Writing the Pine

These days we’ve been reading a lot about the uncertainty of Michigan’s current coach, Rich Rodriguez. We hear all these rumors, such as yesterday’s ridiculous statement by Michael Wilbon in which he said RichRod is done at Michigan. The pending NCAA investigation, along with the recent news that no workout logs was published, has continued to add to that avalanche that is the firing of Rich Rodriguez. RichRod, after two years at the helm, is officially on the hot seat.

I going to say it right now, and will continue saying it: I believe in Coach Rodriguez.  I believe that sooner rather than later, he will turn this over, and we will go back to our Michigan ways, which is WINNING.

It’s funny how fickle and annoying the media and fans can be, because not too long ago Michigan was the darling of college football.  Tate Forcier was the hottest name in the game.  But now, Michigan’s world is coming to an end.  It also wasn’t long ago when a coach by the name of Lloyd Carr was also in the hot seat.  People were crying, “Michigan has become too predictable, Michigan isn’t winning enough championships, and Michigan isn’t flashy and lacked national appeal.”

It’s ironic how people still blame Lloyd today for the failure of the current program.  They keep saying the cupboard was bare; that Carr’s past recruiting classes were not up to par.  They want somebody to blame and they keep blaming the man they’re used to blaming.

For all those fans that love statistics, let me run you some to quench your thirst.  Lloyd never lost more than five games in a season at Michigan.  He never lost more than three Big Ten games in any single year.  He finished in the AP and Coach’s Top 25 12 out of 13 years.  He had a 77.9% winning percentage.  He never had even a snitch of an NCAA investigation and since 2002 (Rivals only goes back that far) he’s averaged the 11th best recruiting class in the nation.

The other day I was watching the 2004 Michigan vs Michigan State game, and was reminded of how good we had it.  The starting lineup on offense included Edwards, Avant, Breaston, Henne, Hart, Long, Bass. Read that again. There was also a defense that included the likes of Harris, Hall, Woods, Jackson, and Woodley.  Yeah, read that again also.

It’s unfair to judge Lloyd and not appreciate what he meant to Michigan. I think we took for granted one of the greatest college coaches of our generation. The class, dignity, and integrity he brought to Michigan strengthened the foundation of the program.  Coach Rodriguez doesn’t have to re-invent the wheel.  He doesn’t need to build a program.  The program that Bo built and Lloyd continued is in the core of every Michigan football player.  It’s also unfair to abandon Coach Rodriguez so quickly.  He installed a completely new scheme, and has had only two years to bring in “his” players.  We started a freshman quarterback all year long and we’re going through our lumps (just like USC).  We can’t just bring in a new coach with a new scheme when we’ve spent two going on three years recruiting players who fit Rodriguez’s scheme.  Last time we hired a new coach we lost a five-star QB who is now ripping SEC defenses apart.  Let’s calm our nerves for the moment and lay off of Coach Rodriguez.

Besides, things could be worse.  We could have Charlie Weis.