach that didn't fit into the typical Wolverine philosophy of Big Ten football.
The Michigan record of 15-22 was the worst 3 year stretch in the 131 year history of college football's All-Time leader in wins and winning percentage.
Besides Harbaugh, ex Michigan assistants Brady Hoke, the San Diego State Head Coach, and Les Miles, the Head Coach at LSU, have been named as possible candidates for the Michigan job.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Rich Rodriguez has been fired as Michigan Football Coach.
The University of Michigan has relieved Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez of his duties today.
In three years in Ann Arbor, Rodriguez had a record of 15-22, including a Big Ten mark of 6-16.
Rodriguez was hired in December 2007 after the retirement of then Head Coach Lloyd Carr.
Many reliable sources are saying that former Michigan Assistant Coach Brady Hoke, the current Head Coach at San Diego State, will become the Wolverines 19th Head Football Coach in the teams 131 years of inter-collegiate athletics.
On a personal note, I wish Coach Rodriguez well.
I believe he was given an impossible task, to change the culture of Michigan Football.
Michigan has run many different offensive styles since 1969, but the spread was something certain Michigan fans, Alumnus, and boosters just would not allow.
Anyone who think Rich Rodriguez can"t coach, go and check out the past two winners of The Chicago Tribune's Silver Football Award Winners...DE Brandon Graham in 2009, and QB Denard Robinson.
Now we begin a new, and I'm still All-In for the Maize & Blue.
Go Blue!
Monday, January 3, 2011
A true Michigan Man
I've met a lot of great Michigan fans in my many decades of following the Maize & Blue Football team, but none is more passionate, or loyal than the young man who writes the blog In Rod We Trust
For three years, like myself, he has steadfastly stood behind the leader of Michigan Football, win, or lose.
In my opinion your either a Michigan fan, or you think your a Michigan fan, there is no in between.
If your not sure which category you fall into, here's a simple test...
Do you support the Michigan Football program, including the players, assistant coaches, and the Head Football Coach.
If you answered "Yes" to that question, then your a Michigan fan.
The rest of you need to find somewhere else to go and complain.
Complaining and negative spirit is the sign of a loser, and we don't need losers cheering on the Wolverines.
If you answered "Yes" then please proceed to the link below.
Go Blue!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The next day
24 hours ago I was arriving home from a brutal beat down by my Wolverines at the hand of Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.
A day later the sting has gone, but the memory of the worst bowl loss in Michigan history will stay forever, and the fallout of the debacle will soon start.
Michigan's Athletic Director, and former Wolverine, Dave Brandon, will meet with Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez early in the coming week, evaluating where he believes the program is at, and where it is headed.
Most Michigan fans, myself included, believe Rodriguez has coached his final game as the Wolverine leader, and that it's just a matter of time before he is released of his duties.
There were many positives in this years team, however, all of them were on offense.
Sophomore QB Denard Robinson became the first player in NCAA history to rush and pass for 200+ yards in two games in a single season, and broke the NCAA record for rushing yards in a single season by a QB, with 1,538.
Robinson was also voted the Big Ten's MVP, and he was awarded by the Chicago Tribune with the Silver Football, which is given to the Big Ten Player of the Year.
Robinson was simply the best offensive player in the conference, and Michigan's most electrifying player since Desmond Howard.
The defense, on the other hand, struggled all year, and the young players were simply out manned in nearly every conference game, as they gave up chunks of yardage game after game.
The kicking game was a nightmare, with two kickers combing to go just 4-14 on the year, including a 35 yard miss in the Gator Bowl.
The Wolverines finished 7-6, a winning record, but that will be forgotten by most of the fans, and the media, who always seem to glorify the negative in sports.
If I had a decision, I would keep Rodriguez as the coach, but demand an immediate change in the coaching staff.
The defensive coaches, along with the 3-3-5 defense must be fired, starting with Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams.
In my best guess, I see this offense, with a ton of Juniors and Sophomores, few Seniors, blowing away any defense they face.
What has to happen is for the other side of the ball, especially the D-Line, to get better.
The trenches of the Big Ten won't get any easier next year, when Nebraska enters the league.
If coach Rodriguez has coached his last game, I salute him for his service, and wish him well.
Coach Rodriguez is a good coach, a fine man, and he will land on his feet with that offense.
If Jim Harbaugh becomes the Wolverines Head Football coach, I will be happy, and, as always, I will support the leader of the Maize and Blue.
If there is a change, the powers that be better get their collective ducks in a row, and not miss, like they did in 2007, when they thought Les Miles was ready to leave LSU in the middle of winning a National Championship run.
2011 didn't start out well for us Michigan fans, and we have to wait a very long 9 months for the kickoff in the Big House on September 3rd against Western Michigan.
In the meanwhile, there's recruiting, the Spring Game, and fall practice.
Oh, and the biggest thing of all...who will be leading the Wolverines during all those activities.
A day later the sting has gone, but the memory of the worst bowl loss in Michigan history will stay forever, and the fallout of the debacle will soon start.
Michigan's Athletic Director, and former Wolverine, Dave Brandon, will meet with Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez early in the coming week, evaluating where he believes the program is at, and where it is headed.
Most Michigan fans, myself included, believe Rodriguez has coached his final game as the Wolverine leader, and that it's just a matter of time before he is released of his duties.
There were many positives in this years team, however, all of them were on offense.
Sophomore QB Denard Robinson became the first player in NCAA history to rush and pass for 200+ yards in two games in a single season, and broke the NCAA record for rushing yards in a single season by a QB, with 1,538.
Robinson was also voted the Big Ten's MVP, and he was awarded by the Chicago Tribune with the Silver Football, which is given to the Big Ten Player of the Year.
Robinson was simply the best offensive player in the conference, and Michigan's most electrifying player since Desmond Howard.
The defense, on the other hand, struggled all year, and the young players were simply out manned in nearly every conference game, as they gave up chunks of yardage game after game.
The kicking game was a nightmare, with two kickers combing to go just 4-14 on the year, including a 35 yard miss in the Gator Bowl.
The Wolverines finished 7-6, a winning record, but that will be forgotten by most of the fans, and the media, who always seem to glorify the negative in sports.
If I had a decision, I would keep Rodriguez as the coach, but demand an immediate change in the coaching staff.
The defensive coaches, along with the 3-3-5 defense must be fired, starting with Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams.
In my best guess, I see this offense, with a ton of Juniors and Sophomores, few Seniors, blowing away any defense they face.
What has to happen is for the other side of the ball, especially the D-Line, to get better.
The trenches of the Big Ten won't get any easier next year, when Nebraska enters the league.
If coach Rodriguez has coached his last game, I salute him for his service, and wish him well.
Coach Rodriguez is a good coach, a fine man, and he will land on his feet with that offense.
If Jim Harbaugh becomes the Wolverines Head Football coach, I will be happy, and, as always, I will support the leader of the Maize and Blue.
If there is a change, the powers that be better get their collective ducks in a row, and not miss, like they did in 2007, when they thought Les Miles was ready to leave LSU in the middle of winning a National Championship run.
2011 didn't start out well for us Michigan fans, and we have to wait a very long 9 months for the kickoff in the Big House on September 3rd against Western Michigan.
In the meanwhile, there's recruiting, the Spring Game, and fall practice.
Oh, and the biggest thing of all...who will be leading the Wolverines during all those activities.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Feeling very Blue
Today I attended my 3rd Michigan bowl game, and 7th Michigan football game overall, and for the first time ever I walked away on the losing side of the score.
Michigan got blown out by Mississippi State, 52-17.
Michigan, in it's 110 years of going to bowls, has never, ever gave up more points, or lost by a bigger margin than the Wolverines did today.
The final score was bad, terrible, horrible, flat out embarrassing.
As a fan, I never thought the Wolverines would lose like that, especially after holding a 14-10 lead in the first quarter.
There were plenty of Michigan fans in attendance, singing "Hail to the Victors" and chanting "Go Blue" all, well, most of the day.
With the outcome, Michigan finished with a 7-6 record, a winning season, yes, but with two straight lopsided losses, it's a forgone conclusion that we have see Rich Rodriguez coach his last game at Michigan.
Now, I've been a supporter of Rodriguez from day one, and I still believe he's a good football man, but today's humiliating loss is just the thing Michigan's Athletic Director, Dave Brandon didn't want to see.
The defense was as porous as ever.
The Wolverines defensive unit was manhandled at the line of scrimmage, and the Bulldog offensive line opened up gaping holes for quarterback Chris Relf and the Bulldog runners.
Michigan looked slow and tired...in the first quarter.
Now, I'm just a fan, and I really don't understand every aspect of what coaching takes day in and day out.
What I do know is that I am a Michigan fan, 35 years of living and dying with the Wolverines, and what I saw today was embarrassing, embarrassing in every way imaginable.
I support the team, I support the coaches, I support the players, and I support the administration.
What I don't support is losing.
Losing stinks, and today was as bad as it gets.
Now, I simply could say that I want a coaching change, a change I heard all around the Gator Bowl today by disgruntled Wolverine fans.
I could take the low road that many Michigan fans have taken and really rip into coach Rich Rodriguez.
I could, but I will not.
I will not do that to a man that was asked to change Michigan into something it is not.
Michigan is Michigan, plain and simple.
The Michigan Regents, the Athletic Director, and the President should have done their homework and understood what they were trying to do.
They asked Rodriguez to come in and make Michigan a high powered spread offensive team like the Florida's, the LSU's, and the Boise State's of college football.
Michigan is Michigan.
As soon as they hired the man who invented the spread offense, the culture of Michigan Football was changed.
As soon as the culture was changed, players who didn't want to do the work, who didn't want to play in a spread offense, those players left, either for the NFL, or on a transfer.
Instead of a big, strong armed, NFL bound quarterback, Michigan got two QB's who had never set foot on a college field, even for practice.
Now, yes, I understand the defense was pathetic, and that the injuries are just a crutch, a reason to say, yeah, but...Troy Woolfolk got hurt, and so on, and so on.
And hey, Michigan couldn't even kick simple field goals.
The special teams were mediocre.
Yes, all of that is true.
What's even more true is the way in which so called fans of Michigan and the team railroaded and bad mouthed the coaches, Rodriguez in particular, from the start.
Fans have bad mouthed Rodriguez from day one, and the media have put the throttle down on his neck, never letting up for one minute.
The lack of support of a man who was doing what he was asked to do, to change the way Michigan plays football, has been just as embarrassing as the product was on the field, and yet no of them will be without a job come next week.
Fans get to hide behind their cell phones, on sports radio, or on social networking csites.
The don't have to face the men and women who work their back sides off each and every day, the one's giving their blood, their sweat, their tears, their lives, every single day, every single week, 24/7/365.
When tomorrow comes around, and the sun comes up, I'll still be a Michigan fan, I'll wear my Maize and Blue as faithfully as ever.
As 2011 begins anew, remember this...
...I will never, as a fan, ask for someone to be fired, I'll leave that to the so-called fans who find solace in other people's misery.
I never bad mouth a coach, or a player for doing their best, trying their hardest.
I am a Michigan fan, a Michigan man.
I love that football team, yes, my football team.
I supported Bo, and Coach Mo, I supported Coach Carr, and I support Coach Rodriguez.
I want my beloved Michigan to be winner again, and no, not just 7-6.
I want them to be Big Ten Champions again, I want them to win a National Championship.
Remember this, as you look back at the past few sentences...
...there is no I in TEAM...there is NO I...NO I...in TEAM
The TEAM, The TEAM, The TEAM
GO BLUE!
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