It's been a turbulent few months for the Maize and Blue faithful, but this fan has high hopes.
Granted, we have to face an Ohio State team that seems poised to not only make their third straight National Championship game, but to finally win one. We also have to replace senior leaders on offense and defense, and the quarterback position is bad enough to drive fans to drinking.
Enter Rich Rodriguez. Yes, the snake-oil salesman that has taken the Big Ten and turned it against him by "poaching" other school commits. (Note: Jim Tressel would never, ever, EVER do something like that.)
When he first arrived, I, like many other fans, was skeptical. Could he be the guy to turn things around and bring a fresh change to how we gameplan? Could he not only maintain the strong recruiting history but build upon and improve it?
Well, the first question will be answered in the fall, but the second question is resounding "YES!" Generally, most schools' recruiting classes tend to suffer when a coaching change happens. Michigan's did not. Not only did RR manage to hold together the class that Lloyd Carr put together, but he actually built upon it and added to it.
He's also off to a tremendous start for the Class of 2009, netting three top 70 players, although those rankings will likely plummet because that's what happens when guys even show interest in Michigan.
Today's Must Reads
Coach RichRod also has several other top 250 guys on tap and could have a potential Leak/Tebow combo on his hands if he can add QB Tate Forcier with recent commit Kevin Newsome. RichRod also has a few under the radar guys who are looking to be 4* backs in Fitzgerald Toussaint and Tetric (pronounced "Tetris"; yeah this guy is a favorite of mine already) Jones. Speed, speed, speed is what RichRod is all about and it's about time someone at Michigan went that way.
As far as guys quitting the team goes, I say great. Since he's the most famous case of a player leaving under the new regime, I'll go with Justin Boren as my example. Boren cited deteriorating family values as his reason for leaving. However, like fellow lineman Alex Mitchell, Boren couldn't cut it in new S&C coach Mike Barwis' routine. Barwis does not accept butterballs and Boren and Mitchell undoubtedly couldn't cut it. That's fine, just don't bash the program on your way out if you can't cut it.
Back to Barwis; the guy is a machine. Seriously. He makes anyone that follows the program sound like school children. A certain fan would call it "EEEEEEEEE BARWIS!" syndrome. Simply put: he's the man who is going to turn this team into machines for four straight quarters. No more wearing down. This alone has me excited for guys like Tim Jamison and Brandon Graham, who could become the best DE tandem in the nation. Watch out Big Ten linemen.
So while things might not be wonderful at the moment, we're not the same old Michigan. We're on the upswing. Speedy, talented recruits are coming in and out of shape players are being whipped into lean, mean, Barwis machines.
There is always the potential to disappoint and end up 6-6 this coming season, but I think that 9-3 or higher is more likely. Honestly, this reeks of OSU in 2002. We could run the table if other teams aren't careful. But again, 9-3 is the bench mark for this year.
After that, RichRod will have his recruits in the system (watch out honest recruiters of the Big Ten, the snake-oil salesman is coming for your recruits!) and will be able to execute the spread offense more to his liking. Then the fun begins.
So watch out Big Ten. These aren't your grandfather's Wolverines.
comments (5) write a comment »
write a new comment
4 months ago
GO BLUE, great recruiting class, and next years looks like it has a lot of promise this early in teh process. As for Boren, if you dont want to work hard then you should not be on the team in the first place and if you think Tressel is going to let you slack off at that school to teh south then you can have a seat on the bench. Its always hard to replace talent like Henne Hart Long Crable Manningham Adams Grant and Arrington, but RR if off to a good start. Maybe not this year but soon Michigan will be back atop the Big Ten where it Belongs.
NOV 22 the blood will flow in Columbus
4 months ago
As an Ohio State fan who doesn't follow the Michigan recruiting process very much I will have to take your word as to how well Rodriguez is doing. I hope you are right and not just a fan with extremely high hopes.
Looking at their schedule next year, there is a chance that Michigan will end up 9-3, but I have a hard time seeing them winning more than 8 games. I think they will have their hands full with Wisconsin and Ohio State. I think they can come away with only one loss against Notre Dame, Illinois, and Penn State but I don't see them being consistent enough throughout the whole year to go 9-3, too many changes and young players.
As for Boren, I am not too sure what his deal is. I think that Michigan fans are rightfully bitter about him leaving to go to Ohio State and I think that Ohio State fans (like myself) are unsure what to think. Normally I would be happy to get an All-Big Ten lineman transfer and even more so be happy that Michigan lost an All-Big Ten lineman but with the talent OSU has on the o-line already and the lack of unproven talent Michgan has, I wish things would have worked out for him at Michigan. I want the OSU-Michigan game to determine the Big-Ten Champion every year, unfortunetly I don't think that will be the case this year.
from 4 months ago
You don't have to take my word on the recruiting. Check up with Scout, Rivals, etc and the proof is all right there (except for Toussaint, Bell and Jones as they seem to be under the radar guys who should be 4*'s when it's said and done).
As for next season, the only games that "worry" me are Illinois, OSU and Wisconsin. If the offense takes to RichRod's liking and we get some luck, we could very well be unbeaten heading into the OSU game. Again, extreme optimism, but not that unlikely as OSU is the only truly strong team in the Big Ten this year.
As far as Boren goes, he was an OSU lifer until Carr talked him into Michigan with a "family" atmosphere. He's simply using RichRod as a cop out for the fact that he and several other powder-puff linemen haven't been able to hack Barwis' regimen.
Overall, I don't think the rivalry will fade. You guys should beat us this year, but I don't expect a blowout. If not this year, next year should be really interesting between the loss of all of your seniors and the influx of speed and talent from RichRod.
4 months ago
To be honest with you, I follow Ohio State recruiting but I don't care to look at what RichRod is doing. Half of the players he recruits anyway are going to be transformed into a different player than they were in high school just to fit into his system. I hope there isn't a sense of desperation and RichRod and he starts taking his best DB with the most athletic talent and stick him in the backfield. He is going to have to rebuild and recruit by position, not by athletic ability.
I don't think Illinois is going to be very stong this year. Without a stong running back, their read option is going to turn into a bunch of draw's that are not effective or it will turn into Juice Williams taking too many hits and getting hurt.
There is no way the rivalry will fade and I hope you are right and Michgan quickly is able to adapt to basically a whole new program because I don't see Ohio State losing a step even after this year.
from 4 months ago
I'm pretty much on the same footing. I follow what UM does, but not so much anyone else unless it's a headline. As for RichRod, he hasn't been doing a whole lot of position switching on guys, however he seems to be recruiting towards one thing at least offensively: speed. He wants a ton of speedy backs/slot guys and they can all become interchangable. We have our spread QB in Kevin Newsome and would love to add another viable option in Tate Forcier or Shad Beaver.
OSU doesn't look to be losing a step, however, and I hate to use this point, recruiting classes don't mean much on paper as Michigan has shown. We consistently had Top 5-10 classes under Lloyd Carr and some of those guys just didn't pan out. Same can be said for nearly every program.
So, I hope RichRod is the answer and that his system and those he recruits to operate it can do more for us than the traditional "Mike Hart run up the middle". I don't expect this rivalry to become a joke and I fully expect Michigan to not only be competitive, but to be a dangerous program starting next season at the latest. It feels much like OSU felt around 2000-2002. We're on the downswing, but not for long.
write a new comment