Which program is in a worse position?

[fourteenandoh]

that contract that weiss has is a big drag. i'm not sure how they work their way out of it. its obvious that weiss isn't the answer they thought he was.

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

Michigan has the slight edge in coaching, while ND has a definite edge in talent. Neither is about to change. So I'm going with Michigan.

 

[daveeb]

Let's take a look at some history. After all, that is what fans of both teams like to talk about.

Lou Holtz was the head coach of Notre Dame from 1986 to 1996. That's 11 seasons. Over that period, Notre Dame went 100-30-2. That's 9.1 wins a season.

Bo Schembechler (RIP) was the head coach of Michigan from 1969 to 1989. Over that period, Michigan went 194-48-5. That's 9.23 wins a season.

Now, let's look at what each program has done since their historic head coaches have retired.

Michigan w/o Bo: 8.9 wins per season over 19 seasons. Loads of NFL talent. Two Heisman Trophies. A large amount of NFL stars and/or starters. A National Championship in 1997. In 16 games against Notre Dame, they are 7-8-1.

Notre Dame with w/o Lou Holtzsch: 7 wins per season over 12 seasons. 0-7 in bowl games. In 10 games against Michigan, they are 5-5. No consistency in terms of staff or any sort of lineage between eras.

To put it simply, Michigan needs a Michigan Man. They need someone who understands Wolverine football like Jim Tressel understands Buckeye football. Someone like Brady Hoke would turn the Michigan program around. Notre Dame has no Notre Dame Man. The closest thing to a Notre Dame Man was Urban Meyer. He went to Gainesville, not South Bend.

As Michigan is more likely to find it's identity than Notre Dame, Michigan is in a better position.

 

[brutus2002]

Michigan is in a much worse situation. Dantonio, Tressel, Zook, and even Weis are destroying their midwest recruting. Dantonio is smacking them around in Michigan recruiting. OSU is keeping all the studs in Ohio. I have noticed their PA recruiting has slowed and their illinois recruiting is not what it used to be. This makes them rely on OOS recruiting even more...its a serious gamble especially when you are 3-9.

Zook could sell playing time and the "rebuilding the program" B.S. Thats over foir him!!! RR has next season to sell these two points as well. Until kids see that your a coaching fraud like Zook you can snag kids with this line. RR will find this out.

Michigan is not gonna get bowl practice for at least 2 years!! Thats right...they are not making a bowl this year or next. This is vital for young player development.

Their defense will get much worse...how? They are losing 6 starters on defense, their nickelback, and if they lose Graham to the pros their entire DL.

Michigan also lacks depth overall. They are hinging their entire 2009 season on freshmen...good luck with that.

Tressel has shown the future coaches at OSU how to hurt the Michigan program...choke off the recruiting lifeline from Ohio.

The worse part for Michigan is if they fire RR in 2010 they will have to change toi a different style offense...thats at least a 2 year transition. I could see the streak going well over 10 if this happens.

I lived near Toledo growing up 2 miles from the Michigan boarder. I remember the kids in my hometown being 50/50 OSU Mich. I went back home last year and it is probably 90/10 OSU Mich. Kids growing up in Ohio want to be the next Teddy Ginn or Troy Smith...not Mike Hart(nobody likes a loser). Their recruiting grounds have dried up.

Heres something else to consider. Look at the programs on the rise.
Minn
MSU
NW

IMO next year the B10 will be deeper. IMO Purdue and Indiana will be the only programs that suck every other team will be tough.

Michigan is sitting back and letting OSU load up with talent. I do not see them having a shot at us till 2011.

 

[JXC]

Easy...Michigan. They always play Ohio State...that puts them in a position where they know they are going to lose the last game of the year, every year.


Oh...and

 

[THEWOOD]

that contract that weiss has is a big drag. i'm not sure how they work their way out of it. its obvious that weiss isn't the answer they thought he was.

im not sure they ever thought Weiss was the answer. Didn't they want Meyer and that's why they fired TW so fast? I thought FatCharlie was a last minute pick up that has burned them from day one. I never agreed with the TW firing. He got a raw deal.

 

[MaxBuck]

I don't really want to analyze this. Analysis detracts from the enjoyment. Kind of like why I don't want to analyze why these two are the sexiest women on the planet:

Like I say, please let me just enjoy it.

 

[ysubuck]

I haven't read every post, but I'm going to say Michigan.

If ND really wants to get rid of Weis they will find a way to do it. The next coach coming in has talent (on paper) to work with. Whether or not all of CW's recruiting classes were terribly overrated remains to be seen. All of those kids can't suck though.

Michigan, on the other hand, doesn't have that talent and I don't see them getting that talent. I don't think high caliber kids (kids who have designs on getting to the NFL) are going to want to come in and play in a system that doesn't prepare them for the league. I think you are going to see Rodriguez struggle to recruit nationally like Michigan has to do to be successful. I also don't think that kids who have their pick of schools are going to want to come and play for this guy. He really never did anything special at WVU and now the UM guys are jumping ship every time you turn around.