Under Fire and Underrated: Why Rich Rodriguez Will Lead Michigan Football Back

Torches? Check. Pitchforks? Check. Tar and feathers? Check.

An angry mob of villagers, whipped into a frenzy by the local media, is getting ready to storm Schembechler Hall and ride Rich Rodriguez out of town on a rail. Unfortunately, just like in the movies, the misguided townspeople are about to make a big mistake.

The witch hunt began back in 2007, when vindictive West Virginia fans demonized Rodriguez, their former favorite son, for accepting an offer to become the head coach at Michigan.

Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, a number of disgruntled former Michigan players and alums denounced Rodriguez as an unacceptable outsider. They had hoped for a “Michigan Man” like Les Miles, who played and coached under Bo Schembechler. Ironically, both Miles and Schembechler were from Ohio, while Fielding Yost, the Wolverines' greatest coach and ultimate “Michigan Man," was from the same state as Rodriguez.

In the fall of 2009, a Detroit newspaper launched its own attack on Rodriguez. Petty issues, such as a few extra minutes of practice time, were sensationalized and blown out of proportion. Subsequently, the NCAA followed up on the paper’s vilification with its own accusations of “major” violations at Michigan.

Eventually, minor infractions and bureaucratic bumbles were uncovered within the program but the NCAA found no evidence of the kind of major scandals seen at other universities. Nevertheless, the media damage to Rodriguez and Michigan was irrevocable. In effect, a jaywalker had been portrayed as a dangerous criminal.

The Winds of Change

A little historical perspective is in order. From 1901 to 1948, the University of Michigan won 11 national championships in college football. During the next 59 years, Michigan football produced only one national championship. For 39 of those years, Bo Schembechler and his protégés, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, won numerous Big Ten titles but only Carr was able to bring the national award home to Ann Arbor following the 1997 season.

By 2007, many felt that Michigan needed to update its style of football if it wanted to get back to the top. The Wolverines had been humiliated by Appalachian State and blown out by Oregon at home.  Multifaceted, spread offenses had become a winning strategy in college football. Their key elements were speed on both sides of the ball and dual threat quarterbacks. One of the key architects of this new approach was Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia. In December, Bill Martin hired the highly regarded and successful young coach to take Michigan back to the summit of college football.

When Rodriguez arrived at Michigan, he didn’t inherit the appropriate personnel to execute his system. The existing roster had been recruited to play a different style of football and star players such as Jake Long, Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington had left for the NFL. There was no doubt that Rodriguez would need at least a couple of years of recruiting and teaching to establish his kind of team. The only question was: Could the Michigan faithful exercise patience during the transition?

Renovation and Wolverine Nation

While Rodriguez was building his team, construction crews were busy renovating Michigan Stadium. Now, both are about to be unveiled for the 2010 football season. The Big House is getting rave reviews and, after two disappointing seasons, the Wolverines appear to be ready to turn the corner as well. Michigan fans need to remember the words of Fielding Yost, "True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise - the other, loyalty."

It’s time to extinguish the torches, drop the pitchforks and stow away the tar and feathers. My wife and I are both Michigan alums who, along with thousands and thousands of others, remain confident that Bill Martin made the right choice. Most of the pieces of the puzzle are in place. On September 4th, the team will burst out of the tunnel, the band will play “The Victors” and the season will be on. Our players are solidly behind Coach Rodriguez. It’s time for all true Michigan Men and Michigan Women to stand with them as a united Wolverine Nation.