God no! The Michigan players parents are supporting Rich Rod

[Doug_Steele]

I am the dad of a Craig Roh, first year Freshman football player at Michigan and had the pleasure of experiencing first-hand the recruiting process , the first summer with the UM program and his first Fall camp. I feel obligated to share with readers concrete evidence of the integrity and compliance of the Rich Rod program and staff. I do not wish to speak for others but rather describe one family’s actual experience with the Michigan program. My son had thirty-five scholarship offers and chose UM because it is one of the few schools in the country that has great football AND academics. With a 4.2 GPA, he could have gone to UCLA, Cal, Stanford, USC…all great academic schools. He chose Michigan because he thought it had the best of both and because of the coaching staff.
He also selected UM because of the intensity and straight talk of the coaching staff. The first person he met was Mike Barwis. After spending an hour with Barwis, my son turned to me and said, "He will get every ounce of potential out of me and make me the best I can be. That's what I want." When he met Rich Rod, he was further impressed with his openness and vision. My son came here BECAUSE of the work ethic that was to be required of him. He WANTS to be pushed to the limits, not coddled and pampered. (Believe it or not there are still young people in our country who want this!)
He was recruited by one of the assistant coaches. I am here to say that the recruiter complied with every letter of the rules throughout the entire recruitment process, even the ones that seem senseless (and there are a bunch). He would not even give me a ride to lunch or pick up a $5 lunch tab because it was against the rules. He informed us of the recruiting rules over and over again. As I watched 35 schools recruit my son, I would put Michigan right there at the top of the integrity scale when it came to recruiting. (as I would many other schools)
Let's talk about my son’s first summer. Again, his recruiter made it abundantly clear what we had to pay for and what the school was allowed to pay for, what our responsibilities were and what the school's were. I was tired of hearing about all the rules. It was like dealing with the IRS. There was NO push to report to school early, in fact we were told that if my son wanted to report to summer school early, it was on our dime and totally voluntary. His summer was very balanced. He VOLUNTARILY asked to watch tape as much as he could. Nobody pushed him to do it or even suggested it. He wanted to spend more time on football than what was available to him.
Lastly, I know for a fact that my son missed workouts in the summer and even missed parts of at least three practices at Fall camp so that he could attend class. He was excused with absolutely no repercussions by the coaching staff.
I am assuming that players who choose to come to UM under Rich Rod are coming here BECAUSE it’s hard. They want to become the best. They want to be pushed. They want great academics and great football environment. I have heard critics say they want to protect the “rights” of the players so that they can have a balanced life at Michigan. My son did not come to Michigan to have a balanced life. He came to excel and achieve in all areas of college life. He has been at Michigan now since June and it has exceeded his expectations. He has told me numerous times, “Dad, I don’t want to offend you, but I’m not homesick at all.” Some critics think they are doing these kids a favor by easing up the workload and, in reality, they are undermining the very reason the kids chose UM!
Fred Roh

[Doug_Steele]

Michigan's made good fodder for media piranha in recent days, though several have sided with Rich Rodriguez in the Detroit Free Press investigation into U-M's alleged violations over exceedingly long practice time. But one radio show host went so far as to call freshman Je'Ron Stokes a "victim of RichRod."
In reality, Stokes' father responded today, his son was a victim of a reporter with an agenda. The Free Press cornered Stokes on media day, apparently, and asked him about the workload.
"Hooooo!" Stokes said. "A typical week is working from 8 a.m. to 6 or 7 at night, Monday through Saturday. ? We do the weight room at least three times a week, and seven-on-sevens and one-on-ones. Speed and agility on the other days. Every day we have something new to get ready for the season."
Rodriguez welled up in recalling Stokes' stunned reaction when his name was included in the Free Press report.
"That really, really touched me," Ron Stokes, Je'Ron's father, said today. "When I talked to Je'Ron and said, 'son, why is your name out there?' he said, 'it's okay. Coach told me it was okay.' I told him I didn't want his name on anything negative or which wasn't productive and conducive to what you're trying to accomplish.
 
 
Je'Ron Stokes
"But he asked, 'Coach, what did I do? I keep hearing my name come up and I don't know what I did wrong.' Coach told him, 'you did nothing wrong, son. You did nothing wrong.'"
Count the elder Stokes among those who believe there's nothing to the allegations.
"My wife [Juanita] and I talk to Je'Ron every day. We follow him through the internet, by phone, and we've been up there on a couple of occasions," he said. "We spent an entire Thursday through Monday up there, and I'd see guys voluntarily go into that weight room on Sunday and Saturday and put in extra work.
"I know [the allegations] are not true, because I know how [strength coach] Mike Barwis cares for these kids. He's taken my son to bible study and to church. These are the kinds of things that impress us about the program and Rich Rod and his staff. They are good people, and I hate the fact that every negative thing put out there brings the wrong perception to the Michigan program.
"We wanted to follow everything closely. He hit the school in June and from that point on we would always ask him, 'what are you doing, what time have you got to be there, what time are you doing this, where are you going after that?' We closely monitored what his experience was going to be coming in, knowing we were told if he comes in and competes, there's a chance he could possibly contribute his freshman year."
Stokes advised his son to always go the extra mile as a result.
"As an ex-football player, I always told him what to do outside of what was required of him ? maybe put in some extra work in the weight room, make sure you're getting acclimated to the quarterbacks in 7-on-7s and individual drills, not under the supervision of the coaches," he said. "Take that extra step to go and get film study in so you can see what's required, what you need to correct and improve.
"He did that. We follow what's going on with the program, and we were reading last night and Ronnie's name came up [in the report]. We said, 'how did he get involved in this? What happened?'
"They took and twisted and misconstrued [his quote], when Ronnie was just simply saying he's doing the regulated hours required by the coaches within the rules. There are two sessions, and he might have been part of the morning group, like 8:30 to 11. The second group might be 1-3. The voluntary workout would be like 3-5 or 5:30 with the quarterbacks or other players. He might go to rehab, take a shower or take the initiative to go up and look at some film, might not leave Schembechler Hall until 6:00 or 7:30. But that was taken out of context."
This wasn't the first time he's seen Rodriguez face adversity, he added, noting he had to endure some badmouthing when opposing coaches came through his living room. But the family's own experiences with the Michigan coach were much different than they expected, and enough to convince them the program was for their son.
"There was so much negative recruiting, how he treated the kids ? when we got a chance to meet him individually on a couple occasions, we realized this guy is passionate about winning, but he cares about his players," Mr. Stokes said of Rodriguez.
The only regret, he said, is that his son's first experience with the media will be one to forget.
"These guys are working hard. I told him he's part of a great team right now," Ron Stokes said. "They were embarrassed last year, they made up in their mind they refused to let that happen again. I told him all you have to do is get in and get on board, because I knew these guys were going to put in the extra time outside of the coaches requirements to get better so they don't have that type of season happen again."

[regmac]

I am the dad of a Craig Roh, first year Freshman football player at Michigan and had the pleasure of experiencing first-hand the recruiting process , the first summer with the UM program and his first Fall camp. I feel obligated to share with readers concrete evidence of the integrity and compliance of the Rich Rod program and staff. I do not wish to speak for others but rather describe one family’s actual experience with the Michigan program. My son had thirty-five scholarship offers and chose UM because it is one of the few schools in the country that has great football AND academics. With a 4.2 GPA, he could have gone to UCLA, Cal, Stanford, USC…all great academic schools. He chose Michigan because he thought it had the best of both and because of the coaching staff.
He also selected UM because of the intensity and straight talk of the coaching staff. The first person he met was Mike Barwis. After spending an hour with Barwis, my son turned to me and said, "He will get every ounce of potential out of me and make me the best I can be. That's what I want." When he met Rich Rod, he was further impressed with his openness and vision. My son came here BECAUSE of the work ethic that was to be required of him. He WANTS to be pushed to the limits, not coddled and pampered. (Believe it or not there are still young people in our country who want this!)
He was recruited by one of the assistant coaches. I am here to say that the recruiter complied with every letter of the rules throughout the entire recruitment process, even the ones that seem senseless (and there are a bunch). He would not even give me a ride to lunch or pick up a $5 lunch tab because it was against the rules. He informed us of the recruiting rules over and over again. As I watched 35 schools recruit my son, I would put Michigan right there at the top of the integrity scale when it came to recruiting. (as I would many other schools)
Let's talk about my son’s first summer. Again, his recruiter made it abundantly clear what we had to pay for and what the school was allowed to pay for, what our responsibilities were and what the school's were. I was tired of hearing about all the rules. It was like dealing with the IRS. There was NO push to report to school early, in fact we were told that if my son wanted to report to summer school early, it was on our dime and totally voluntary. His summer was very balanced. He VOLUNTARILY asked to watch tape as much as he could. Nobody pushed him to do it or even suggested it. He wanted to spend more time on football than what was available to him.
Lastly, I know for a fact that my son missed workouts in the summer and even missed parts of at least three practices at Fall camp so that he could attend class. He was excused with absolutely no repercussions by the coaching staff.
I am assuming that players who choose to come to UM under Rich Rod are coming here BECAUSE it’s hard. They want to become the best. They want to be pushed. They want great academics and great football environment. I have heard critics say they want to protect the “rights” of the players so that they can have a balanced life at Michigan. My son did not come to Michigan to have a balanced life. He came to excel and achieve in all areas of college life. He has been at Michigan now since June and it has exceeded his expectations. He has told me numerous times, “Dad, I don’t want to offend you, but I’m not homesick at all.” Some critics think they are doing these kids a favor by easing up the workload and, in reality, they are undermining the very reason the kids chose UM!
Fred Roh

Um  your kid goes to Michigan    and plays there   and you are bitching...about it?   Pleeeez   Michigan is still tops ....even with Bo   gone.

[Doug_Steele]

You did not get it. The parents of the Michigan players are defending RR and Mike Barwis, our strength coach. I want Chris Peterson in at Michigan and not Fraud Rodriguez!

[2ND COMING]

dont you think this was an over reaction in the first place by the media and these so called "players"?

[Doug_Steele]

Yes, yes I do! I do not like coach RR at all. Mike Barwis trains these guys hard and the players that left are crying now. I am in Ann Arbor right now and ready for tomorrow. Mike even goes to Church with the kids and makes sure that the kids stay out of trouble. I just want RR out and he will be out if he does not win. RR reminds me of a snake...like Tressel

[Earl1972]

so you are hoping michigan has another losing season?

E

[Doug_Steele]

Earl, I would "Think" that you would see the snake in him! I am perplexed as I am in the leaving "The Big House" now. I did see a lot of things that I liked today!

[Earl1972]

i said he was a snake since day 1, but he wins

E

[Signifying Monkey]

Winning is the only thing