In his season-ending press conference, Rich Rodriguez said he would evaluate all of his coaches and make changes as he saw fit. I’ll believe that when I see it.
Rodriguez also said before the Capital One Bowl that he would adapt his system to his players...we can all agree that didn’t happen. The interesting thing is that Rodriguez has been described as being extremely loyal to his staff, loyal to a fault. Almost all his staff has been with him from the start, and I don’t see him cutting longtime friends after one year.
Ironically enough, Lloyd Carr’s critics said the same thing, even though he let go of Jim Herrmann and Terry Malone, among others. Here is my breakdown of each position coach and how I would change the staff. If RichRod makes no changes to his staff, I have no idea how he will sell that to the Michigan fan base, but if he can pull that off he could sell sand in the desert.
Calvin MaGee—Offensive Coordinator
Michigan’s offense ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten, and the entire country for that matter, the passing game was horrific, and the running game was OK at best. What was most concerning was the fact that there didn’t seem to be any adjustments throughout the season.
Rather, it seemed Michigan ran the same three passing plays-bubble screen left, bubble screen right, deep ball on the sidelines-and three running plays-sweep right, sweep left, and up the middle, all season long. The tight ends were an after thought and apparently you are not allowed to throw over the middle in RichRod’s spread. Add to all that McGee throwing Threet under the bus in the media by saying the QB was “consistently inconsistent, same as always” and McGee is as much to blame for Michigan’s woes this season as Rich.
However, McGee has been with Rich from the start and he calls Rich’s plays. They have a track record of looking like a terrible high school offense in year one and then turning things around in year two. They better hope they repeat that feat in Ann Arbor in 2009.
Coaching status—totally safe
Greg Frey—Offensive Line
One of the main reasons for Michigan’s struggles moving the ball this season started up front. The line lost four starters, including number one draft pick Jake Long. The only returning linemen was Stephen Schilling and the team went with six different starting combinations throughout 2008, including converting a defensive tackle into an offensive linemen.
Frey gets a break for the youth of the line, however, this is still Michigan and it’s not like Lloyd Carr was recruiting offensive linemen whose offers read Eastern Michigan, Rice, Temple, and Michigan. The guys waiting in the wings were all 4 star guys who had offers from Michigan, Ohio State, and Texas among others. It’s also not like Michigan just switched to a zone blocking scheme this year, Carr made that switch back before the ‘06 season, so they were familiar with the system.
The line was perhaps one of the most disappointing parts of the team, it also didn’t help they they didn’t improve all that much either. Still, with 4 new starters you give Frey the benefit of the doubt, next year he won’t be able to play the inexperience card.
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about 1 month ago
Good breakdown except there is no way Schafer will be let go. He has proven at other places that he does well and he needs to be given time. He gave an interview before the season started and stated that the defense will probably not be what everybody expected.
about 1 month ago
Great Article, although I will agree with Ryan I do believe that if you look at the stats, that Shafer's second year is greater than his first, although it might not show since we have 3/4 of our DL going to the NFL. Gibson and Dews should go, but I think Smith should also be let go, although he won't because RR is loyal. In the end, I don't think any of these coaches will be fired or replaced. RR is too loyal to his guys, especially Smith and Gibson since they came to Michigan from WVA too. Hopefully, some other school will draw these guys away.
from about 1 month ago
I agree that I would be shocked if any of these coaches are fired and replaced. The only one who might be in jeopardy in Shafer simply because he has no ties to the program or RichRod. The above is what I would do to the staff not what Rich will end up doing.
about 1 month ago
I also don't believe any of the Michigan coaches will be fired or asked to leave by Rich Rodriguez this year. Not after year 1.
I mean come on. Michigan had 2 starters on offense this year coming back (Schilling and Greg Mathews) and about 5 starters back from one of the Big Ten's most mediocre of defenses in 2007!
Scott Schafer did some good things. Michigan actually got pressure on QBs and made some sacks on a semi-consistent basis for the first time since 1997. Only problem with this sack-attack approach is you damn well better have a good coverage secondary. Don't need the INTs (Michigan rarely got those anyway), but you NEED GOOD COVER.
Michigan didn't.
The secondary, for which Michigan has ZERO DESIGNATED COACHES, imploded this year and was the worst in the conference. This is uttlery embarrassing given the experience between Trent, Harrison, Warren and Brown. Pretty sad commentary on what came before RR, if you ask me. M
Next year Michigan's defense returns 7+ starters. The only good news about that is that Brandon Graham comes back and there is a promising freshman class being assembled right now by RR (again). The Michigan secondary signals to be somewhere between Holy Mother of Godawful and way below average in 2009. I hope Michigan gets some new blood in their like Fr. Justin Turner and Soph Brandon Smith.
The Wolverine LB corps is the only aspect of the defense that showed improvement, but Ezeh and Mouton can't do it all by themselves. Who will be the 3rd linebacker? Nobody stood out to me in 2008. I would expect more freshman and sophomores to play at LB in 2009, which should be both interesting and scary as hell.
Offensively, Magee and Smith are two of the finest coaches in the country. Yeah, I said it. 2008 was a perfect storm for them both. Threet was too slow to run this offense and highly susceptible to injury (given the OL experience) and his high frame. Sheridan was faster and more elusive, but couldn't throw the ball with any accuracy and was otherwise a walking interception dispenser. Clearly Feagin runs only one play well - QB keeper off tackle. Feagin was a 2 star QB for crying out loud!
Just look at the QB completion % for Michigan last year! I mean, is that bad coaching? No! That's what happens when you're QBs spend zero time with the new playbook and no time making throws with the receivers during the offseason. The chemistry, timing and delivery was way off this year.
If you're a coach, you coach up the QBs you have and hope for the best (i.e. gradual improvement). I might be alone, but I thought Threet and Sheridan both improved in certain aspects by the end of the season. They could improve even more over the coming offseason. Rod Smith turned Matt Grothe into a mushroom laying QB at SFU. But I doubt either Threet or Sheridan will start another game for Michigan going forward, because coaches like RR prefer their own "system players".
Lining up Michigan in the I-formation or splitback pro set would have done nothing to improve the outcome of 3-9 because in the end Michigan had one of the worst 3rd down %s in the country and one of the worst turnover margins in the country. No formation overcomes this. You could have Brett Favre or Pat White at QB and the result would have been very, very similar.
Turnovers kill giants, let alone freshman-laden, inexperienced and graduation ravaged Michigan football teams. It's not an excuse. It's a fact.
from about 1 month ago
Michigan only lost 3 starters from their defense from '07, a defense that was pretty good actually. The secondary was 8th in the country last year, and there is no excuse for the defensive play this year.
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