Welcome to the Big House Court Room. Today we will hear the case for or against keeping Rich Rodriguez as Michigan's head coach. Over seeing today's court room will be the semi-honorable Judge Big House Bob. (BHB)
BHB: Welcome to today's proceedings, I will hear both sides and then make my judgement. The case against Mr. Rodriguez will be levied by Traditional Michigan Fan (TMF) and Mr. Rodriguez will be represented by his attorney. (ARR)
BHB: Let's start out with the defense, ARR you have the floor.
TMF: Objection your honor! Michigan hasn't had a defense all year.
BHB: Even though that is funny, one more outburst like that will get you thrown out of here! ARR please proceed.
ARR: Thank you, Today I would like to state my case on why Michigan should keep Rich Rodriguez as head coach for at least another year. Rich came to Ann Arbor 3 years ago and inherited a team where all the offensive skill players went to the NFL and the back up QB already had a foot out the door to Arkansas. This team had no quarterbacks and lacked serious depth on the defensive side of the ball. It needed to be re-built from the ground up.
Yes, the team has struggled but it has showed improvement over his 3 years as this program re-builds itself. Each year Michigan has continued to win more games and this year has qualified for a Bowl Game. The wins have gone from 3 to 5 and now to 7 wins. I was told there would be no math, but from my calculations that is 2 more wins every year. I know TMF will argue that Jim Harbaugh should come to Michigan to replace my client. With that in mind, I enclose document #1 to the court which includes Mr. Harbaugh's record at Stanford.
Year 1: 4-8
Year 2: 5-7
Year 3: 8-5
Year 4: 11-1
I ask the court, how is his record any different then my clients? In fact, if Michigan wins it's bowl game it will have the same record as Mr. Harbaugh in year 2 and 3. Shouldn't RR be given the 4th year to see if he can make a similar jump?
Yes, the Michigan defense has struggled while RR has been running the Michigan program. He has admittedly made two poor decisions for defensive coordinator and plans to make a change in that position in 2011. My clients expertise lies on the offensive side of the ball and Michigan currently has a top 10 offense and Heisman Trophy candidate under center for the next 2 seasons. Nobody can argue that Michigan has made big leaps on that side of the ball.
My final point is; how long does Michigan want to struggle? A new coach will bring in a new system and need more time to make changes. Players will leave and there will be more losses. Do we really want to do that again? Do you really want to pay my client $4M to leave? Bill Davidson has unfortunately passed away and while he was alive seemed to be a fan of Mr. Rodriguez. So even if he was still with us, I don't think he would write a $4M check for Mr. Rodriguez to leave. I think a program like Colorado would be very interested in a Mr. Rodriguez if he became available as they head into the PAC 12.
In summary, Mr. Rodriguez is on track to re-build this program back to elite status. His record is similar to Mr. Harbaugh's and just needs a couple more years to really show the progress everyone expects. Michigan has built depth on offense and needs more time to build it on defense. He also is building a strong recruiting class this year and every year he has been here. Not to forget the strides he has made with the Strength and Conditioning program at Michigan as well. There are too many things going in the right direction to stop the train at this point. Go Blue!
BHB: Thank you ARR. TMF the floor is yours.
TMF: Thank you. That was a compelling argument by what I will call "No" defense. I think that plan would work if Michigan was in the Big East, but we play in the Big Ten. Where the power run game is king. Look at the 3 teams that spilt the title this year. Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan State all use the power run game. Northwestern has run the "spread" for years and only plays well once every 5 years or so. Is that what we want? No way!
RR has made 2 huge mistakes with his defensive coordinators and now it looks like they will be looking for a third. The Michigan football program is under probation for the first time in history, which happened under RR's watch. He clearly has not been recruiting Michigan Men with some players not able to enroll each year due to not making it academically. He broke Michigan's long standing bowl streak and this will be the first year Michigan has gone bowling in his 3 years.
I could over look those things if this Michigan program had preformed well against our rivals. Michigan is 0-3 to Michigan State and 0-3 against Ohio State under RR. That is un-believable. RR has only had limited success against Notre Dame. His Big Ten record is 6-18 and his overall record is 15-21 at Michigan. He is the highest paid Michigan Football coach ever and has one of the worst records ever. Is this a good value, I ask you? He must go and must go now. It's time to welcome a new head coach and I believe Michigan Man Jim Harbaugh is the man for the job.
Thank you.
BHB: You both have made compelling arguments, I will take it under advisement and give you my verdict in a few minutes.
8 to 10 minutes go byeBHB: I know we live in a day and age where the coaches get the most blame. Look at that fella that coached Minnesota's NFL team. He was one pass away from the Super Bowl last year and now finds himself out of a job. It's just the world we live in. Coaches are hired to be fired. With that said, I would like to take you all down memory lane for a moment.
Jim Harbaugh is not stupid. He sees the state the defense is in and he also knows that there is a decent probability that skill players like Devin Gardner and Denard Robinson might transfer if he took over as head coach. He also knows the time frame it takes to re-build a program like Michigan's because he has been living it at Stanford for the last 4 years. What makes you think he wants this job? If your remember he threw Michigan under the bus a few years ago and has a DUI on his record. My point here is not to discount Harbaugh as coach or a person but to point out that he is not the perfect candidate.
Those that are calling for Harbaugh also seem to be the ones that wanted Les Miles 3 years ago. As we now see, Les isn't an ideal candidate either due to his unique clock management techniques and his wiliness to over sign players and then cut them while they check into their dorm room. Even with a good record this year, I believe LSU fans wouldn't mind if he found another gig.
What if Harbaugh doesn't want to come to Ann Arbor, then what? Brady Hoke? He has done a good job at San Diego State and Ball State but that isn't exactly the Big Ten is it? Remember the last Michigan head coaching search and what a mess it was? Brady was seen as a plan C or D candidate. Is that the right strategy?
If you remember way back, Bo was very upset at Illinois when they fired Gary Moeller after 3 years. He was admit that it took longer then 3 years to turn around a program.
Yes, this program has seen some rough water over the past 3+ seasons. Don't forget that in Carr's last year things weren't exactly great with losses to App. State and Oregon at home and fielding teams that were considered "slow" in comparison to other programs. This downturn was something that would have happened no matter who the coach was. It just has happened. We all expected 7-5 this year and now we want to throw the "baby out with the bath water"?
I am ruling in favor of Rich Rodriguez staying another year, seeing Denard has a Junior, seeing if Dee Hart can give the RB position some stability, and seeing if a healthy defense with a year's experience can be better. I sure don't have $4M to fire him, do you?
We are adjourned! Coach Rod continue with recruiting and Bowl preparations.
Side note: RR's buyout goes from $4M to $2.5M on 1/1/11
