Finally!

Things have been a bit light here in recent weeks, especially from me, but with finals and all the rampant speculation, I really had no time to write anything good. Just as a bit of a disclaimer, I want to say that while I do have some reservations about Rodriguez, I think that he was a great hire and am extremely optimistic. Moving on...

Yes! Finally, we hired someone, someone who I thought we had no chance at and who isn't named Brady Hoke, Mike DeBord or Ron English. I'm excited for football season to start already just to see this team in action.

I believe that this is a great hire, and I would just like to take the time to take back all the bad things I said about Bill Martin (both here, on the radio and anywhere else).

I truly believe that Rodriguez will be a great fit and someone who can really spark this time. I also think that Mallett can succeed in running the spread and that Rodriguez will put him in a position to do so.

Anyway, this was a crazy ride, and while I"m glad it was over, it was sort of fun. I'm sure we'll have some actual analysis later, but for now I'm just going to go enjoy the fact that finals are over.

A better shade of yellow and blue

Rivals:

It's Rodriguez Months after Michigan athletic director Bill Martin took head basketball coach John Beilein from West Virginia, U-M raids the Mountaineers' coaching cabinet again. Rich Rodriguez will be the Wolverines' next football coach. Watch for more on this story in the hours to come ...

In enemy territory

DetNews Linkage

U-M talks with West Virginia's Rodriguez The Michigan football coaching search has taken another turn. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez is meeting with Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman and athletic director Bill Martin today in Toledo, sources with knowledge of the search said, to discuss the opening. Michigan has been searching for a replacement for Lloyd Carr since he announced his retirement Nov. 19. Rodriguez has been the coach at West Virginia since 2001. His record with the Mountaineers is 60-26.

It's sort of odd that they're meeting in Toledo...is Michigan finally making its move on the city and trying to wrestle it from Ohio's grasp while at the same time landing their coach?

The Scarlet Letter

MLive Linkage

BREAKING NEWS: Michigan interviews Schiano The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger, sister paper of The Ann Arbor News, reports that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano interviewed today for the Michigan coaching job. The Star-Ledger has Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy confirming the meeting - and saying that Michigan athletic director Bill Martin did not ask for permission to speak to Schiano: Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano met with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin "for quite a while" on Wednesday in New York City to discuss the Big Ten school's coaching vacancy, according to a person who speaks regularly with Schiano. Though no official offer has been made, according to the person, one could be forthcoming. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for Schiano. Michigan has yet to seek formal permission to speak with Schiano, but Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy said Schiano's agent, Bryan Harlan, "asked for permission to meet" with Martin. "I have not heard anything formally from Michigan -- yet," said Mulcahy. The New Brunswick (N.J.) Home News Tribune, a New Jersey paper also has a similar report.

Through the grapevine I heard that Bernie Smilovitz of local Channel 4 fame reported that Schiano accepted an offer, but all the other news outlets have reported an offer has not even been made.

Since Schiano turned down the Miami job last year, the rumors have been he would sit tight in Jersey and wait for JoePa to leave and open up the Penn State job. On the other hand though, Schiano's stock might not get any higher; Rutgers failed to meet expectations this year, and a repeat of this year's 7-5 performance would possibly take some shine off Schiano.

Tom Luicci - the Star-Ledger reporter who initially reported that Michigan had met with Schiano - was just on SportsCenter saying that an offer could be given as soon as tomorrow and that Schiano would seriously consider it.

Developing...

Prodigal Son

The prodigal son was returning home, come to deliver us from misery and stagnation, come to rescue us from the worst loss since time immemorial, an annihilation at the hands of a west coast team and the moribund performance against our most hated rivals.

He was supposed to have come to save us with his passion, vigor, and anger. He was supposed to bring with him coordinators who actually knew how to coach rather than just their way around Ann Arbor. He was going to arrive with maize and blue blood flowing through his veins and pride in his heart, but it turned out his blood was purple... or maybe just green.

I cannot adequately describe the path of my emotions throughout the day yesterday as I tried to go about my routine as a college student, to write a paper, to read, to finish a presentation that was due the following week, as I could only stare at a computer screen and watch as the future of my most beloved team was tossed about. I know I don't need to retrace the steps for any of you, I'm sure man you were there with me, staring at MGoBlog as update after update appeared, each bringing hope or despair.

I don't even know how to feel now, when everything seems lost, when the hope of this program seems dead. I suppose it should be sadness, it should be anger, but many it's only confusion. I sit here wondering whether to be mad at Les Miles or LSU or Bill Martin or Kirk Herbstreit or Fate for that matter, but I have no answers, no information whatsoever. I have no idea what happened, and I'm not sure if I ever will.

I'm not going to speculate, but just sit here and stare at a glowing screen. After such a horrible campaign, we had a new general, we had our messiah, the man who would lead us back to the promised land. But instead of a glorious return home to rescue us all, he stayed in the bayou, forsaking this bitter winter and us.

If there is anything that I have learned from this football seasons, is that there is no perfect plot to real life. There are tales that you will tell your grandkids, but they aren't all the tales you wished so badly to tell.

Les Miles for President

The definition of noncommittal:

Les is More?

Since the coaching search began, as evidenced by the banner, my personal preference has been torn between Cincinnati's Brian Kelly and Louisiana State's Les Miles. The Ferentz madness is now dead and buried, and all signs point to Les Miles being Michigan's coach within a week or two.

And I hate it.

First, I'll let Matt Hayes of The Sporting News begin my argument.

Linkage

I know this is going to come as a shock, a slap in the face to the Michigan Men of the world. But hear me out. Want an end-all, be-all coach, a guy who encompasses everything and lacks nothing? Then take a page from history and follow Ohio State's lead. Hire Brian Kelly. Seven years ago, when Ohio State had become a team that couldn't beat Michigan, the Buckeyes went out and did the unthinkable: They hired a coach from the NCAA's lower divisions, Youngstown State's Jim Tressel. Now that Michigan has become a team that can't beat Ohio State, Kelly -- whose first head coaching job was at Division II Grand Valley State -- would be the perfect fit. Not Les Miles, not some NFL retread, not some guy Lloyd Carr thinks is the Michigan Man for the job. This is about hiring the best man for the job. Kelly, in his first season at Cincinnati, is a relentless recruiter, a guy who can draw up X's and O's with anyone. And -- in what would be a welcome change -- he oozes charisma. He is everything Michigan needs, with a history of winning championships in tow. Four years ago, after he won his second straight national title at Grand Valley State, the reality of the business hit Kelly full force. "If I wanted a chance to sit at the big poker table," he says, "I had to start at the bottom." So in 2004 Kelly accepted a job at Central Michigan, which had one winning season in the previous nine, and went to work. Last year, he won a MAC championship. Then, only days later, he took the Cincinnati job. Eleven months later, the Bearcats are one victory away from just their second 10-win season in 120 years of football. Their first was in 1951. Now the big table has an open seat -- and it's time to lay out the cards. If you think Kelly is a gamble, consider where Tressel came from and where he is now -- one of three key hires of the past decade, along with Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) and Pete Carroll (USC), that changed the landscape of the game. High rollers in Columbus wanted Glen Mason, the OSU alum who knew the way of Woody. Instead they got Tressel, briefly a Buckeyes assistant before he left after the 1985 season, built a national power at Division I-AA Youngstown State and was hired by Ohio State in January 2001. Ten months later, the Buckeyes beat heavily favored Michigan. Two years later, they won the national title. Few question the thinking behind Miles going to Michigan, his alma mater. Just like few would've thought twice about the Buckeyes hiring Mason. Seven years later, Tressel is the best coach in the game. Mason is unemployed. "Athletic directors and presidents are tuned in much more now," Kelly says. "A lot of it is breaking through perceptions." And embracing reality.

The comparison to Ohio State after John Cooper left is spot on, except for one thing: Jim Tressel has never expressed any desire to leave Ohio State for the NFL. Of course Kelly hasn't either, but his island hopping from Grand Valley State to Central Michigan to Cincinnati brings his loyalties into question. I understand the hesitation of hiring a coach that could bolt in 3-4 years...but what do you think would happen in those 3-4 years that would cause such a jump?

It's not like Michigan would suddenly be blacklisted if Brian Kelly left after 4 years. Coaches would still be lining up to listen to offers. And Kelly would almost assuredly leave the program in better condition.

I like Les Miles. I think he's a good coach. He doesn't live in the 1970s and 1980s like Lloyd Carr. But that's not the issue here. The issue is the powers that run things behind the scene like Miles because he's a Michigan Man and played for Bo. That's an asinine justification for hiring a man to coach one of America's most storied football programs. It's the same stale "play not to lose" mentality. If Bill Martin hires Miles, he will have hired not to lose instead of hiring to win.

Do these things always work out? No. But the biggest risk is the risk not taken. OSU took a gamble on Tressel. USC took a gamble on Pete Carroll. Michigan is simply afraid to take that risk, and because of that, they will never be all that they can be.

Les will be the guy. And I can't help but shake my head, knowing they could've done better.

Set Phasers to Kill

This is in response to Brian at MGoBlog's post on Michigan offering Kirk Ferentz the head coaching position.

Dear Bill Martin,

As a student and season ticket holder of the university, and a concerned citizen in general, I would just like to inform you of the present date. It is Monday, November 26, 2007. Yes... two thousand seven. I realize that Kirk Ferentz was a great candidate for a head coaching job three years ago. He had come off three straight seasons with ten or more wins, three straight finishes in the Top 25 of the polls and won two Big Ten championships. But. again... 2007...

I also understand that Kirk Ferentz is a nice guy and a moral person or something along those lines. But, if that were all that qualified a person to coach at Michigan, you should just offer Kermit the Frog the job and be done with it.

But again, and I hate to beat a dead horse here, it's 2007 and Iowa has sucked the past couple of seasons. Iowa is 19-18 in the past three seasons, and they just lost to Western Michigan (a team that is 3-4 in the MAC this year)...

Not to mention the fact that Ferentz has a career record of 3-6 against Iowa State... his instate rival. Iowa State! A perennial bottom feeder of the Big 12 whose only bowl win in the last five years was in the Independence Bowl against Miami of Ohio.

For the love of anything holy, just no... no Ferentz. If you're going to hire a Kirk, I'd rather it be James T. Kirk. At least he has some cajones and I'm sure Spock would be a capable offensive coordinator. I know that Mary Sue Coleman used to work at Iowa, and it's nice... no, not it's not nice. This is ridiculous. Is this the Harding administration?! The blatant cronyism is appalling. I'm so sick of Michigan hiring based upon ties to the school and friendships rather than merit. How about we hire the best coach available, Dr. Martin? Isn't that what you promised us?


So, let's go out and find the best person for the job. I'm not sure who that is, but perhaps we should try to offer some good coaches the job, or at least interview some before we hand the reigns to Kirk friggin' Ferentz after his wonderful 6-6 season? While we're at it, perhaps we can bring in an actual OC, or at least someone who doesn't have the job because he used to work here and is currently unemployed. Is it really a good idea to hire someone just because they know there way around Schembechler Hall?

I'm not saying Ferentz isn't a good coach and I'm not saying he hasn't had his successes, but this is ridiculous. How did you even have time to look at candidates or conduct interviews? The regular season isn't even over yet! Go get the best damn coach you can. Go find a better recruiter than Ferentz, a better strategist, a better motivator! I know that you can. Hell, I'm sure I could. And if, if you get turned down by all those people... then go give Ferentz a call. I won't be happy, but at least I know that it's the best we could do.

This is the University of Michigan, the winningest program in college football history! We have eleven national titles, the biggest stadium in the country and more tradition that any of us can even remember. We're the school of Yost, Crisler and Schembechler! For the love of everything that you hold holy, try to keep up.

Is it too much to ask that you interview some more candidates and pick the best one? This shouldn't be so damn difficult. Oh, and Go Blue.

Sincerely,
Matthew Bias