<p>Hoke and Mattison will bring in the right mind set. As rjkofnovi mentioned, even if it takes some time things will hopefully be headed in the right direction</p>
<p>
Now I can understand that you dislike Rich Rod. BUT to say that he is a really bad recruiter is really a big lie.
For the past 3 years Michigan has been ranked as a top 15 team in recruiting. Yes those years were under Rich Rod.
2008: Michigan was ranked #13 [Miami</a> claims top 2008 recruiting class - insider - ESPN](<a href=“LIVE Transfer Talk: Long-time target Dybala offered to Barcelona - ESPN”>Miami claims top 2008 recruiting class - ESPN)
2009: Michigan was ranked #10 [College</a> Football Class Rankings 2009 - ESPN](<a href=“http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/classrankings?classyear=2009&classmonth=3&rank=10&action=login&appRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fcollege-football%2Frecruiting%2Fclassrankings%3Fclassyear%3D2009%26classmonth%3D3%26rank%3D10]College”>http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/classrankings?classyear=2009&classmonth=3&rank=10&action=login&appRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fcollege-football%2Frecruiting%2Fclassrankings%3Fclassyear%3D2009%26classmonth%3D3%26rank%3D10)
2010: Michigan was ranked #14 [College</a> Football Class Rankings 2010 - ESPN](<a href=“http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/classrankings?classyear=2010&classmonth=2&rank=14&action=login&appRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fcollege-football%2Frecruiting%2Fclassrankings%3Fclassyear%3D2010%26classmonth%3D2%26rank%3D14]College”>http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/classrankings?classyear=2010&classmonth=2&rank=14&action=login&appRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fcollege-football%2Frecruiting%2Fclassrankings%3Fclassyear%3D2010%26classmonth%3D2%26rank%3D14)
I don’t know about you, but I think that those ranking show that Rich Rod was a pretty strong recruiter. He beat OSU last year in recruiting, Auburn and ND in 2009, and Ill. & Auburn in 2008. Heck, we were even ranked 23 for a period during this season ([College</a> Football Class Rankings 2011 - ESPN](<a href=“http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/classrankings?classyear=2011&classmonth=6&rank=23&viewmore=yes&action=login&appRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fcollege-football%2Frecruiting%2Fclassrankings%3Fclassyear%3D2011%26classmonth%3D6%26rank%3D23%26viewmore%3Dyes]College”>http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/classrankings?classyear=2011&classmonth=6&rank=23&viewmore=yes&action=login&appRedirect=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fcollege-football%2Frecruiting%2Fclassrankings%3Fclassyear%3D2011%26classmonth%3D6%26rank%3D23%26viewmore%3Dyes)). RR was able to get D. Hart. Yes, D. Hart left but that was because he believed Michigan was firing Rich Rod (No RR = No Hart hmmm). He got Kellen Jones, Brennan Beyer, Dallas Crawford, Jacob Fisher. Dallas Crawford and Jacob Fisher left. Why? Because RR left, revealing that RR was the factor in their recruitment. So to say RR was a bad recruit is really misleading. He was also able to get Matt Goudis, #5 kicker in the nation. Goudis left…because RR is not here anymore… Oh did I mention they were 4 stars. Yeah, they we’re just any recruits.</p>
<p>In many ways, I supported RR. Why? Because he was our coach. If I didn’t support him how was he going to do his job well? Hating on him, especially falsely criticizing him, doesn’t help the situation. I liked how RR was able to build up a power offense. But what really got my respect was his character. What he did off the field: Brock Mealer. His character shines with Brock’s amazing rehab.
I support Hoke and I will support all the coaches at Michigan, regardless of how they do. I will judge them fairly by looking at what they did successfully and what they can improve on. I don’t seek to criticize them to death and to the point that they can’t do their jobs.
<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18PB4DKHVDA&feature=related[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18PB4DKHVDA&feature=related</a></p>
<p>gunit, I did not say that RR was a" really bad recruiter", I said he did poorly as a recruiter…and I was referring to this year. But even then, I do not see how RR was a good recruiter when he could not fill his needs, unless having a defense ranked bottom in the nation was his intention. Do you realize that under RR, MSU has become the destination of choice for Michigan high school football stars? That’s right, the state’s most talented players now want to play for MSU, not Michigan. How can a good recruiter at a program like Michigan not at least secure his own state?</p>
<p>And his 8-16 record his first two seasons is unforgiveable. A good coach turns a program around in 1 season. Just ask Brian Kelly at ND (6-6 before he joined, 8-5 his first season) or Jimbo Fisher at FSU (7-6 before he joined, 10-4 his first season). Those two coaches did not have more talent to work with than RR did his first season. </p>
<p>And although I supported RR his first season, my first loyalty is to the program, not to the coach. Any coach who puts his personal style and prejudices above a program that is the richest in all of college sport is not worthy of respect. Hopefuly, Hoke can fix the mess RR left behind.</p>
<p>Alexandre I do not agree with you at all. What did RRod build himself on, offense. Why did we hire him, offense. What was he going to do? Go recruit D and not establish the thing that made him who he is? no, he was going to recruit offense. He was filling needs, you just can’t expect a bunch of true freshman to be amazing. To be fair he got the most important piece, the QB, his first year of recruiting.</p>
<p>And taking a team from 6-6 to 8-5 is no turn around, especially when all the players were in place, key parts were returning, and no real fundamental change was made.</p>
<p>RRod had *<em>**in Threet and Sheridan at his disposal. </em> is he gonna do year one with that?</p>
<p>MLDWoody, I disagree. A coach is hired to lead the team, not just build an offense. As we all saw, a solid offense with no defense cannot get far in the Big 10. Besides, even RR’s 2010 offense was not more explosive than Carr’s 2000, 2003 and 2006 offenses.</p>
<p>And why do you forget to mention Ryan Mallet? Do you honestly believe he would have left if RR had told him that he wanted him to stay? Look at Denard. He thought of leaving but Hoke made it clear that he was special and that he would have an important role to play at Michigan. </p>
<p>And the rest of the 2008 offense was by no means without talent. We have solid RBs in Brown, Minor and McGuffie, decent receivers in Matthews, Hemmingway, Stonum, Savoy and Odoms and as always, Michigan had a respectable OL with guys like Molk, Mosman, Ortmann and Schilling. </p>
<p>Heck, even on defense we had a very solid DL and DB. All we were missing were good LBs. </p>
<p>8-16 with that kind of talent is unacceptable MLD. This is above average Big 10 talent and, had they been properly coached, could have led Michigan to a 16-8 record easily.</p>
<p>Compared to past Michigan talent, that wasn’t much. Just naming players doesn’t make then talented.</p>
<p>I refuse to believe, as I’ve said before, that RROd came in and looked at Mallet and said “Hey, buddy, idc if you were the number 2 QB coming out of HS, I refuse to adapt to you and I comand you to transfer.” </p>
<p>That’s ********. RRod came in, told Mallet what he planned to do and Mallet decided he wanted to leave. You can’t force players to stay.</p>
<p>RRod isn’t a miracle worker. He got his offense in check and that was his first goal. This class was geared toward the D and Robinson probably would have been fired</p>
<p>Umm Mallett wasn’t driven out by RR. Rich Rod offered him to stay. Rich Rod told him what kind of offense he plays and offered him to stay, but RR knew that Mallett doesn’t fit in well. Mallett is a pocket quarterback. RR’s offense uses a running quarterback (hence why Robinson is really good at RR’s offense). Mallet chose to leave because he didn’t want to change. Both RR and Mallett recognized this. Had Mallett stayed, we would probably not be any better. Sure he can throw, but with RR offense, he wouldn’t perform as well as Robinson does. This would essentially make Robinson starter, and Mallett back up. Which would lead him to transfer (oops, that’s what he did, but just without becoming a backup).
ESPN has a little Myth Busting on this too:
[Myth</a> busting on Arkansas Razorback QB Ryan Mallett - ESPN](<a href=“LIVE Transfer Talk: Chelsea, Al Hilal eye swoop for Mbappe - ESPN”>Myth busting on Arkansas Razorback QB Ryan Mallett - ESPN)
I would also like to note that when RR took the job, our Michigan defense unfortunately was already deteriorating in the last years of Carr’s coaching career. It’s just that RR didn’t really improve the problem. You have to realize that every player that RR received when he became coach were trained to run Carr’s style of football. They all had to transition from pro to spread, something not every can do overnight. So that posed a challenge, Mallett leaving and having a weak starting quarterback really hurt. But look what Roundtree, Hemingway, Hopkins, Martin does. Our defense is young and that’s the problem. No other top teams uses the number of true freshmen as we do.</p>
<p>gunit, good coaches ADAPT to the players that they have. Rodriguez was unwilling to change his offense and forced Mallett out (or at least didn’t make an honest effort to retain him). </p>
<p>Hoke, on the other hand, realizes how special DRob is, even though he wouldn’t fit into a pro style offense. So he did everything in his power to keep DRob here, and it WORKED. That is what a good coach does. The evidence is in the results.</p>
<p>I still find it hard to believe RRod drove him out of town like you guys want to believe. I’m sure it was more Mallet than RRod</p>
<p>MLDWoody, what happened with Mallet was not far from what you suggested. RR told Mallett that he was going to implement the spread immediately and that he would most likely not be a good fit for his system. I am sure he did not tell him to leave, but Mallet got the hint. Had RR told him that he was going to run an offense that suited his style and played to his strength, Mallet would have stayed. There is no way Mallett would leave a program like Michigan and lose a year of eligibility if RR reassured him. That did not happen, Mallet left.</p>
<p>I did not realize you were there</p>
<p>I was not there MLDWoody, but I don’t see why Mallett would have left Michigan for a lesser program had RR reassured Mallett he would remain the starter for the next 2 years. </p>
<p>More likely, RR wanted to get rid of Mallett in order to attract Terrelle Pryor. Like I said, Hoke had no trouble retaining Denard, despite his strong preference for a pro-style offense. And let us be honest, there are litterally dozens of programs that wanted Denard. He finished 6th in the Heisman race. Mallett was not nearly as hot when he decided to leave. Why did Mallett leave?</p>
<p>Maybe it was just a difference in personality between Mallet and Denard. Maybe Mallet didn’t believe RRod or didn’t want to take the chance. It’s not like every player will do w/e a coach says and if they don’t stay it has to be the coaches fault.</p>
<p>That may be MLDWoody. I guess we’ll never know. Let us just hope Hoke enjoys better success at Michigan than RR.</p>
<p>Why isn’t Michigan pushing really hard for Jadeveon Clowney? With Mattison as our DC and Michigan’s need at DE and DT, you would expect a guy like Clowney, who could start immediately, to be tempted by such an offer. All of the other schools listed have very strong defenses. Michigan’s defense is arguably one of the bottom 10 in the nation. At the other schools, he would have to wait his turn, whereas at Michigan, he could become a star from day one.</p>
<p>[Rivals.com</a> Football Recruiting - Top prospect in no hurry to sign](<a href=“http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1178612]Rivals.com”>http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1178612)</p>