Michigan Football Tidbits:

This was written before the Michigan State at Michigan game****

I have enjoyed, in the past few months, reading posts by Gus81 on the GBW board. I know most posters immediately jump on him since he seems to always be negative, but believe me, his thoughts are shared by a great deal of important people around Michigan's football program, and most importantly, those who have or are donating money to the university. Posters can always say, “fans are fans we all have our opinions,” but in this case money talks.

Let me explain why Gus81 is correct when he says that Martin is to blame for the current state of affairs.

Immediately after the retirement of Carr (which, by the way, Carr and Martin had had numerous conversations regarding how and when this would happen), Martin formed a coaching search committee. The names on this committee still are hard to come by (some we know of for sure), but their initial primary task was to recommend the next coach.

The committee was given a list of requirements for a new coach:

1) Existing coach with Head Coaching experience.
2) Had been successful.
3) Preference that coach was younger and Michigan would be his "dream job".
4) Would be able to maintain Michigan's standards while running a winning program.
5) Ability to take Michigan's program to the next level.

Number 5 is important to understand because it eliminated anyone who was on Michigan's staff at the time. Boosters (donors) of the program were concerned because for many years Michigan had good teams, but wasn’t considered as overly successful, since they rarely beat Ohio State and rarely won a bowl game. In fact, since 2002, one could argue that Michigan never beat a team they were not supposed to beat (unless you count the yearly Penn State game), and always lost some game, usually in September, that they should have won.

The committee came back and recommended former Michigan player and coach, and current LSU head coach Les Miles. Martin (this is important) told the committee to go back and do more research. They did, and came back again recommending Miles, and offered a second choice of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Martin decided that this was not acceptable, and took over the search. He went out on his own and contacted Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano, and also during that time received phone calls that Coach Rod was interested.

We all know what happened from that point on and here we are at 2-5. Coach Rod was found himself in a situation, and in a program, that he really did not understand. And throughout the process Martin has had to continue to raise money for many aggressive building campaigns.

Some of those donors who had committed or pledged money are not very happy with the results so far. If the football team was winning, they would probably be sending in their donations. It is not so much that they disapprove of Coach Rod. However, some think Martin did not stick with the original plans and process in hiring the coach, and made this decision by himself regardless of the committee’s work. It appears that he did not like their choice, subverted the process, and went out on his own to make the hire. The donors found out about this.

This is the main reason I said in my last blog that Coach Rod's honeymoon period is over. Unfortunately, Rodriguez is the victim in all of this. He had nothing to do with the process or the politics involved. And the bullshit will continue until he wins.

For those who question my statement about the honeymoon period being over, how many new coaches in the past have had the athletic director repeatedly give them a vote of confidence just six games into their first season?

Coach Rod is catching heat (most unwarranted), but nothing close to the heat Martin is getting. Martin has to continue to raise money and now he has an extra burden with the economic conditions. Notice that they put off the basketball practice facility until probably 2010 instead of breaking ground this spring. Also, sales on luxury boxes in the football stadium have come to a halt.

Conclusion:
Coach Rod came to Michigan. He was placed in a difficult situation and now there is undue pressure on him because of decisions made by Martin.

So if Michigan comes out of this, Coach Rod will be the guy to get Michigan over the hump and he will be deserving of much more credit than just turning the program into a winner. He will be saving a lot of people's ASSES. The most unfair part for Coach Rod is that he is really a simple person. He is not a political animal like many football coaches; he is simply a football coach and that's all he wants to be.

So when you watch the games on Saturdays, especially this year, keep this blog in mind and try and understand the pressure Coach Rod is under. I have complete confidence in him. I believe he will be a much better coach because all of this, and that Michigan will eventually be back to national prominence. Buut when I say, "it will be ugly till then," hopefully you understand what I mean.

written by MaizeMan and ErocWolverine