he never fit in because boosters and alumni rejected him like a red headed step child, hard to function at your job when you're on the hot seat before your first game
nobody cares what a "michigan man" is
E
Look, I loved me some RR and I supported him as strongly as any until the time of the PSU debacle, but let's take off the rose colored glasses.
When RR came in, he and his staff sought to radically change the program into what they wanted it to be. They didn't want to just modernize the offense or the S&C program, they essentially wanted to scrap what we had and rebuild it into what they knew. And I can't blame them - RR had big time success at WVU and he is a "system" coach.
But, what RR didn't realize is that many (most) of the fans / donors / alum - even those that wanted to update the staid program - loved what we had. Updating would have been acceptable - scrapping and re-building was not. There was a recent quote from one of RR's coaches (too lazy to search for it) in which he defended the slow transition by saying that when they came in, they didn't realize how long it would take to build up the program to the way they wanted it to run. Well, that's the mistake - unlike WVU, Michigan did not need them to come in and build a program - we had one of the best out there. They needed to come in and improve the program and give it a kick in the ass, sure, but a rebuild was not in order.
Also, let's go back to 2008 for a minute - with the backup QBs being Threatadin, RR's first order of business should have been keeping Ryan Mallett on the team. If that meant delaying the implimentation of his stread offense or adjusting that offense to fir his talent, he should have done that. And, even worse, once Mallett left, what rational person would have tried to run the option offense with Threatadin at QB??
Not trying to trash RR, but the manner in which he and his staff approached this job was likely the factor that doomed him.
As for the progress that i will list:
1. Yes, a bunch of DBs transferred - who's fault is that? Transfers have been pretty common durring the RR era. In 2008, this was an understandable aspect of a cc - but in 2010? Sorry, this speaks to a larger issue. As for injuries, every team has them. Hell, Penn State fielded its 3rd stringers against us on offense and managed to kick our asses.
2. Progress in wins? in raw numbers, yes. However we still could not beat a single decent team, and the magnitude of the losses to decent teams actually got worse.
3. Future Heisman prospect Denard - I love Denard. Probably one of my favorite M football players in along time i liked. But, he is one player. Michigan is about the team. Also, I hate to break this to you idiots but there are probably 20 teams that can legitimately say "we have a future Heisman prospect" on the team.
4. Having a young team - so? Won' t these players be back next year regardless?
Earl - I go to you when i need info on Pittsburgh teams.
Bezerk - I guess you know some shit about Uconn teams - You have a great women's team.
I would go to Body88 for Pats, BC info because he knows his stuff
Upinthoseguts - knows Raven stuff.
If you never went to MICHIGAN and do not know what it
"MEANS" You will never really understand it. You can take all the shots at the program that you want but he was a
"EPIC FAIL" as soon as he walked onto campus.
RR - Can be a decent HC but he would do wonders at Clemson, W.V., Pitt,..etc....
