Why Michigan Should Part Ways With Rich Rodriguez

I wrote this article in response to Andrew Goode's article, 'Fear and Loathing in Ann Arbor', which I respectfully disagree with. Michigan would be better off to let him go sooner rather than later. Let's be realistic here. Would most Michigan fans have supported him had they known this would be a three plus year rebuilding project? The answer to that question is a resounding no, they would not have. Which brings us back to Rich Rodriguez and the current state of Michigan football. Yes, there are a lot of negatives if you let him go, but the positives so completely outweigh them that the choice is fairly easy. Since you have hit many of the negatives, let me focus on the positives.

Michigan is still stocked with a lot of talent regardless of what the team on the field looks like. The majority of last year's class were still Lloyd Carr's players meaning the transition back to a more traditional pro-style offense would not be very painful. By firing him now, a new coach could be brought in to salvage this year's recruiting class. Yes, I know it will be hard to get a top coach if they fire Rich Rodriguez, but honestly, they had a hard time finding a top flight coach last year. There are a lot of great coaches at smaller schools who would die for a chance to coach at Michigan.

With the talent on hand and their schedule, Michigan could get back to a bowl game next year, they won't with Rich Rodriguez. And with Rodriguez, you don't know if his system will even work in the Big Ten. We know a pro-style will work, or even a pro-style offense with a few twists like Penn State is running. Personally, after watching his Clemson teams first hand, I doubt his offense will ever work. It didn't work against the top half of the ACC when it was a one team league. It started to show it flaws at WVU against teams with a lot less speed and talent than the Mountaineers had.

I think the risk of allowing him to coach longer than this year (while he may very well turn the program around, Michigan fans won't see the results he was hired to bring until 2011) could have catastrophic consequences for the program. Will he kill the program? No, of course not, this is Michigan. But in the event that he fails, which has to viewed as a 50/50 proposition, leaving him in place would be worse than bringing in a new less dogmatic coach capable of winning with the players on hand. It comes down to this, under Rodriguez, I don't think this team is going to be ready for even a low level bowl such as the Motor City until 2010. They could surpass the Motor City Bowl next year with a new coach and be prepared to challenge for the conference title in 2010.

And what are the consequences if he is allowed to stay and fails? If Martin gives him the three years which some think are needed to even be able to evaluate his team, and he fails, a new coach would have to utilize his players as most if not all of the pro style players of the Carr era would be gone. If he is given three years and fails, Michigan is looking at a minimum of six years of constant rebuilding while the team's history, tradition and records crumble and should Dantonio remain in East Lansing, it could take even longer as Michigan State would be entrenched in the local recruiting scene. You may not agree with me, but firing him now is the right thing to do. Anything less and Martin would be disrespecting the players, alumni and fans who care about this team. Michigan would basically become the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Great Lakes region.

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