Will a 6-1 start next year unite this family?

But it is how you finish. We did not finish this season.

We've lost 7 games in a row to BCS competition and you're asking about a hypothetical 6-1 start next year? I'll be ecstatic if we're just improving game by game throughout the entire season next year.

I'm alread "All in" for this team. I am just focussing on the season at hand now which is the recruiting season. A good finish to that would be great.

I don't think you'll see most fans "all in for Rich Rod" next year unless we're in serious contention for the conference title next year, and beat two of ND, MSU, and OSU (and if there's a loss there, it had better be close). So, a 6-1 start would be encouraging, but I think, particularly after this year, a lot of people will sit back and wait to see the final record. 8-4 will help, 9-3 would probably get everyone to relax, and 10-2 probably gets people all-in. More likely, I think it'll take a few years for people to get all-in, as next year may see us at 8-4 or 9-3, but not contending for the title, etc. With that slow but steady progress, all-in will take longer for many. Me? I'm all-in now.

RR will have his opportunity next year but unless the team gets at least 9 regular season wins I don't see him staying in A2 any longer. Even at 9-3 he would still have a sub 500 record as the Wolverines coach. There is too much discontent around the program to let that continue. I think we'll see some definite coaching changes this off season and hope they can get the D turned around. If not it'll most likely be happy tails for all involved and another 2 years of rebuilding. It's going to be a long next decade for M fans.

I doesn't matter how you start if you finish with 5 straight losses including 2 against inferior opponents.

This year they started 4-1 and ended 1-6 Starting 6-1 but finishing 1-4 or whatever will still be taxing on the unbelievers.

Given this year, a good start against a week schedule will still leave a lot of people with questions/doubts. The start is important, but the end more so. RR has to show improvement as the season goes on and beat Big 10 teams/finish in the top 1/2 to 1/3 of the league. I expect these things to happen as next years team shouldn't have to start the number of inexperienced players that his first teams have, but only a successful year, not a successful start, will quell the skeptics.

If we start 6-1 we'll already be bowl eligible, so that'd be nice.

I'm a fan of Michigan football. My allegiance does not change simply because my team wins or loses each week. It's clear to me that Rich Rod is recruiting well, is addressing the fact that defensive recruiting from 2005-2007 was a complete farce, and is developing a VERY, VERY good team that will return Michigan to the top levels of college football. I'm fully in and cannot wait for the team to be successful. For those who waver simply because a young team of 18-22 year olds with obvious deficiencies didn't do as well as Tom Hagan demands they do every week, well, I don't know what to tell you. It's easy to be a Michigan fan when the team is 10-2 and everything is going well. If you are a real fan of this team, though, your faith does not waver when the machine is being re-built. GO BLUE.

The Ohio State marching band and football team celebrate in Michigan Stadium with fans.

Edit: to jg1221 (missed the right reply button) Some sleight of hand: "If you are a real fan of this team, though, your faith does not waver when the machine is being re-built." Sorry, but I think this is BS. You are deceitfully conflating love of Michigan football with support for RR or being fully in. The two are not the same. I love Michigan football. That does not waver. My faith in the direction of the program can waiver without my level of 'fanhood' lowering. Remember that Thomas Jefferson said "DIssent is the highest form of patriotism". It is because I love this program that I question where it is going. If "fully in" means blind allegiance, then I'm out. This goes for Michigan football or whatever else.

Watched the 2nd half of UConn/ND, and Huskies looked pretty scrappy. Most of their team returns, right? This game scares me - they will be looking to knock us off in the stadium opener. I don't have this one in the "sure win" column. GO BLUE!!

That kind of start would be great. But it seems to me that people are either already "all in," and willing to be patient, or they're not. Personally, I'm all in. I want to see RR have two to three more years to get things going. Regarding next year, I would be happy with 8 - 4, thrilled with 9 - 3, satisfied with 7 - 5. Also regarding next year, I would like to see at least a couple quality wins. A bigger issue than the record next year is the quality of the recruiting class. We have got to have solid recruits in the secondary and in the linebacking corps. If the in-coming class is solid, or better, great, it would seem only fair for us to wait until the 2011 campaign to give a substantive "grade" to RR. By 2011, RR will have had sufficient time to have his schemes, athletes, etc., in place. A second issue next year is the coaching on the defensive side. I feel strongly that GERG needs a minimum of one more year. If there is one area I would consider changing, it would be Hopson and the linebackers. But, regardless, the revolving door and the constant change wreak havor on the team. We forget that with the recent previous transitions (Bo to Moeller, Moeller to Carr,) you brought up someone who knew the system, knew the athletes, and who didn't bring wholesale change. The kind of changes we signed up for with RR were necessary for Michigan football to stay relevant and to compete on the national stage in this century. I am pretty irritated with all the fans who expect instant success, and instant gratification. We have been spoiled by success, and expect it to continue no matter what. It will continue, but it will take a while. It would be the worst disaster possible to gut the current coaching crew. No one in their right mind of any worthwhile caliber would even consider coming to Michigan if we fired RR or Gerg at this point. We would lose athletes, be behind in recruiting, and go down the path of Nebraska and ND. There is one other factor which I think State of Michigan homers fail to understand. Despite your love for your Alma Mater, Michigan is not the most wonderful destination on the planet, geographically or academically. We are competing for kids who can go to USC or UCLA, or stay in the south where they came from, or in the states of Ohio or Pennsylvania, if that is their home. Between the economy, and the snow and cold and grey and wet, and the proximity to Detroit, we are already operating from a disadvantage. UM has the advantage of the institutional success in football, it's facilities, it's stadium. We are still operating from a position of strength. Firing the coaches would imhe, decimate this strength.

If Jimmah goes pro, and Brian Kelly is ND's head coach (which may or may not be likely) and Dayne Crist is then the starter with Mike Floyd, I'm afraid. Vawy, vawy afwaid.

you need to be OUT! I will always support the team. I did as I watched Carr continually misuse talent resulting in worse records than should have been. I supported the team as I watched Lloyd ignor DB and LB recruiting for the most part toward the end of his tenure. I supported the team as I watched Lloyd deemphasize the off season program. I have no question about the direction the program is headed it is just headed there with an extremely young roster that is down serious numbers in scholarship players. Should we have beat Illinois- probably and if Roundtree makes a cut and scores them Illinois' back up QB is in and win #6 is in the book. Should we have beat Purdue-probably and a bad pitch changed momentum. Then a missed extra point chipped away at the confidence a little more. That's the adventures of youth and inexperience. RR has had one recruiting class of his own. Lets see how he closes this one. He has brought in speed we have never seen and is setting the program up nicely for the future. Remember, Patience is a virtue, and if we are not back in the bowl picture next year I'll begin to have the same questions?

A 6-1 start in 2010 will be like a 4-0 start in 2009: a good thing as far as it goes, but not enough. Let's consider the perspective. During the Bo-Mo-Carr era, Michigan at least contended for the Big Ten title almost every year, and won at least a share of it about half the time. During that era, Michigan won fewer than 8 games only twice—and remember, until 2006 they had only 12 chances in which to do it, counting the bowl game, as opposed to 13 chances today. So if you're a Michigan fan, a season with 7 wins or less is poor; an 8-win season is disappointing; a 9-win season is merely average, and a 10-or-better season is good. During the Bo-Mo-Carr era, Michigan was hardly ever an underdog at home, and it was favored most of the time on the road. It was the very rare game that you didn't believe Michigan had a good chance to win. With that in mind, I'd say that Rodriguez needs to get to 9 wins (including a bowl game), with at least two wins over major rivals (ND, MSU, PSU, OSU), to silence his critics next year. I am not saying that anything less than that gets him fired, but if he wants to silence most of his critics, that's what he needs to do. For what it's worth, I think 6-6 and a bowl invite is the minimum result next year that gets Rodriguez back in 2011, but he'd be on awfully thin ice without at least a couple of more wins.