This program is in trouble. Serious trouble. As in, we are about to join the ranks of Tennessee, Nebraska, and Florida State as fallen powers in CFB trouble. One bad year is an exception (i.e. Notre Dame in 07, us and Tennessee last year), but two bad years is a trend. I can accept losing to teams who have better talent than us (Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, etc.) in the rebuilding years, but when you start getting out-coached by the little-8 in the conference + non-BCS teams, it's tough to jump on board with the new staff's philosophy.
Today showed me that they still don't have the tools on offense to run the offense, even at QB where the #1 and #2 on the depth chart are kids hand picked by the staff. Yes, they are freshmen, but I have little reason to believe that we have a QB going forward. Forcier can do a lot of things, has a bit of elusiveness, but nothing well. Ultimately, he isn't what Rodriguez wants in his zone read spread option system because he lacks the second gear to ever become a viable running threat at QB. If Devin Gardner (#1 dual threat QB in the country, committed to Michigan) isn't "the goods" next year, we are in serious trouble. I've watched a lot of his film and even went to an Inkster game this year (played my old H.S) it's all there, but he is far from a finished product. Denard has speed, no doubt about that, but he lacks the elusiveness to ever be an effective QB for this team. It's all straight-line speed. If the coaching staff is smart, they will move him to the defensive backfield or out to WR.
The defense is an absolute joke. We have some decent players (Graham and Warren) who should have futures at the next level, but the back 7 is among the worst in the country. The staff isn’t recruiting any LB’s (2 in their first 3 classes, one never made it in and the other is a hybrid WLB / S) and the defensive backfield has very little speed. I don’t know if it’s the scheme that we are playing (aren’t blitzing, playing a lot of zone) or if it’s a lack of talent. But this defense is an absolute mess.
I'm trying to have blind faith for this staff and throw them a bone knowing that 9 of the 11 starters on offense weren't recruited by this staff and they have about 20-25 of "their kids" on the team, but they have shown me very little so far. Regardless of how much attrition has impacted this team, you should still have enough talent to beat teams you're suppose to beat in this conference (the Little-8 at home). I understand that the majority of our starters are Lloyd's kids who weren't recruited to play with these systems and the few that are this staffs kids (Odoms, Roundtree, Smith etc.) are showing flashes, but this is getting real sad. It was real tough walking out of Michigan Stadium today seeing the stunned look on the crowd. It wasn't really anger, it was more of a "wow, this wasn't suppose to happen / hasn't happened to us before" look.
He has 2 more years to turn it around. Today turned what many hoped would be a 3-year plan into a 4-5 year plan. First season was suppose to be a wash, but try to make a bowl. That was a disappointment. This season’s goal was never a NYD bowl, but just to make a bowl. That isn't going to happen unless something completely unexpected happens the next two weeks, where we win outright as double-digit underdogs (it's a joke if we end up anything less than +10 at Wisconsin). I try my best not an arrogant Michigan fan who thinks this program should win games "because we are Michigan" and have a reasonable, objective opinion on this team (unlike 90% of our fan base who will defend the actions of this program to the death, even when the officials make a biased call) but this is the first time in the Rodriguez era that I'm truly starting to believe that he may be over his head here.
Today showed me that they still don't have the tools on offense to run the offense, even at QB where the #1 and #2 on the depth chart are kids hand picked by the staff. Yes, they are freshmen, but I have little reason to believe that we have a QB going forward. Forcier can do a lot of things, has a bit of elusiveness, but nothing well. Ultimately, he isn't what Rodriguez wants in his zone read spread option system because he lacks the second gear to ever become a viable running threat at QB. If Devin Gardner (#1 dual threat QB in the country, committed to Michigan) isn't "the goods" next year, we are in serious trouble. I've watched a lot of his film and even went to an Inkster game this year (played my old H.S) it's all there, but he is far from a finished product. Denard has speed, no doubt about that, but he lacks the elusiveness to ever be an effective QB for this team. It's all straight-line speed. If the coaching staff is smart, they will move him to the defensive backfield or out to WR.
The defense is an absolute joke. We have some decent players (Graham and Warren) who should have futures at the next level, but the back 7 is among the worst in the country. The staff isn’t recruiting any LB’s (2 in their first 3 classes, one never made it in and the other is a hybrid WLB / S) and the defensive backfield has very little speed. I don’t know if it’s the scheme that we are playing (aren’t blitzing, playing a lot of zone) or if it’s a lack of talent. But this defense is an absolute mess.
I'm trying to have blind faith for this staff and throw them a bone knowing that 9 of the 11 starters on offense weren't recruited by this staff and they have about 20-25 of "their kids" on the team, but they have shown me very little so far. Regardless of how much attrition has impacted this team, you should still have enough talent to beat teams you're suppose to beat in this conference (the Little-8 at home). I understand that the majority of our starters are Lloyd's kids who weren't recruited to play with these systems and the few that are this staffs kids (Odoms, Roundtree, Smith etc.) are showing flashes, but this is getting real sad. It was real tough walking out of Michigan Stadium today seeing the stunned look on the crowd. It wasn't really anger, it was more of a "wow, this wasn't suppose to happen / hasn't happened to us before" look.
He has 2 more years to turn it around. Today turned what many hoped would be a 3-year plan into a 4-5 year plan. First season was suppose to be a wash, but try to make a bowl. That was a disappointment. This season’s goal was never a NYD bowl, but just to make a bowl. That isn't going to happen unless something completely unexpected happens the next two weeks, where we win outright as double-digit underdogs (it's a joke if we end up anything less than +10 at Wisconsin). I try my best not an arrogant Michigan fan who thinks this program should win games "because we are Michigan" and have a reasonable, objective opinion on this team (unlike 90% of our fan base who will defend the actions of this program to the death, even when the officials make a biased call) but this is the first time in the Rodriguez era that I'm truly starting to believe that he may be over his head here.