With Rod, We're Busts

This might not hit my target audience directly on the head, but I have watched my beloved Michigan Wolverines underperform and embarrass themselves for too long. Rich Rodriguez was a terrible hire. The program has sunk to new lows, and there is not an end in sight. There are several pathetic statistics that have surfaced in the Rich Rod era; some are firsts for a program with a storied history dating back to 1879.

-2008 season record of 3-9, the worst in school history.

-Failure to make a bowl game in 2008, the first such failure in 33 years.

-A 1-7 conference record in 2009 (2008 saw a 2-6 record), with the lone win being a 36-33 win over Indiana.

-0 wins in the two biggest games of the year: Ohio State and Michigan State (0-5 combined).

-3 separate 3-game streaks involving giving up 33 or more points (once each season). Prior to 2008, it had NEVER occurred.

-A current pass defense that ranks last in the Big 10 and 120th out of 120 FBS teams.

-Formal charges before an inquiry board involving serious rule infractions (first time in school history).

-Current Big 10 career record of 4-15 (Wins against Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana twice).

Not only are the above statistics appalling, but I have issues with his schemes. He runs the spread offense, which is based around speed. It's high octane and when it works, it's electrifying to watch. But it's such a gimmicky offense in the sense that it doesn't work if "it's rainy", or "windy", or "cold", or you don't have the right personnel. Denard Robinson is a star, don't get me wrong. But it's dangerous to base your whole scheme on one player, and as you see against MSU and Iowa, when that player doesn't have a good game or gets shut down, the offense doesn't score as much as it should. Which leads into my next point:

If you have a decent defense, not scoring isn't a major deal. Rich Rodriguez is an offensive genius, no doubt. But he doesn't know a damn thing about defense, and he set a scheme and forced his defensive coordinator to run said scheme without the proper players. By that token, if our offense doesn't score 45 points a game, we don't win.

It's obvious that against defenses that know what they're doing, Denard can be stopped. It's happened two weeks in a row. Thus, don't beat your head against a wall and leave him to the dogs, throw Forcier in. He opens defenses up with his arm, something that Denard is incapable of.

The special teams are another story entirely, an arguably more infuriating one than the defense. Kickoffs out of bounds, missed/blocked field goals, botched punt returns... the list goes on. Tony Gibson, the special teams coach, should have gone way before now.

The players are a direct reflection of the coach. All of the stupid mistakes and fundamental breakdowns are all coaching, and I don't care what Rich Rod fanboys say about it. It's a lack of focus, intensity, and discipline. There is no sense of urgency from Rich Rodriguez.

I'm going to compare Mark Dantonio to Rich Rodriguez around the time of the Michigan/Michigan State game each year:

Dantonio: Clock that counts down the months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes to kickoff. Awards gold pins to those players on a team that beat a Wolverines team. Upon beating said team, purchases a billboard congratulating his team on the win, and resets the clock. The whole season is predicated on beating Michigan.

Rodriguez: "We want to beat Michigan State. But that said, we want to beat Iowa, and Illinois, and Penn State, and UMass. We're out to beat whoever we're playing."

That shows me no intensity, and that Rich Rod doesn't understand the rivalry. The two red-letter games are MSU and OSU. You have to put a team together for those days, not whatever you've tossed on the field the past two years.

Bring on Jim Harbaugh, Dave Brandon. That guy knows what a rivalry is.