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Special Report: DPS Oversight Committee may be in violation of state law
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About Campus: The law student "party" house behind West Quad
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Prof. once denied meeting with MSA execs about DPS Oversight Committee, airs issues at meeting
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Printmaker Takeshi Takahara: mixing metal and acid to make beauty
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Lila Kalick: Hippie hash, spunky clientele and greasy spooning at Fleetwood Diner
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Men's Basketball
Comments
the coaching team is the main reason to be blamed. They have not got used to Big10 system.
I can't believe how some of you out there want to blame the coach for everything. I can name a few players who have screwed up during this losing streak. First Donovan Warren, does anyone know why he is staying that far off the line? It doesn't take a genious to figure that he is giving up that much yardage. Tate is becoming to perdictable, I think it is time to change it up. How many times do we have to watch Greg Matthews drop the ball on a punt? As for R.R. he can only coach, he can't play. As for the Illinois game, you had to figure that sooner or later Illinois was going to pull it together. Unfortunatly it had to come at Michigan's expense. Think about this if Rich Rod goes, do you think Tate will stay? I don't, I think we will be back at square one next year if that happens.
Isn't it the COACHES responsibility to watch the game film and watch the players in practice to CORRECT mistakes the players make?? If a player is consistently making the same bad decision -- maybe no one (ie the coach) pointed it out to him????
You have only had to watch Greg Mathews drop a punt once. Other than that he has been solid, and needs to be utilized more. Tate, has looked more pedestrian in the last few games, but I think the loss of Molk on the O-line has definately had a huge affect on this team. Moosman is a decent center replacement, but you definately see the offense click when Molk is in and Moosman can move back to his more natural position. When the o-line plays well, the running game looks much better and eases things up for Tate. As for Donovan, he was attacked many times in the Iowa game, and he consistently shut down that side of the field. He is another in the long line of great corners for Michigan football. The issue for the last decade (since Marcus Ray) is that we don't have a strong corner duo, leaving one side susceptible to big plays.
Coaching is definately not the entire reason, and by no means do I want Michigan to turn into a coaching merri-go-round ala Notre Dame, but coaching still has to take the majority of a blame in a loss. When a team wins, its the kids, when a team loses its the coach. Its a crappy reality that can only be softened by a 2.5 mil/year salary.
No one is blaming the coach for EVERYTHING but he is the leader and gets the final say so the progress of the team is on his shoulders. He also gets the final say on recruits, practice plans and game plans. You say Tate Forcier is too predictable. Who do you think is calling the plays?
Mr. Rodriguez will be here next year. Martin has bailed and that bought Rodriguez some time.
You're right it will take at least another 3 yr cycle assuming the new AD hires a good coach. The elite coaches will shy away from a program in such turmoil so we'll have to find another midlevel rising star like a Schemblecher.
Hey! Toledo is not in the cellar this year.
Yes, fair enough. Toledo has improved.
Dear Folks
I have watched Blue for the last Fifty Years - the worst exibit has been the last two years -
The Coach is in this for himself / he's acting selfish on the sidelines he's yelling too much and he is is embarresing - he is no longer Rich Rod, he now is Poor Rod - no longer Go Blue - it's Code Blue.
Gone Blue -
This past Saturday against Illinois should have been won by Blue -
Sad but true - the Coach blew it -
Honest
'Anonymous',
Thanks for the support, your opinion will definitely make a difference here. I've got a terrific idea for you, maybe you should give RR another year, and see what he can do the next time around, with a more experienced offense and defense, even with the loss of three good defenders.
But Donovan Warren?! He is hardly a leader on the defense; I seem to recall seeing #6 getting beat on plenty of plays this year, committing penalties, not looking up for the ball, and giving 10+ yard cushions to wide receivers. It isn't difficult to get three interceptions and 10 knock-downs when the offense looks to throw it toward you every time. The defensive backs have been the biggest downfall of the defense, so he can hardly be a viable ring-leader.
RR is egotistical, ignorant and unethical. Now are these good qualities for a coach? Mary Sue endorsing RR? She has no choice, she and the retiring AD used machiavellian tactics to get him here, with that kind of behavior they have to support the coach.
Yeah, there was a time not long ago that Michigan had a realistic chance to win every game. But, when they didn't win every game fans like you wanted Lloyd Carr's head on a platter. Well, you got your wish. And although I would have probably taken your approach instead of RichRod's you need to give him more of a chance.
You are clearly mistaken in your assumption. As an alumnus I was satisfied with a clean program, an improving graduation rate and an upset of Ohio State once in a while. What I'm not satisfied with is a coach with no personal integrity who blames everyone but himself for the problems he has caused and has no answer except to say everyone must work harder. I guess that means they weren't working hard last week.
Why do we need to give him more of a chance? What evidence is there that that will help?
Dear "Anonymous":
Everything you said is true. And none of it needed to be said.
First of all, one has to ask why the University President has to 'support' the football coach. Ironically, in sports, these 'votes of confidence' often precede a termination.
Mr. Rodriguez had two choices when he came to the University of Michigan. Work with the talent at hand and gradually convert the offensive scheme from pro-set to spread. Presumably, most of the talent would have stayed. But he chose to 'blow up the program' and start from scratch. It takes a pretty big ego to do that at one college football's most successful programs. It was his choice to make but when you take that approach you had better be successful. Now that the second season is winding down Mr. Rodriguez would have us be 'more patient'. Patient for what? The performance is getting worse. Next year's defense will be without it's three best players.
Here's a sobering thought -- 2 of Michigan's 3 remaining opponents BEAT Illinois by a combined score of 54 to 14.
Finally, I fear that this year's OSU game will be a disaster. OSU may have stumbled a bit but they are still a team loaded with talent, well coached and play as a team. My guess is that Tressel will have a hard time keeping a straight face by the middle of the 2nd quarter..
There was a time not long ago when Michigan had a realistic chance to win every game it played. That is completely gone. We have no chance against the elite teams of the Big Ten (currently a weak conference) and struggle with teams like cellar-dwellers Toledo and Illinois.
I agree with most of what you stated. There was a great article in the Detroit News this past week on the dismantling of the the M-Football program by RR. The basic premise of the article is what was there to rebuild when the program was successful before he got here. I am concerned about the 3-year "endorsement" that Coleman and AD has given RR, especially when RR's contract is for 6 years. I have not found any specific "performance" clauses in the contract that allows the U to break the contract without having to pay the remaining 3 years (assuming RR is gone after 2010).
As an alumnus, I do not want to continue to pay RR for single-handedly breaking the tradition and reputations of our football program now or after his 3-year trail-and-error period.
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On having a choice to start from scratch or make due with what the team had at the start of his tenure, I have a hard time believing that Martin would give him that flexibility when the team went 9-3 in 2007. If so, Martin has to be held accountable for the demise of the football program. The true rebuild will be in the hands of the next head coach and since we will definitely be rebuilding, an NCAA violations confirmation to the RR practice allegations sounds very attractive; as long as RR gets his.
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