Mailbag question: What is a reasonable amount of time?
Mailbag question: What is a reasonable amount of time?
I hear a lot of people saying Coach Rod should be fired, and they name other programs around the country that have improved in year two of a coaching change. I think people need to remember that Michigan has changed to an entirely different system.
The players who are left from the Carr era are not suited to this system. When that happens (vets not fitting in) then a coach is forced to play young players. Talk to anyone who has spent five minutes coaching and they will tell you that a team will not be very successful when there are freshman at key positions. I guess my point is that some of these schools with a quick turn-around had more players that already fit the system.
I am not an RR apologist, but I feel like we need to see a big turn around this year. I also think that firing him now will set us back several more years. All of the spread players currently on the roster will be ineffective unless that is what the “next” coach decides to run. I am a Michigan fan, always have been, always will be. I will support RR as long as he is here, because he is the coach of the Michigan football team. Give him a little more time, and if it does not work out then get rid of him.
Jason R.
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Thanks for the question and associated comments.
How much time is a reasonable is a fluid concept and not of a permanent or perfectly precise nature. Placing premature expectations for renewal of a contract poison’s the well and brings forward more negatives than motivation. Although there never has been a magic number, five years has always been a ballpark figure. But as pressure to win has increased, tolerance has decreased in both the pro and college ranks.
Our staff, like most, contends that any coach deserves a reasonable shot to recruit his players and install his system. Again, what is reasonable and what is a sufficient amount of time?
In Coach Rod’s case the process of improvement has been slower in our opinion. There are many reasons, some extraneous and others internal.
What has hurt Coach Rod the most in showing progress is losses to teams that Michigan should have beaten. Had he and the team beat either Illinois or Purdue, and become bowl eligible last year, the heat would not be as severe.
Had Michigan not lost to Toledo, Purdue, and Northwestern in 2008, the team again gets bowl eligible and Coach Rod buys himself valuable breathing room. Even with the offensive personnel of the 2008 team, the team used the Purdue game to experiment and failed to execute to any degree against Toledo.
We can understand the calls for patience, but at some point this team needs to start winning and beating teams they are better than. Again the question is how long?
The team, staff, and university cannot get blown out by a struggling Illinois team that was hanging on by one foot of being knocked out of the game and not expect some repercussions, especially when the stakes were so high.
Coach Rod has self-inflicted some damage, like him or not. The damage is obvious and does not bear a timeline to support the above claim. But in brevity the manner and publicity concerning a series on ongoing events continues to create bad press and perception. In fairness, some of the negativity was beyond his control. But errors were made.
Add to the WVA exit and Michigan entrance, numerous players decided not to give Coach Rod and his system a chance.
And so the cumulative result was an unheard of 3-9, demonstrating that just showing up as a successful coach is not sufficient. There are other elements to success. Then add a follow-up season of 5-7 in which UM should have won at least two more games, but for some reason lost.
When a team like Michigan loses convincingly and for the first time in well over three decades is not bowl eligible, it is a shock.
Now is most likely the critical year to see the direction of the program and see the effectiveness of the development of some of the younger players that have come in under Coach Rod.
In our opinion the bottom line will be what type of program Athletic Director David Brandon wants. Is he satisfied with Coach Rod’s vision of again developing Michigan into a top program? What Brandon thinks is of course the biggest piece of the answer concerning the question of how much time is enough? Decisions like this take perception and vision and should not be made in a knee-jerk manner, but made with logic, and made with a minimum of external noise trumpeting thumbs up or thumbs down.
Maybe Brandon wants more of a pro style program with NFL caliber quarterbacks and split ends.
Is there a certain amount of wins that Coach Rod needs to get to? That question is asked weekly and will continue to be asked. Are there certain teams that he needs to beat this year? Those are the factors that David Brandon will be thinking about during and after the season before deciding on what direction he takes the Michigan program.
Again we believe that the situation is in Coach Rod’s hands.
If he wins (again, how many?) we believe he will remain, but if he loses (less than 6 wins) that will make it tough for David Brandon to retain Coach Rod, because outside influences will certainly have a consensus opinion, and not a positive one.
Let us presuppose that Coach Rod goes 9-3, one would conclude, barring extraneous factors, he is safe and there is consensus about the program taking a step in the right direction. If Coach Rod (and of course the UM team) goes 8-4 most will see the season as a turn around and the future may look bright. If Coach Rod goes 7-5, or under, then it starts getting tricky because you will have some people state this is a positive step while others will look at who UM beat, especially singling out potential losses to Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State. Most Michigan fans will not be happy with those five losses.
We will find out the answers to those questions soon enough. The best we can all do is keep rooting for the good guys and the administrative decision will be what it is. So, no talk here about who is next, that is unfair to the fine athletes who have busted their butts for the last twelve months and have yet to play one snap of the 2010 season.
Written by GBMWolverine Staff
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