U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[Fraquar]

Right now you can set back the program even farther if you keep him and he muddles to a 7-5 record next year, not enough to fire him but thoroughly mediocre. People were looking at Rodriguez to be some coach to take the team to the next level from what Carr got them to. There is nothing in his Michigan tenure to suggest that he is that type of guy, he needs an absolute 180 degree turnaround to get to the level that Carr was at. And really there wasn't that evidence at WVU either. He had some high profile wins, but his record in low scoring smash mouth games was very bad. Those are the type of games you need be be really good to beat OSU.

2 years in Rodriguez is about as good as Matt Miilen was in his tenure with the Lions. The Lions set themselves back really badly the last 3 years when they kept Marinelli.

Those same people would be idiots too if they thought he was gonna be able to blow up the entire system and rebuild it in 1 season too.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't want him because of that - you shouldn't have to blow up a program like Michigan to get to the next level, they have access to most of the best players in the country for pete's sake.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Yes and no, on the best players in the country bit, Fraq.

UMich has generally had one of the better recruiting classes (say top 15), but they were consistently behind other big time programs like USC, OSU, Notre Dame, etc.

[Rocky Bleier]

And those stellar recruiting rankings from 2005-2007 were misleading. Plenty of players from those three years didn't pan out.

[froot loops]

Even if you blow up a system you should be still be competing in year 1 if your coach is a good coach. It would have been unrealistic to expect to top Carr in the first couple of years, you should have some growing pains but nothing like this.

As Lion fans we should be able to spot these systems zealots out. Whenever a coach starts talking about taking time to get the right players to play his system, red flags should immediately go up. Coaches have to be adaptable. I've mentioned this before, but I work with a high school team and we run the spread sometimes and sometimes we run a pro set offense. It all depends on the players you have at the time. You would think that this spread option offense is some kind of complex scheme to run, it isn't. Option offenses are by design fairly simple, the only thing evolutionary is that they run it out of a gun and they will pass a lot more than a conventional option attack.

One thing I never understood about the Rodriguez hire is the conventional wisdom why he was going to succeed really well at Michigan. I heard more than a few people say, " Look at what he did at West Virginia, think of what he will do at Michigan." Michigan generally has had very good skill positions buttressed by huge, talented offenisve lineman. Michigan's great advantage is these offensive lineman, turning their line into a line of quick agile lineman is taking away that advantage.

And this is just talking about the offense, it seems like defense is an afterthought.

[Rocky Bleier]

Whoever hit this girl is a first ballot cinch for the Idiot Hall of Fame. She's dateless?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/extramustard/11/23/cheerleader-of-the-week/index.html

[Fraquar]

Yes and no, on the best players in the country bit, Fraq.

UMich has generally had one of the better recruiting classes (say top 15), but they were consistently behind other big time programs like USC, OSU, Notre Dame, etc.

Because they weren't winning. Remember, before sweater-vest got OSU back on track they didn't have any more access to the elite prospects than Michigan did.

My whole point is it shouldn't be that hard to win with what they already had access to - and once you start winning then the elite prospects find you as much as you find them.

Didn't have to blow up a team with the tradition of Michigan and basically run it into the ground - he could have accepted what he had and made a transition instead. He chose to blow it up.

[Rocky Bleier]

Good News. Cullen Christian has committed to the Wolverines. He is considered one of the best DBs in the country. Now we need RichRod will relieve Tony Gibson of his coaching duties.

[WingsFan]

One really good thing about picking up some highly rated DBs is that the CB is a position where a freshman coming in can help immediately, sometimes.

[froot loops]

OSU under Cooper still had better recruiting classes, they were regularly sending high draft picks to the NFL. Cooper kept on choking versus Michigan, but I think his recruiting classes were better than Michigan's classes.

[WingsFan]

Definitely, 'Little Game John' could recruit.

[Ted]

Recruiting them is one thing. Coaching them is another. Ask Notre Dame fans.

[Ted]

I thought I heard on Jim Rome this morning the U-M president left the the door open on the decision on wether or not to retain RichRod. Anyone else hear anything like this?

[SeattleLionsFan]

No. That is wrong. Coleman has affirmed her support for RichRod.

[jaadam4]

Whoever hit this girl is a first ballot cinch for the Idiot Hall of Fame. She's dateless?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...eek/index.html

I doubt she's dateless but one thing on there that was f'ing hilarious..

Three things I'd take to a desert island are: World map, a motor boat and steroids (does that count?)

Steroids!?!?! Hahahahahahah!!!

[WingsFan]

Look at those abs, I guess that why she needs the steroids.

http://www.bustedcoverage.com/?p=22767