<p>UCB, it doesn’t take much to win at Michigan. The program will always have talent. All it takes to win is a respect for Michigan tradition and an understanding Big 10 football. Rich Rod has ignored both and refuses to adapt. There are four clear signs of this:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>He committed the first cardinal sin the moment he arrived on campus; he broke up the Michigan family. He lost the respect of the university and the state and abandoned one of Michigan’s defining features. </p></li>
<li><p>His insistance on adhering to a one-dimenssional offense in a conference which prides itself on Defense. Yes, Denard is awesome. I would love to see him play in an offense that has a reliable, 25-carries-per-game, 5-yards-per-carry bruising back at his side. But Rich Rod has not recruited such a RB, and without it, a team cannot consistantly win in the Big 10. Virtually every Big 10 team has a solid DL and NFL-worthy LBs. A single threat in the Backfiled will not be effective…or stay healthy for long.</p></li>
<li><p>His installing a 3-3-5 defense in a rush-happy, “big ugly”, wet/snowy conference. That may work in some conferences, but in the Big 10, the 1,600 LBS of OL pushing hard for a 230 LBS bruising RB with the constant threat of a NFL-style drop-back passer in the background calls for a 4-3-4 or 3-4-4 defense. The 3-3-5 simply soes not work and Rich Rod will NEVER give it up.</p></li>
<li><p>He does not understand the rivalry between Michigan and OSU or even MSU. A head coach at a storied program must respect the rivalries. Alabama’s head coach will make Auburn his priority. Texas’ head coach will make Oklahome his priority. OSU’s head coach will make Michigan his priority. Rich Rod does not get that. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>The problems with Michigan are easily fixed. The right coach will need just 2 seasons to bring Michigan back to its pre-2008 days. Of course, Harbaugh is mere speculation. I am sure the Athletics Director at Michigan has a list of good coaches and Harbaugh may or may not be at the top of that list. We will know soon enough.</p>