<p>It seems many analysts are expecting Dave Brandon to announce Rich Rod's dismissal on Monday. I personally said it before and I will say it again, 7 wins will not be enough to save his job unless one of those wins is against OSU. A loss to OSU should end the Rich Rod era at Michigan. Too bad. I think he has great potential, but he is very inflexible, and Michigan requires a coach to adjust to its expectations and Big 10 style of play. </p>
<p>Any guesses on who will replace RR? My guess is Harbaugh. He can coach, he can motivate, he has integrity and most of all, he is a Michigan man.</p>
<p>I hope so… but why do you assume Harbaugh will leave Stanford and come here?</p>
<p>By the way, I had a dream yesterday that we were crushing OSU 45-3 and our defense was dominating… there was a great goal line play. Wouldn’t that be nice? :)</p>
<p>pancakes, that’s unlikely, even in a dream! LOL!</p>
<p>At any rate, Harbaugh will take the job if it is offered to him. The Michigan football program is one of the top 5 in college football. It would be a step up. Besides, he is a Wolverine deep inside. Michigan will buy out his contract.</p>
<p>giants- 1. Why would Harbaugh come to Michigan? He’s got a pretty good gig going at Stanford and a much better team. 2. Where would Denard go? It’s not like he’s ever gonna be an NFL quarterback and even if he were he’s only a soph so he couldn’t leave anyways.</p>
<p>Jim Harbaugh’s contract ends this year at Stanford. Stanford is having trouble selling out football games and they want to reduce his salary, if anything. This paves the way for Michigan to come offer him a contract. He would most likely use Denard in another position IF he doesn’t work well in his new offense. His offense is similar to the spread but it needs a solid passer. Devin Gardner would most likely be the guy down the road.</p>
<p>I know that Harbaugh is a “Michigan Man” but when your looking at the options of the #5 or 6 team in the country in California or a 7-5 team in Michigan with no defense, you might just stay at Stanford. And the proposition of moving Robinson to another position is preposterous. He was one of the top 5 quarterbacks in the country this year in terms of overall production and moving him to another position would significantly lower his running production. But all that said, Harbaugh’s offense is nowhere remotely close to the spread and it wouldn’t work at Michigan until he got 2-3 of his recruiting classes in. It’s power football, Wisconsin type. Not where you want Robinson, but you can’t take him out. This is all not even an issue if RRod isn’t fired and I don’t think he will be so whatever.</p>
<p>jkaufman, Stanford has a top 10 team in 2010, but will not likely maintain this lofty ranking for long. Michigan has been weak over the last three years, but has been ranked among the top 10 most years between 1970 and 2007. In other words, Michigan is a football powerhouse with a tradition matched only by another handful of programs around the nation whereas Stanford is not. </p>
<p>And although Stanford is in California, one does not live in ALL of Calfornia. Jim Harbaugh lives in Palo Alto and would move to Ann Arbor. Those are two great college towns in their own right, let us leave it at that.</p>
<p>Finally, if OSU beats Michigan handilly tomorrow (by more than 10 points) and the Michigan AD has reached an agreement with Harbaugh, RR is out. With Harbaugh in, Denard will compete with the other two QBs for the starting job. Denard works well in RR’s system, but it remains to be seen if he can function in a pro-style offense. I think Tate would work better in such a system.</p>
<p>The problem with RR is not his coaching ability, it is his style of coaching. It does not work in the Big 10. He uses a gimmick offense that relies entirely on a star QB and a 3-3-5 defense and runs the program like a business. The Big 10 requires a coach who knows how uses a pro-style offense with a 3-4-4 or 4-3-4 defense and runs the program like a family.</p>
<p>Bottom line, whether it happens now or next year, I don’t think RR will survive at Michigan. But I could be wrong. He could return Michigan to its usual standards; a Big 10 title every other year and an average of 10 wins per season. Anything less than that is, simply put, below par at Michigan.</p>
<p>How does RRod’s “gimicky” scheme not work in the Big Ten? We have the second best offense in the Big Ten and one of the top in the nation. Do people realize the main reason Forcier and especially Robinson are getting this kind of production is because of RRod and his scheme?</p>
<p>I do not blame RRod for the defense. This is another situation where I believe people do not realize how little we had to work with on D. If you want to fire anyone make it Greg Robinson.</p>
<p>Harbaugh isn’t going to come in and then all of a sudden we’ll have the mythical Big Ten power run team that plays amazing defense. We’ll go through another two years or so of Harbaugh using the players built for another scheme as he tries to recruit the players he wants. I think it make more sense to keep RRod another year and see how the spread and the team develop under him instead of trying to cut it off short and not seeing its full potential</p>
<p>But if Harbaugh comes in, the defense will be better. Coaches can make that much of a difference. And Rich Rod picks his coaches, so I don’t see how it couldn’t be his fault. the 3-3-5 scheme we are implementing does not work against good teams. He forced Greg Robinson to use the 3-3-5. He needs to run the 4-3 traditional defense.</p>
<p>Lack of recruiting is also an issue. Rrod is more focused on offense than defense.</p>
<p>Alexandre- although I appreciate your contributions to this board, I think you’re a little too much of a football homer. The Pac-10 is weak as hell, aka a football coaches heaven. Stanford will be in the BCS this year and if they’d have beaten Oregon they’d be in the championship. There is no way Michigan is relevant for at least 2-3 more years, probably longer. Add that to the fact that the Big Ten is adding Nebraska (good for the conference, not for Michigan), and the Pac-10 is adding Colorado (in disarray), and yes, you can expect Stanford to be a top ten team for a few more years. After that, it’s a crapshoot for anyone in the country, including Michigan.
It’s an NCAA violation for Michigan to have a deal with Harbaugh going into this game.
I’ll give you the defense, it sucks, the 3 3 5 sucks, everything sucks, but the offense is rolling. There’s nothing gimicky about the spread.
I don’t think it matters though, they’ll give RRod another year. It’s only his third so they’ll give him a year with his own recruits and see how he does before canning him.</p>
<p>I agree with jkaufman. You have to give him another year.</p>
<p>I also do not believe RRods coaching caused Martin to be hurt most of the year, and to have us start true freshman in the secondary do to injuries, transfers, leaving early for the NFL draft, and recruits getting turned away for academics.</p>
<p>Ehhh… There have been many instances where I see him trying to do something that I know will fail (decisions to punt or kick vs. go for it, give it to Denard vs. a RB, etc.), while the alternative would provided for a better opportunity for success. This happens with RR far more so than it did with previous Michigan or NYG coaches (i.e. coaches of teams which I follow closely and consistently watch games). I like having a coach that knows the game of football better than I do.</p>
<p>I think we have to think about another factor here: the high school recruits.
Michigan is lucky to have the #1 running back in the country (yes, #1 in Rivals.com ranking). [maizeandgoblue</a> Dee Hart](<a href=“http://maizeandgoblue.com/?tag=dee-hart]maizeandgoblue”>http://maizeandgoblue.com/?tag=dee-hart)
We also have some amazing defensive recruits ([maizeandgoblue</a> Recruiting (Football)](<a href=“http://maizeandgoblue.com/?page_id=28]maizeandgoblue”>http://maizeandgoblue.com/?page_id=28)). All of which could possibly commit else where if it goes bad. Now I’m not defending RR because I think he has made some bad judgment but I think he has done a great job with the offense, something that is completely opposite on defense and special teams. I am afraid that if he gets the boot then the newly hire coach, whether it be Harbaugh or someone else (maybe Les Miles?), might not keep our amazing players (Denard, and the new recruits). Our offense can be so much more explosive next year if we have both Dee Hart and Denard on the field at the same time. Hopefully, we do gets some changes, but we do it right this time. Last time we changed, Ryan Mallett, who was pretty good, left because of RR and caused us to be short on a good Quarterback.</p>
<p>cdz, although Dee Hart is a very good recruit, he is not, at this stage anyway, the type of RB that is going to complement DR in the backfield or make a significant difference to a program. He is a **** star recruit, not a ***** recruit. Michigan needs a 210 LBS bruising back that can plow through large DLs and carry the ball more than 25 times per game. The fact is, our recruiting class is not looking great and we are losing in-state recruiters to MSU at an alarming rate. Rivals currently ranks our class #27 in the nation. Traditionally, Michigan always recruits top 10 recruitment classes.</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t think RR’s brand of defense can produce results in the Big 10 and he is not the type of coach that adjusts well to conference requirements.</p>
<p>Some here do not realize how much difference a coach can make. Take a look at the French national Soccer team. For most of 2009 and until July of 2010, they couldn’t beat anybody. France’s performance in South Africa was disgraceful. A new coach was brought in as of August, and with the same players, France has won 5 of the last 6 games, including a win over England in Wembley stadium. </p>
<p>A coach brings a new energy, a new confidence and a new strategy, all of which reap immediate dividends. I personally think RR has become a negative factor that our players and coaches do not react well to. He does not motivate well and does not inspire loyalty. Players are deffecting at an alarming rate. None of those can be blamed on coordinators.</p>
<p>Why is there tak of us needing a “bruising runningback?” How can anyone complain when they see our offense? I think RRod has done a damn good job on offense and to criticize the team in that respect of the game is ridiculous. </p>
<p>As for the defense, it is absolutely awful, there is no arguing that. Its been said many times though that we don’t exactly have the top guys to work with. Not because of recruiting but because of other factors. </p>
<p>Getting a new coach now means another few years of growing/changing pains. I see keep RRod and keep the spread. Give it another year. Its scary to think our offense will be better and our D can only get better.</p>
<p>With USC “on the ropes” for the next couple of years, the only other team Stanford has to worry about is Oregon. Recruits are going to be salivating to play at Stanford. Harbaugh is not only staying at Stanford, he’ll soon be getting a nice raise…</p>