After Saturday's embarrassing loss to OSU it became glaringly obvious that a decision regarding what to do with the Rich Rod boondoggle will be made soon. The overwhelming vibe coming from the Michigan faithful is one of utter discontent toward Rich Rod and the entire situation. The majority of those who don the maize and blue, consider a 10-2 record and a trip to a major bowl as part of their god given right when they're handed an M-card, and they're the ones who seem to be screaming the loudest for Rich Rod's head.
Even though more fans than not fall into the above mentioned category, there is still a large contingent of people who believe that cutting Rich Rod loose now would be a big mistake. These are generally the type of fans who overpower the conversation with stats piled on top of stats about the number of shits Rich Rod takes each day. These "diehards" seem to think that their overwhelming bank of statistical football knowledge allows them carte blanche to endorse Rich while not taking responsibility for the losses that pile up under his watch.
In my opinion that's bullshit. I've been a supporter of Rich Rod during his time at Michigan and thought the hire was a good one from the get go. I didn't foresee things going the way they have but I also never wanted the plug pulled after his first or second year. This was an experiment with a three year shelf life and this was the year where we needed to see significant gains. Sure, the offense put up gaudy numbers but the inconsistency against good teams (most notably MSU, Wisco, and OSU) outweighed the rest. As Lloyd Carr will tell you, people don't give a shit about whether or not you beat Illinois, they want wins against the scarlet and grey.
As many mistakes as the offense made against good teams, I still think Rich Rod's cardinal sin was putting faith in the hands of Greg Robinson. I don't believe I've ever seen another defensive coach look so completely unprepared and outwitted on a weekly basis. His scheme sucked, his players sucked, and his inability to correct things on the fly makes him the worst defensive coach in memory. I don't care how good of an offensive coach Rich Rod is, if he thought this guy was worthy of the job then that shows a serious lack in judgement on his part and not stepping in to correct the situation was inexcusable. Like I said earlier, I always believe Rich needed 3 years. He didn't need to win a national championship in 3 years but he definitely needed to beat MSU or OSU at least once, and bottom line, it just didn't happen. I think he needs to go.
But getting rid of Rich and restoring the program to glory is easier said than done. Uprooting Rich Rod will ultimately mean a new system, one in which Denard will most likely not fit. If this happens you've basically gotta ask Denard to move to WR or some type of hybrid runningback position. I honestly believe he could be an amazing weapon for the team at another spot, but I just don't see him making a move like that unless he thinks he's got a legitimate Heisman shot at that position under the new coaching staff. Most likely Denard will transfer, leaving us with a new set of players in a new system. The only way this becomes worthwhile is if the new system is monumentally better than the last. The question David Brandon must ask himself is whether or not he thinks Jim Harbaugh (the obvious candidate) starting from scratch is better in both the short and long term than Rich staying put with a more experienced Denard at the helm. I personally think that the entire deal depends on if Jim Harbaugh is seriously interested in the Michigan job this upcoming year.
If Harbaugh wants to go somewhere now, then Rich is gone. It makes too much sense to not bring him in. The "Michigan Man" allure is too great and he's proven that he can both recruit and win. Michigan will wait till January 1st once Rich's buy out goes from 4 million to 2.5 but then he'll ultimately be gone. The only real way I see Rich Rod keeping his job at this point is if Harbaugh wants to stay put at Stanford for another year or is 100% sold on leaving for the NFL. If that's the case then we'll see Rich and Denard back to try and fine tune the offensive machine, while Jeff Casteel, West Virginia's defensive coordinator, takes over Robinson's job. If Brandon is half the AD everyone says he is then he should already be on the phone with Harbaugh to feel him out. If Jim says "thanks, but no thanks", then Brandon should fully support Rich Rod in the upcoming days and put his mind at ease so he can prepare for the bowl game and recruit his ass off in the meantime. If we don't hear from Brandon soon, I think the writing is on the wall and Rich should put his house on the market.
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