A House Divided

"Braylon Edwards, Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan."

About 20 seconds after those words were uttered by Braylon on Sunday Night Football, I posted a topic on The Wolverine's premium message board, simply saying, "This place is about to explode."

And, well...yeah. The Michigan internets exploded in minutes. "OMG Braylon isn't all-in", "What a jackass thing to say", "He's just supporting his former coach", "He's right, RR sucks", etc...The Wolverine, Go Blue Wolverine, UMGoBlue, MGoBlog...as per usual nowadays, the slightest spark ignited a firestorm for Michigan fans, as everyone tried to analyze and develop theories about Braylon's comment. My opinion? It's pretty obvious he was taking a shot at Rodriguez. He didn't declare himself to be from Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan when he first arrived in the NFL, or immediately following Carr's retirement, or even after the 3-9 nightmare of 2008. But at 8-16, discontent with Rodriguez is at an all-time high. Now it doesn't necessarily mean that Braylon hates Rodriguez and wants him to be tarred and feathered and driven from Ann Arbor at once. It could just mean he's pissed off and frustrated about the current state of things - just like we all are.

The difference is, a comment like Braylon's doesn't help anybody. It isn't productive, and it's actually the last thing Rodriguez or anyone else associated with Michigan needs right now. There's enough bad press out there about RR and Michigan already. Having a prominent former player make a comment to imply discourse is just another log on the fire. There is so much ammunition for Ohio State and Michigan State and Notre Dame and everybody else to use against Michigan on the recruiting trail, this sort of thing just makes me shake my head. I have no doubt that Braylon Edwards loves Michigan with all of his heart, just as I have no doubt that the people screaming for Rodriguez to be fired immediately love Michigan with all their hearts. The problem is, these people (and Edwards, apparently) don't realize that by taking shots at our coach in the open like this, veiled or otherwise, you are damaging the entire product. It has been said multiple times already that recruits read message boards. I don't know if people assume recruits don't use computers or have internet access, or what. But they're human, just like you and me. They aren't shutoff from what the fans are saying. It's bad enough when the fanbase freaks out about a "3-star" commitment with few or no elite offers and some feel the need to attack the recruit, saying he sucks and is undeserving or whatever. That's bushleague as it is. But it might be even worse when people are screaming on the message boards for RR to be fired, and these faux insiders say that they heard from a friend of a friend whose brother lives next door to the mailman of the second cousin twice removed of someone powerful in Ann Arbor that Rodriguez is a dead man walking. Recruits read this, and they pause. 99% of the time, it's unfounded bullshit. But 99% isn't 100%. One percent is enough to plant the seeds of doubt in a recruit's mind about whether Michigan is the right place for him or not.

We're in pieces right now, both as a fanbase and as a football program. There are fans who still support RR, there are fans who hate him. Inside the program, there are people loyal to RR, people loyal to Lloyd Carr, loyal to Les Miles, and god knows what else. There is no unified front. It's a house divided, and with each passing day, each lapse in recruiting, each comment from a former player, each log in the fire...we inch closer and closer to becoming Michigan State, circa 1990s. Look at MSU right now. Regardless of what anybody thinks of Mark Dantonio and their football program, there can be no doubt that there is a united front in East Lansing. They believe they have the right man to lead their football team, and they are operating as one mind, with nary a whisper of dissent. There is stability where chaos once reigned.

The point being: There is no "Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan." There is no Rich Rodriguez's University of Michigan. There isn't even a Bo Schembechler's University of Michigan. It's just the UofM. And while it is bigger than any one man, damage to one man still damages the whole. It's time that everyone starts to recognize and acknowledge that. In a year, things will be much clearer. There's a new sheriff in town (Dave Brandon), and while he will give Rodriguez a fair shake, he will expect results as well. 2010 must be a positive year, and everyone knows that.

Now, onto my second point...

I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I have been one of Rich Rodriguez's biggest supporters. I spend an unhealthy amount of time shooting down anti-RR arguments across the internet. You'd think eventually I'd learn, but whatever. I remain very solid in the pro-Rodriguez camp, even though the meltdown in the second half of 2009 drove me a bit insane. But very quietly, perhaps even subconsciously, I am slowly starting to prepare for the possibility that 2010 will be Rodriguez's last year here before we part ways and start over again. Why? Because I just can't help but look at everything working against him and wonder: Who the hell could accomplish anything under these conditions? Now before anybody sneers and accuses me of making all sorts of excuses for Rodriguez's crappy record, shut up and read this: the foundation of RR's problems is 8-16. And with each passing day, the opportunity to lay this at Lloyd Carr's feet becomes increasingly smaller in the rear view mirror.

But since Rodriguez arrived, he has had the following to deal with:

• Mass defections to the NFL and transfer, leaving almost nothing in terms of offensive talent, and even less in terms of spread offense talent.
• His own stubbornness and inability to keep his hands off the defense, which has wilted epically in both seasons.
• Justin Boren, whose words still leave a stigma even after almost two years removed.
• The Michigan State propoganda machine about how they are taking the state over and Mark Dantonio is morally superior.
• A local media that is absolutely gunning for his head, whether it's because he's not Les Miles or his accent is funny or because Michael Rosenberg's diapers need to be changed.
• Accusations of NCAA violations trumped up by that same slanted media.
• A former assistant at Michigan that he let go when he arrived who decided to play snitch and help that same slanted media get in touch with some bitter ex-players.
  
• Dissent and infighting inside the athletic department of the university that employs him.
• Having to withstand constant little nonsense like Braylon Edwards' comment.
• High school coaches within our own borders steering players away from Michigan.

And that's just off the top of my head. And I'm going to expound on that last one.

In the picture I opened this post with, the large fellow on the far right is Johnathan Hankins, defensive tackle for Southeastern High School in Detroit. Hankins grew up cheering for Michigan along with his parents. In a perfect world, this would be a no brainer. School offers scholarship to prospect who grew up a fan of that school, prospect commits to school and signs with school on Signing Day. But in the real world, there are always complications, and the complications in this case have turned a relatively ordinary prospect (Hankins is a middling 3-star recruit on Rivals, Scout, and ESPN) into one of the most contentiously debated topics in Michigan recruiting circles this year.

The saga unfolds like this: Hankins, remember, a lifelong Michigan fan, attended Michigan's camp in June with the hope that he would earn a scholarship offer, which he would jump on and commit to. Things did not go as planned. Hankins showed up with an injured ankle, and more importantly, he was out of shape and could not stay in for all the drills Michigan's coaches were running. We all remember Gabe Watson, and Alan Branch, and even Terrance Taylor. All very, very talented defensive tackles who had weight and conditioning issues that prevented them from reaching their full potential. Under the watch of Rodriguez and Barwis, there is no place for the super-hefty, out of shape space eaters who can't go more than two or three plays without huffing and puffing and coming to the sideline. More importantly, those types of players simply couldn't last under Barwis's strength and conditioning regimen. So they couldn't offer Hankins a scholarship then. They told them they would watch his film after his senior year and see what happens then.

Well, lo and behold, Hankins got himself into shape during his senior year, to the point where Michigan's coaches were impressed enough to offer him a scholarship in early December. There was some hesitation in the Hankins camp about why Michigan waited so long to offer. These issues were put to rest when Hankins visited UM a month ago. At the same time this was going on, Ohio State began to ratchet up its recruitment of Hankins. They had offered him a "noncommittable offer" back in the summer around the time of Michigan's camp. One of those "we really like you and we'd love to have you, but we wanna see how things play out down the road, but don't lose our phone number, we'll be in touch" type of offers. Now pay attention to this part:

***Michigan was not in the position to make this kind of offer. Hankins did not grow up a fan of Ohio State. He grew up a fan of MICHIGAN. If Michigan had extended ANY kind of offer, Hankins would've tried to commit, and Rodriguez would have to pull back the reins, because he was not ready to accept a commitment from Hankins then. Think about that for a second, how do you think that would've played out in the Detroit Free Press? "Rodriguez shuns lifelong Michigan fan with fake scholarship offer"***

Simply put, Ohio State, being the out of state, non-childhood favorite, had the luxury of "offering" Hankins while not really offering him. They wouldn't have taken him back in June, either. But fast forward back to December, Ohio State is back in the fold, and it's a real, legitimate offer this time, just like Michigan's - except the Hankins camp remembers Ohio State "offering" back in the summer, so they feel obliged to be more receptive to OSU. Michigan tried like hell to accelerate Hankins' recruitment, to get him to cancel his Ohio State visit and commit to Michigan, wrapping up the storybook ending of the recruit committing to his boyhood dream school. Well, it didn't happen that way. The visit to Ohio State happened, and Hankins emerged from it saying OSU led for his services. But he still didn't commit, and as things dragged out toward Christmas time, whispers on the inside suggested that the afterglow of the OSU visit would wear off and Michigan would be at the top.

And then Archie Collins stepped in.

In the picture at the top of this post, in the middle, in between Braylon and John Hankins - that's Fred Smith. Fred Smith was a wide receiver for Detroit Southeastern whose senior year was 2007. He was a pretty big prospect, a 4-star, top 250 player on Rivals, and Michigan and Michigan State were both after him hard. Keep in mind this is pre-Rodriguez, Lloyd still in charge. This is pre-App. State, even. Anyway, Fred Smith also grew up a huge Michigan fan, along with the rest of his family. His parents spoke glowingly about Michigan and how they would love to see their son play for the Maize and Blue. His recruitment started to wind down in July of 2007, with an early August decision planned. His final two schools were Michigan and Michigan State, and all signs pointed to him joining Michigan's class. Even SpartanMag, MSU's Rivals site, predicted on August 2 that Smith would commit to Michigan.

Three days later, Smith committed to Michigan State in a press conference at his school, and his brother, just as diehard a UM fan as Fred was, left the room in tears.

What happened?

Archie Collins happened.

Archie Collins is the defensive coordinator for Southeastern High. He played safety for Michigan State University in the late 90s under head coach Nick Saban and defensive backs coach Mark Dantonio. As you might expect with that background, he has a deep, unrelenting hatred for Michigan. And, of course, being that everything is against Michigan in this universe now, Collins controls the recruitment of every Southeastern prospect. This is not a situation I have indepth details about or understanding of. I certainly understand how a football player would be close to his coach, view him as a father figure, listen closely to his advice, etc...but this goes beyond that, and I don't know how. What I do know is that sometime after the SpartanMag article on August 2, 2007 that predicted Fred Smith would commit to Michigan, during that weekend, Smith was suddenly out of contact. His family didn't know where he was, nobody did. As it turns out, he was with Archie Collins, being whisked away to East Lansing for the weekend before his commitment press conference on Sunday the 5th. During the weekend, Collins had Smith meet with Mark Dantonio and Tom Izzo, and they sold Smith on the ultimate dream of playing both football and basketball for Michigan State. They won the kid over, and he committed to MSU in a stunner.

In his two years at MSU, Fred Smith has one catch for seven yards, has never set foot on the Breslin Center floor in an MSU basketball jersey, and was part of the attack on the fraternity that resulted in suspension and an arrest for conspiracy and assault.

Since then, a nice little pattern has developed with regards to Southeastern and Michigan. William Gholston, the best defensive player in the state this year and a perfect fit for Michigan's defense under Greg Robinson - he lives with Archie Collins, and was never, ever coming to Michigan. Everytime Gholston visited Michigan (which was rare, because there were always practices being scheduled that interfered with those plans...), Archie Collins was attached to his hip. You wonder why Gholston would "settle" for Michigan State when he could go to Alabama or USC or Ohio State? He lives with a diehard Spartan who loves Dantonio and has already steered one of his players to MSU. Gholston isn't going anywhere besides East Lansing.

And then there's Hankins. Just like Fred Smith, he grew up a big Michigan fan. And after the late scholarship offer came through, it looked like he would get to live out his dream after all...or not. It's pretty amusing how things have progressed. Or at least it would be, if it wasn't so transparent and frustrating. For a while, Hankins talked about visiting Alabama. Huh. You mean the team coached by Nick Saban, who coached Archie Collins at MSU...Oh but wait, there are a ton of rumors going around about Gholston being on the verge of decommitting from MSU and going to Alabama! And suddenly...the talk of Hankins visiting there dies down. So - no committable offer from Florida, and it's too far anyway. No visit to Alabama because that could rattle Gholston's MSU commitment...oh look, there's one school left at the table, and it just happens to be Michigan's archrival, Ohio State. Pretty convenient that Michigan's coaches were scheduled to have an inhome visit with Hankins tonight (January 5th), and all of a sudden Hankins is tired of the process and has set a press conference to announce a commitment tonight, so he obviously won't be seeing UM's coaches.

What's the moral of this whole story? It's this. As Michigan fans, we try to measure up our team and program against Ohio State's. That makes sense. Historically, we are both equals, and we always try to one-up each other and we measure our success against the other. But in this case, this is one situation that Ohio State could never experience. A high school coach inside our own borders deliberately steering recruits away from Michigan. Has this ever happened in the state of Ohio, ever? Is there one single high school coach in Ohio that doesn't bow at the Temple of Tressel and dream of sending his players to play in Columbus?

Michigan's always recruited nationally, that's another difference between us and Ohio State. The state of Michigan doesn't produce enough high-level talent to sustain the type of program we aspire to be. We have to go elsewhere to stock up. But at the same time, I do subscribe to the thought that you cannot recruit poorly at home and be successful. And while UM is still doing okay, we are currently locked out of two of the more consistent talent producing high schools in the state. As long as Archie Collins is at Southeastern, we'll never land a prospect from there, because he will run interference and steer the kid elsewhere no matter what. And, regrettably, as long as Rodriguez is here, we will more than likely be shut out of Detroit Renaissance too. I've already mentioned the issues that exist between Michigan and Renaissance, and it's going to bite us badly next year. UM missed out on Chris Norman last year, who is a fine linebacker. UM missed out on Mylan Hicks this year, which hurts because he's really good, but Michigan's doing fine recruiting corners. But next year, Lawrence Thomas is the slamdunk #1 prospect in the state, and could contend for 5-star honors. And he's the beast linebacker Michigan fans have lusted for for so long, he grew up a Michigan fan (heh)...and he goes to a school that is not friendly toward Michigan and has established a pipeline to Michigan State.

Eventually, the losses are going to add up. The hits just keep on coming, and I have serious concerns about if this is an environment that Rodriguez can succeed in. I'm not excusing him, because he is responsible for much of it...but it's a shitty situation, and I just don't know if he's going to make it.