Jump to content

Official 2010-2011 NCAA Football Thread


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 4, 2011 -> 11:20 PM)
Arkansas player blew it by diving on the loose ball after the blocked punt. Should have been an easy TD.

 

Why the hell did he just stop??? He wasn't even touched by an Ohio State player. Did they not learn from earlier when Ohio State got that fumble recovery TD??

Edited by JPN366
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jan 4, 2011 -> 11:23 PM)
Why the hell did he just stop??? He wasn't even touched by an Ohio State player. Did they not learn from earlier when Ohio State got that fumble recovery TD??

In college you don't need to be touched by the opposition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't believe I haven't logged in since Dec 21! Here is some good info on the Michigan situation. Some of it may not be 100% correct, but I believe it to be true, at least in principle. Before I start, I drove 8 hours to see that debacle of a Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Actually, the 1st quarter was good, but the 2nd and 3rd were so bad we left at the beginning of the 4th. Moving on randomly....

 

1. Michigan is one of the most dysfunctional families one can imagine. Many of the problems with the Rodriguez hire was the fact Michigan was already splintered. There is a Bo camp and a Lloyd Carr loyal group. They don't always see eye to eye. This is why Les Miles was never offered the job. The Lloyd Carr faction didn't like him (apparently about a couple of issues when he was an assistant at UM). When an outsider was hired, Rodriguez had to fight both factions. Even though neither truly backed Rodriguez (he did win some over), they didn't agree on how to fix things either.

 

2. The Lloyd Carr group doesn't want Harbaugh either because of comments he made about UM academics about 4 years ago, while LC was still there. Apparently, that has been smoothed over and communicated to Harbaugh. Not exactly sure how (maybe promising Hoke as the backup option, maybe a LC hire or two as an assistant?) but that was one of the concerns Harbaugh had regarding the job.

 

3. Michigan's AD played at UM for Harbaugh's dad. There is a long term family connection. Apparently, AD Dave Brandon had a tacit agreement that if he fired Rodriguez, Harbaugh would come. Both agreed to let the season play out. When Stanford finished strong, the Orange Bowl delayed things and now that the NFL has come calling it has complicated things. Harbaugh has to decide whether to go back to his alma mater which is not a job that is open very often and he may never get another shot, or to scratch the itch that is the NFL and compete with his brother.

 

4. Despite what is being reported, Michigan is still in it for Harbaugh as of Tuesday night. He may not end up there, but it is still in play. Those in the know stated 3 days ago that things were going to get wild and rumors would fly from all directions, and that things could be one way today and change tomorrow. Unless it comes from Harbaugh directly or from AD Dave Brandon, I assume it is someone else that has their own agenda. That said, don't think I am stating Harbaugh will take the UM job. He could very easily go the NFL route.

 

5. Stanford is making a strong push. They are pulling on the heartstrings, the fact that his wife is a west coaster and that his kids from marriage #1 live on the west coast. I heard they are offering a longer term deal as opposed to huge dollars (maybe 10 years) but have not confirmed.

 

6. Fallbacks seem to be Brady Hoke, Les Miles and Pat Fitzgerald. I had not heard Miles or Fitzgerald mentioned until today. It makes me wonder if he is second guessing Hoke as plan B due to fan/alumni outcry (I think it is more than indifference). Personally, I would not have a problem whatsoever with Fitzgerald, I'm just not sure they will go outside the "family". Not sure Fitzgerald would leave his alma mater, but he's an interesting thought anyway.

 

Back to Rodriguez....

The Bad

 

1. He didn't have full support from day 1. To the point of damned near internal sabotage.

2. That said, he created a lot of his own problems. He came in saying he could adapt his offense to any personnel/QB. Mallet didn't believe it and left. He was stuck with Steve Threat who wasn't ready and was more of a drop back passer. He then uses Threat in the offense still heavy with read option principles. When asked, he said he had to run what he knew, which seemed to contradict the "I can adapt" mantra when he first came in.

3. He was too loyal to his assistants. He asked his DC's to run the D his coaches were comfortable enough, putting two DC's in a position where they were being undermined by the assistants with their own agenda.

4. He didn't pay enough attention to the defense and allowed some major errors in talent eval happen which resulted in older guys playing terribly with younger guys sitting the bench. Perfect example was Obi Ezeh starting at MLB where he got worse each year and sitting Kenny Demens. Demens became their best LB after 3-4 games once Rodriguez forced Greg Robinson to make the change. There were a couple of young players that have switched positions 2-3 times in a year or two that doesn't make any sense other than it seems they were grabbing at straws trying to figure out how to make it work.

5. Rodriguez spent so much time on the offense that he basically used our defense as practice for the offense instead of focusing on it.

 

The Good

1. From all accounts, Rodriguez was a good coach that made bad decisions, and was too loyal to assistants when he should have made changes or given more control to his DC.

2. The players, recruits and their families liked him. He was a stand up guy and was liked by most of the people that dealt with him directly. Unfortunately, he didn't win enough and while they improved in some areas, got worse in others. Defense and special teams were both horrible.

3. Recruits and their parents described him as genuine and caring and not feeding them bull like they got on other recruiting visits. He never promised playing time, only an opportunity to compete. The "family" atmosphere seemed real. That said, the defensive issues and discord with the coaching staff wore on the players, likely largely responsible for their fade in all three seasons. His teams got worse, not better.

 

Unfortunately, Michigan is broken and Roidriguez couldn't fix it. He didn't win enough to make the politics fade into the background. Until recently, I really thought they were close to turning the corner. But after more thought and evaluation (and not helped by watching a 52-14 thumping in person which was completely embarassing) I just don't see keeping him as an option at all. I can't see a scenario where keeping him would be passable even with wholesale changes and a new approach. I do believe he'll have success somewhere else. It just won't be in Ann Arbor.

 

Sorry for the length.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I've said before, I can't really see why a big-time program would be interested in Fitzgerald at this point in his career. His record is 33-29 and his best season so far is 9-4. While that's pretty good for NU, that gets you fired somewhere like Michigan. That's on top of the fact that I get the impression that he would prefer long-term stability like he has right now over going for the big bucks and prestige at a bigger program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 5, 2011 -> 01:04 PM)
I honestly think they gave up too soon on RichRod. He had a ridiculously young defense and an offense just starting to get the system.

 

I agree..

 

He was bringing in an entirely new system with entirely new players, and they were showing the improvment.. now they are most likely going to bring in someone who needs to wipe out the current roster/system and in three years they will be in the same situation again..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem with Rodriguez was that the fans didn't realize how hard the transition was going to be. Switching to his system with those players (and QBs mostly), that team was never going to make a bowl. Rodriguez was fighting an uphill battle from the start because of that. At least the team was showing improvement, but at the same time I think the bowl game made the decision easy. If you're 30+ points behind Mississippi State, I can't imagine Michigan was going to contend for the Big Ten or anything close in year four.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jan 6, 2011 -> 03:30 PM)
Because it's a huge risk. Nothing to gain.

 

Also see Locker, Jake.

Actually, this year's different. What happens if he comes out and there's a 6 month lockout? He doesn't practice or have access to training facilities until the lockout ends, then there's another month before he signs a contract...and there's no guarantee that there will even be a season next year.

 

He could quite literally get more practice and playing time in the NCAA next year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jan 6, 2011 -> 12:30 PM)
Because it's a huge risk. Nothing to gain.

 

Also see Locker, Jake.

Locker was told by the NFL he wouldn't be a first round pick. That is why he didn't go pro.

 

A better example is Matt Leinart. Idiotic decision by Luck though. Take the money and run.

 

Great for Stanford though. Does this mean Harbaugh is staying another year?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jan 6, 2011 -> 12:41 PM)
Luck knows what happened with Locker and still wants to stay. Can't feel bad for him, he wants to come back.

The only people thinking Locker was a first round talent was McShay and the scouts went out and have continuosly ripped McShay for how much his ratings can differ from the ratings of NFL execs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...