The main errors Rodriguez has made were very similar to the errors Weis made last year. Namely, not picking a starting qb before the season starts and sticking with him (destroys the qb and teams confidence) and failing to coach to the strengths of your players instead of you system.
Yes, Charlie Weis had some players with more time in his system, but these were 2-3 star guys who he hadnt recruited. Rodriguez has had less time with guys in his system but more overall talent. He inherited one of the more dominant defensive lines in the country, as well as some highly recruited skill players. Notre Dame was completely devoid of talent in its junior and senior classes last year - you cannot say the same of Michigan this year.
My arguement was neither that Weis is a genius nor that ND had been dominant against spectacular competition this year. Please re-read posts before making foolish comments
I grew up in Michigan and sort of followed Michigan football growing up. Also, this is probably one of the better college football blogs out there.
Yes, Notre Dame did lose their entire offense the year before. They lost their starting qb, starting rb, both starting recievers, 3 starting offensive lineman, their starting TE - most of which were drafted or are playing in the NFL. Many of their replacements were true freshman.
If you can look at your schedule and see two wins (much less four) after losing to a home to a 1-4 MAC team, then I really don't know what to say to you.
and have thrown in a bit of irrational thinking, illogical tangents, and low class weight bashing...
I never made the argument that it is fair to compare Weis's and Rodriguez's first seasons. ND did have some veteran talent his first year, but you are over estimating the talent that was in the system and the degree to which it had been developed - 1 highly rated recruiting class, followed by two years in which he who shall not be named decided he would rather work on his golf game than recruit. I can guarantee you that Michigan has more 4 and 5 star recruits in their junior and senior classes this year than ND did last year, because ND had 2 (thats right, 2).
I am saying that our season last year is equivalent to your season this year, that both are a product of many things, and poor coaching and player development are likely not the primary reasons in either case.
As for being asshole, I think it's safe to say that walking out on bunch of college kids you recruited just before the biggest game of their lives qualifies you as a selfish asshole. And until you develop some sort of rational argument as to how being overweight affects ones ability to coach, I'm not even going to address it.
Brian, I find it ironic how aptly your many criticisms of Charlie Weis now apply to your current coach (and team) - a debacle of a season, a remarkable inability to show any improvement during the season, a failure to properly utilize the current roster, losing to teams with far inferior talent accross the board....
You (and everyone else on the charlie weis is the worst coach on the planet bandwagon) basically have 3 options:
1. Admit Weis is not such a terrible coach and the previous ND's 2 BCS seasons were not a fluke. Accept that ND's year last year was a product of piss-poor recruiting by he who shall not be named, defections at key positions, and an unfortunate schedule, mixed in with some admittedly poor coaching decisions
2. Conclude that Rodriguez is incredibly overrated and is a horrendous coach, in fact, one of the worst in college football and should be fired immediately if michigan is going to be respectable in the next 10 years
3. Admit neither, and accept the fact you are a huge hypocrite
Recent Comments
The main errors Rodriguez has made were very similar to the errors Weis made last year. Namely, not picking a starting qb before the season starts and sticking with him (destroys the qb and teams confidence) and failing to coach to the strengths of your players instead of you system.
Yes, Charlie Weis had some players with more time in his system, but these were 2-3 star guys who he hadnt recruited. Rodriguez has had less time with guys in his system but more overall talent. He inherited one of the more dominant defensive lines in the country, as well as some highly recruited skill players. Notre Dame was completely devoid of talent in its junior and senior classes last year - you cannot say the same of Michigan this year.
I grew up in Michigan and sort of followed Michigan football growing up. Also, this is probably one of the better college football blogs out there.
Yes, Notre Dame did lose their entire offense the year before. They lost their starting qb, starting rb, both starting recievers, 3 starting offensive lineman, their starting TE - most of which were drafted or are playing in the NFL. Many of their replacements were true freshman.
If you can look at your schedule and see two wins (much less four) after losing to a home to a 1-4 MAC team, then I really don't know what to say to you.
and have thrown in a bit of irrational thinking, illogical tangents, and low class weight bashing...
I never made the argument that it is fair to compare Weis's and Rodriguez's first seasons. ND did have some veteran talent his first year, but you are over estimating the talent that was in the system and the degree to which it had been developed - 1 highly rated recruiting class, followed by two years in which he who shall not be named decided he would rather work on his golf game than recruit. I can guarantee you that Michigan has more 4 and 5 star recruits in their junior and senior classes this year than ND did last year, because ND had 2 (thats right, 2).
I am saying that our season last year is equivalent to your season this year, that both are a product of many things, and poor coaching and player development are likely not the primary reasons in either case.
As for being asshole, I think it's safe to say that walking out on bunch of college kids you recruited just before the biggest game of their lives qualifies you as a selfish asshole. And until you develop some sort of rational argument as to how being overweight affects ones ability to coach, I'm not even going to address it.
Brian, I find it ironic how aptly your many criticisms of Charlie Weis now apply to your current coach (and team) - a debacle of a season, a remarkable inability to show any improvement during the season, a failure to properly utilize the current roster, losing to teams with far inferior talent accross the board....
You (and everyone else on the charlie weis is the worst coach on the planet bandwagon) basically have 3 options:
1. Admit Weis is not such a terrible coach and the previous ND's 2 BCS seasons were not a fluke. Accept that ND's year last year was a product of piss-poor recruiting by he who shall not be named, defections at key positions, and an unfortunate schedule, mixed in with some admittedly poor coaching decisions
2. Conclude that Rodriguez is incredibly overrated and is a horrendous coach, in fact, one of the worst in college football and should be fired immediately if michigan is going to be respectable in the next 10 years
3. Admit neither, and accept the fact you are a huge hypocrite