Dick Rod's Recruit is Rejected

[BruceK]

One less felon for U of M

http://www.freep.com/article/20100610/COL08/6100384/1354/sports/Why-didnt-U-M-back-Rich-Rods-decision-on-Dorsey?

[jb]

One less felon for U of M

http://www.freep.com/article/20100610/COL08/6100384/1354/sports/Why-didnt-U-M-back-Rich-Rods-decision-on-Dorsey?

No admission director or dean makes this call alone. You can feel UM's upper admin sending Dick Rod a clear message. And he's yet to get it.

BTW - Drew Sharp is all over the place. Which point is he trying to make?

[danwismar]

I was thinking the same thing , JB....about the writer not exactly having any particular point to make...(other than the rather tired one about athletes being exploited by heartless football factories)

This is an embarrassment to Dick Rod for having made a scholarship offer in the first place to a kid who couldn't get by UM's admission standards...which are of course more rigorous than the NCAA's standards.

OSU passes on a lot of kids, who end up at MSU or Minnesota or elsewhere, because they couldn't get into Ohio State. The difference is that the OSU staff typically does enough homework up front to avoid making offers at all until they are relatively sure the kid will pass muster with OSU admissions.

And there has been a certain amount of media piling on with Rodriguez on this particular recruit because of his high profile (maybe the most talented kid in the whole recruiting class) and because it is currently fashionable to beat up on Dick Rod for all kinds of reasons. Rodriguez point is a valid one....this is not that unique a situation. It happens all the time, with many different schools and many different players...and the media is making more of this one than is merited.

I do think it reflects the UM administration's current attitude toward Rodriguez....that they're not inclined to compromise their standards for him...and that they don't have his back in the battle with the media. He's as lame a duck as there is in CFB.

[Loo]

Would they just fire him already. This is embarrassing.

Had they hired someone else, Ryan Mallett, Justin Boren and others would still be there, and that program would have a chance at being ranked when the polls come out.

[jb]

I was thinking the same thing , JB....about the writer not exactly having any particular point to make...(other than the rather tired one about athletes being exploited by heartless football factories)

This is an embarrassment to Dick Rod for having made a scholarship offer in the first place to a kid who couldn't get by UM's admission standards...which are of course more rigorous than the NCAA's standards.

OSU passes on a lot of kids, who end up at MSU or Minnesota or elsewhere, because they couldn't get into Ohio State. The difference is that the OSU staff typically does enough homework up front to avoid making offers at all until they are relatively sure the kid will pass muster with OSU admissions.

And there has been a certain amount of media piling on with Rodriguez on this particular recruit because of his high profile (maybe the most talented kid in the whole recruiting class) and because it is currently fashionable to beat up on Dick Rod for all kinds of reasons. Rodriguez point is a valid one....this is not that unique a situation. It happens all the time, with many different schools and many different players...and the media is making more of this one than is merited.

I do think it reflects the UM administration's current attitude toward Rodriguez....that they're not inclined to compromise their standards for him...and that they don't have his back in the battle with the media. He's as lame a duck as there is in CFB.

Bingo Danny.

Concur 100%. That's what this means.

[fabs227]

I hear the axe starting to swing unless there is a major bowl game and a squeaky clean season. Point being, this was the wrong guy for the job day 1. Yes, all those Michigan guys would have probably stayed if someone else would have come in. For some strange reason Michigan decided it wanted something different. As a Michigan friend of mine put it, they saw the way Florida and LSU spread apart OSU in 2 games and wanted to create the same thing. Great, in theory if you have the athletes, games plan, and coaching to do it. Look at Dick Rod(2001-2007) records outside of BIG East opponents that are considered power conference schools. He was 10-9 including bowl games. Wins versus Maryland(03,04,05,06,07), Georgia (05 bowl), Mississippi St (06,07), GA Tech (06 bowl), and Oklahoma (07 bowl). Losses versus Maryland (01,02,03 bowl), Notre Dame (02), Wisconsin (02,03), Virginia (02), Florida State (04 bowl), Va Tech (05). He did not play anyone! The teams he blew out were either other Big East schools, mid majors, or other divisions. I still say to this day that Brian Kelly, then at Central Michigan, formerly at Cincinnati, and now at Notre Dame would have been the better choice. The hiring was a mistake, but the firing will not be.
As an Ohio State fan, as much as I want to pound Michigan into the ground every year, the Big 10 and OSU need Michigan football to win.

[Hikohadon]

Normally, I'm not big on the existence of karma (unless TJ Ward decapitates POS this season), but this might be an exception. Watching Dick Rod burn in his own private hell is just desserts for that crappile.

But I too am on the bandwagon of not wanting Michigan to be the joke that it has become. Not good for the rivalry, not good for the Big 10/12/14/16. Michigan is supposed to be a Top 10 program, but if you fall hard enough, it sometimes takes forever to get back up (see: Nebraska).

With his support eroded to the point of non-existence, Michigan probably would've done well to rid themselves of RR after last season, even if it did look reactionary.

[gotribe31]

The problem with firing him is that he has recruited for his gimmick offense for the last three years. So if they go back to a real coach with a real offense, he has to recruit real football players for at least two or three years until they are competitive again.

If I were a fan of that school, I'd punch myself in the face. And possibly the junk. But I'd also want RR around for one more year, just in case the year three magic is more than a mirage (not saying it will be). If he steps on his crank again this year (he will) then you s-can him and move on and hope in 20 years no one remembers this fiasco. But we will, and we will laugh.

[Hikohadon]

The problem with firing him is that he has recruited for his gimmick offense for the last three years. So if they go back to a real coach with a real offense, he has to recruit real football players for at least two or three years until they are competitive again.

If I were a fan of that school, I'd punch myself in the face. And possibly the junk. But I'd also want RR around for one more year, just in case the year three magic is more than a mirage (not saying it will be). If he steps on his crank again this year (he will) then you s-can him and move on and hope in 20 years no one remembers this fiasco. But we will, and we will laugh.

True, but waiting one more year with the hope that RR catches lightning in a bottle is also one more year tacked on to how long it will be before the next coach can field a winning team. If I were the Michigan AD, I would've cut bait with RR, hired Jim Harbaugh, and moved forward.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I will admit i'm kinda curious to see what he'll do with this new Frosh QB.

[Loo]

The problem with firing him is that he has recruited for his gimmick offense for the last three years. So if they go back to a real coach with a real offense, he has to recruit real football players for at least two or three years until they are competitive again.

If I were a fan of that school, I'd punch myself in the face. And possibly the junk. But I'd also want RR around for one more year, just in case the year three magic is more than a mirage (not saying it will be). If he steps on his crank again this year (he will) then you s-can him and move on and hope in 20 years no one remembers this fiasco. But we will, and we will laugh.

True. When they hired Rich Rod I kept screaming to people around me, "Ok, we'll probably kill Michigan for three years until he gets his players in...but the Spread kills the Big Ten and if he gets his guys watch out."

Well, Rich Rod has turned this whole thing into a total mess. He really was as low as I possibly thought he could go with Michigan, and then this and other violations surface. He's completely mucked that opportunity up.

If I'm a Michigan fan, I'd want to start over sooner than later.

Maybe most OSU fans won't admit it, but OSU wants UM to be good. We love watching them get beat up by Purdue and others, but it helps Ohio State when Michigan is 8-4 and not 4-8. The rivalry just isn't the same.

[aoxo1]

The problem with firing him is that he has recruited for his gimmick offense for the last three years. So if they go back to a real coach with a real offense, he has to recruit real football players for at least two or three years until they are competitive again.

If I were a fan of that school, I'd punch myself in the face. And possibly the junk. But I'd also want RR around for one more year, just in case the year three magic is more than a mirage (not saying it will be). If he steps on his crank again this year (he will) then you s-can him and move on and hope in 20 years no one remembers this fiasco. But we will, and we will laugh.

The "having to recruit for the spread" excuse is only valid for losses to the mid-upper to upper schools of the Big Ten. OSU, PSU, Wisc, and Iowa. It is a poor excuse for losses to Michigan State, for example. It is absolutely not an excuse for losses to Illinois, Toledo, Purdue, Northwestern.

A quality coach comes in and wins 6-8 games with the way these schedules are set up, regardless of the current players. One good win in 2 years, coupled with some just embarrassing losses.

[BruceK]

I happened to be talking a couple of weeks ago to an attorney at one of the big Washington DC law firms. At some point, with him knowing I'm in Ohio, we started talking Big 10 football. He's a UofM alum, and he say that all the alumni he talks to are sick of him and want him gone. Since I do business with him, I decided not to press him on the point of whether they are sick of him because he's a slimeball, or because he loses.