RichRod defends Harbaugh: 'I do not think Michigan has a coach problem'
The aftermath has seen a lot of fans taking to social media proclaiming that it’s head coach Jim Harbaugh’s time to go.
However, Harbaugh does have one unlikely ally in his corner at the moment: former Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez.
A hot hire back at the culmination of the 2007 regular season, Rodriguez struggled to gain any kind of footing in Ann Arbor, having gone 3-9 in 2008, 5-7 in 2009 and 7-6 in 2010. Hearing the uproar from the fans as well as the national media, Rodriguez is more than a little familiar with those sentiments in a job like Michigan.
But, the way he sees it, the issues that Michigan faces aren’t a Jim Harbaugh problem, they’re deeper than that. He explained on his Hard Edge Podcast:
“Boy, I have a lot of thoughts — I wonder why,” Rodriguez said, via WolverinesWire. “Something wasn’t a surprise, and Michigan was a three-touchdown favorite [against Michigan State]. I don’t think the homefield has anything to do with it — there’s no fans at the game, anyway. But, despite maybe what many fans may be saying or people that follow college football, I do not think Michigan has a coach problem. It’s not a coach problem. It’s different than that.”
He continued, speaking more on why it’s not a Harbaugh issue:
“He’s 48-18 going into that game, he’s won a lot of games,” Rodriguez said. “Certainly he’s had struggles against
Ohio State – who hasn’t, right? Michigan State’s beat them a few times. But Jim Harbaugh is not your problem, Michigan. He’s got an outstanding coaching staff. I think he’s an outstanding football coach.”
‘RichRod’ had to dig deep now that it’s been 10 years since he was let go from U-M to recall some of the issues he faced as a head coach.
Now, most observers will realize that the offense was becoming formidable, but the defense was backsliding significantly. In his final year in Ann Arbor, Michigan fielded the No. 110 defense nationally, and it was then just out of 120 teams. Since he departed, the Wolverines defense has only finished outside of the top 20 once — in 2013, when it was No. 41.
But outside of that, RichRod sees it as being more systemic issues in Ann Arbor, whether it be the administration or even the mentality that exists within the football program. Compared to West Virginia, he noted there was a little more entitlement and a little less — well — of a hard edge.
“We’re going back 15, 13 years, or whatever – but I do remember, we had left West Virginia where we had some success,” Rodriguez said. “And we had some good players at West Virginia, but they also had a little bit of an edge about them – they had a need to prove themselves every day. Both in the weight room, the offseason program during practices – every practice and certainly every game. So they played with that hard edge and they had a – they wanted to earn success.
“When we went to Michigan, I thought we’d instill that same attitude. There was some resistance, a little bit. And it’s funny: the guys that played for Bo Schembechler, when they came to practice there, said that! They said, ‘Coach, this is what we had. We had some tough, good, athletic players that played with an edge. A toughness and a need to prove themselves.’ And I think that’s what Michigan, when they’re very good – and any program that’s very, very good, they practice with that type of mentality.”
.
.
.
continued
Entire article:
https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com...-rich-rodriguez-richrod-defends-jim-harbaugh/
That's a bunch of shit, if scUM players are all "Einsteins"; then why are the vast majority of them majoring in General Studies or other "nothing"majors?
Just sayin': Whatever scUM's problems are, I hope they never get fixed.
