Lets take a trip back to November 2006, the Big Ten was in the national spot light as No. 1 Ohio State (11-0) prepared to face No. 2 Michigan (11-0). Buckeye QB Troy Smith was at the top of his game and leading the Heisman race and these two bitter rivals were battling for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. In one of the best games in the rivalry (and one of the best games I've ever seen live) the Buckeyes held on for a trip to Glendale with many pundits clamoring for a re-match for the national championship.
A little over a month later things began to spiral out of control, the No. 3. Wolverines lose in the Rose Bowl to USC 32-18, and the downward spiral began. A week later their bitter rivals, the Buckeyes, lose in a similar embarrassing fashion to Florida 41-14. All of a sudden a conference that was on top of the world immediately had its reputation "tarnished" as a result of these bowl losses. Following the end of the 2006 season, current UM coach Lloyd Carr's hot seat only got hotter and his team needed a great season to save his job.
I wasn't smiling for long.....
The 2007 Wolverines were riddled with injuries all season and limped into a Capitol One Bowl game vs the Florida Tebows (oops I mean Gators). The Wolverines destroyed the 2006 National Champion Gators in their best performance of the season, however the writing was on the wall and that bowl victory was Coach Carr's last game on the sidelines as Michigan head coach. A change needed to be made, however in my opinion, the fact that UM chose to hire Rich Rodriguez from WVU as opposed to one of Carr's assistants or another candidate that would continue to run the UM system set the Wolverine football program back at least a decade.
It was clear that Michigan needed to make a change, however nothing was really "wrong" with their system. I think hiring one of Carr's assistants or maybe a top assistant/coordinator from within the conference would have been the best choice in the long run for the Wolverines. Before the RRod era, UM's system was pretty simple but every effective.
On offense: -Smart, Strong Armed QB -Big, powerful OL -Tough RBs -Big Play WRs They ran pro sets which allowed them to run the ball and set up for the pass and sometimes vice versa.
On defense: -Big, strong, hole clogging DL -Quick, play making LBs -Smart, Athletic DBs They would concentrate on stopping the run and forcing you to beat them through the air while blitzing their LBs off the edge and trying to force turnovers. When it worked they won (Exhibit 1), when it didn't (Exhibit 2), they lost. Coach Rodriguez came into Ann Arbor in 2008 immediately implementing his "system" and soon after, players who represented what Michigan Football was all about began to leave one way or another. Some declaring early for the draft, others (like freaking HEISMAN CANDIDATE Ryan Mallet and Justin Boren) just outright transferring.
After RRod's first few horrible seasons, I feel it was proven that his "system" will not work in Ann Arbor. Coach Carr's system was similar to what Coach Schembechler used with a few tweaks to keep up with the times and that's all that was needed back in 2007, just a few tweaks, not a full system overhaul. In my opinion, Coach Rodriguez's drastic changes will also continue to hurt the program for years when it comes to recruiting. Today's college recruit isn't just looking at being part of a schools tradition, he's looking to see which coach and program can give him the best opportunity to make it to the next level. A perfect example illustrating my point would be the Terelle Pryor situation.
One of the major reasons Pryor chose the Buckeyes over the Wolverines was due to the fact that Pryor knew Coach Tressel ran more of a pro style offense, which would allow him to develop his skills as a true QB and not a "system guy" (see White, Pat). This is not to say that they wont still recruit good athletes, however the 5-star QBs aren't looking to play 4 years in a option oriented system, which will force them to take their talents elsewhere.
Conclusion (c) SBB As a lifelong Ohio State fan and Alum, I hate the Wolverines as much as the next guy. However it hurts the rivalry and the conference when Michigan is down in the dumps. Michigan needs to make a change and do it very soon, barring a major miracle, I'm sure that RRod will coach his way right out of Ann Arbor this season. When give the opportunity, the Wolverines need to choose a coach that will bring this program back to life which means they need someone that will get UM back to playing tough physical Big Ten Football, none of that namby pamby "spread" crap.
