Brock Mealer on Rich Rod

Due to some awful sickness and my general depression regarding the events of yesterday--but mostly because I have a badger in my stomach right now--I wasn't able to put together a post for today. I did come across this video of Brock Mealer addressing the media yesterday after Rich Rodriguez was fired.
Regardless of what you think of Rodriguez as a coach, this is still one of the more moving things I've ever seen in sports. If you don't know Brock Mealer's background, read this. This is just more fuel to the "I really wish we'd kept Rodriguez" fire.

If anything big happens today, I'll try and report it quickly and give my thoughts on it. Otherwise, posting might be slow as we all sit and speculate who might be the next head coach. (Here's a hint: it's Brady Hoke.)

Now it's over?

We all knew it was over yesterday, but maybe now it's official?

The speed at which this happened leads me to believe that Brandon made some headway last night with whatever coach he was trying to bring in. You don't sit in a multiple-hour meeting with a guy you might fire, only to fire him the next day within a few minutes. Either that or Rodriguez was canned yesterday and everyone was staying mum. Either way, this appears to be over. Next up? Who knows.

If not Harbaugh, then who?

We're all of the assumption that, public announcement or not, Rich Rodriguez is no longer the head coach at Michigan. And with all of the rumblings around the league that Jim Harbaugh is between Stanford and the NFL, Michigan is once again put in a pretty ugly situation re: their head football coach. The following is a collection of coaches that will either be mentioned in the coaching search or may be possible candidates should an extensive search begin. Not all of them are reasonable, but at the same time, neither was Rich Rodriguez when he came to Ann Arbor.

The Unlikelies

Gus Malzahn
Offensive coordinator, Auburn

Malzahn's name has been tossed about in nearly every coaching search this year because of the massive success of Auburn and their lightspeed offense. On paper, he doesn't appear to be much: a high school coach until 2006, Malzahn has rocketed onto everyone's radar because of not only the design of his offense, but the speed at which it plays. He was recently offered the Vanderbilt head coaching job (as well as speaking with Maryland about their vacancy) but turned it down in favor of a huge raise ($1.3 million a year) to stick around at Auburn.

Track record: Not much of one. As I mentioned, he was a high school coach as recently as 2005, and has since had brief stints as the Arkansas and Tulsa offensive coordinators before landing at Auburn.
Excitement level: A-. Malzahn is the kind of guy that's going to get a head coaching job eventually and likely make the most of it, not unlike Rodriguez himself who bounced around as an offensive coordinator before turning West Virginia into a legitimate power. Would it be nice to get in on something like that at the ground floor with the schemes and personnel to keep Denard and company in Ann Arbor? Yes. Is it likely? Who knows.
Likelihood: D-. Malzahn has already turned down head coaching positions this year and seems content at Auburn. Unless he was waiting for a big name like Michigan to offer him--probably not--he's staying put.

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Gary Patterson
Head coach, TCU

Hot off the Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin, Gary Patterson is the only name in the country as hot as Jim Harbaugh. Since 2001, Patterson has turned TCU into a perpetual contender with seven 10-win seasons and the aforementioned Rose Bowl win. A defensive specialist, TCU's defenses have been consistently ferocious under his lead. This year, they finished first in both scoring and total offense. He is 1-1 in BCS bowls and 6-4 in bowl games overall. Patterson would be the kind of coup that Rodriguez was three years ago.

Track record: Patterson has been coaching the defensive side of the ball since 1982, bouncing around as defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach, and linebacker coach at programs like UC Davis and Sonoma State. He ended up as defensive coordinator at TCU in 1998 and took over as head coach when Dennis Franchione took the head coaching job at Alabama. TCU has basically been a powerhouse since Patterson took over.
Excitement level: A+. Patterson would be the biggest coup of anyone in the coaching search. Year in and year out, he fields incredible defensive teams and his offenses are usually pretty potent. This would be a huge get for Michigan and would hopefully calm the masses in Ann Arbor.
Likelihood: D+. Patterson has the cachet that Michigan needs in a head coach unlike Malzahn. And you have to think that eventually he'll move on from the relatively small TCU stage onto a bigger program. Coming off the Rose Bowl win might make him either excited to leave or anxious to continue the momentum in the program. I'm betting on the latter.

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If Michigan weren't Michigan, Mike Leach might be in play here, but that's simply not an option. A black mark like his on the resume and you're not going to find yourself at the head of the Wolverines squad anytime soon. So....

The "Meh"s

Pat Fitzgerald
Head coach, Northwestern

Fitzgerald's name has been tossed around by Brian at MGoBlog as well as by other reasonable outlets. Fitzgerald is young, runs a spread system, and has helped turn Northwestern into a nominal power in the Big Ten (teams don't like playing them, anyway). Fitzgerald is working with the same academic hindrance that Harbaugh is at Stanford, so the team's success is somewhat amplified. He is, however, coaching successfully--and by all appearances, happily--at his own alma mater and hasn't made any rumblings about leaving. Fitzgerald would be an odd hire: a middling, in-conference coach that would be a distinct downgrade from Rodriguez. Pickings are slim, however, and so his name gets tossed onto the heap.

Track record: Fitzgerald was in the NFL as recently as 1997, so he obviously doesn't have much of a record to speak of. He spent time as a linebackers coach at some smaller schools until winding up at Northwestern in 2001 and taking over the head coaching position in 2006. Since then, his record has been, well, unimpressive, with his best season a 9-4 stint in 2008 that ended in an Alamo Bowl loss to Missouri in overtime.
Excitement level: C-. Fitzgerald is an unimpressive coach whose biggest attribute is his age. Otherwise, he brings little besides the potential to keep Denard on campus.
Likelihood: D. Fitzgerald seems content at his alma mater and Michigan has no real incentive to hire him.

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Brady Hoke
Head coach, San Diego State

Hoke may be the most likely of all the candidates listed here to actually get the job. He spent 1995-2002 as the defensive line coach under Lloyd Carr, making him a big draw for some of the alumni and a terrifying prospect for anyone who doesn't want to see a Carr descendant return to the throne. When Michigan was going through this same song and dance three years ago, MGoBlog profiled Hoke and concluded thus:

Potential Catches: Potential "catches"? The whole damn thing is one big catch! Even in the realm of people who Michigan would approach after getting turned down by everyone -- EVERYONE -- there are vastly preferable candidates: Ron English. Mike Trgovic. Glen Mason. Jon Chait. Me. The Golden Retriever from "Air Bud: Golden Receiver." Mussolini, who is dead. Dick Vitale. Sigourney Weaver. Richard Nixon's penis. Sigourney Weaver's penis. [Ed. Lol, remember when Brian wasn't a big time star and could say stuff like this?] All of these people and organs don't have a track record that suggests they are a below average MAC coach. It is in this way they are superior to Brady Hoke.

Since then, Hoke has taken over as the head coach of San Diego State where he's led them to 4-8 and 9-4 records. He also had a 12-0 Ball State season in the mix there.

Track record: MGoBlog(.blogspot.com) explains most of it, sans the San Diego State stuff. Regardless, Hoke has had very little in the way of tangible success even at MAC schools and would appear to be an option only because he's pals with Lloyd Carr who apparently still runs things at Michigan.
Excitement level: D-. Honestly, I don't know a lot about Hoke aside from what you can glean from his end-of-season records. That and MGoBlog's explosive hate for him.
Likelihood: B. Hoke seems, like I mentioned, the most likely candidate right now if Harbaugh is off the table. He has the pro-style pedigree that the alumni have been clamoring for and the Old Michigan ties that would appease the people with the money. This does not, however, seem like a reasonable option for a successful football program.

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The Out of Nowhere

Josh McDaniels
Previously: Head coach, Denver Broncos

I started joking earlier about Josh McDaniels being a candidate yesterday, and while he might not be in terms of the administration, his experience, cachet, and skills seem to jive with what Michigan is looking for. McDaniels began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Michigan State, so he's at least slightly familiar with the region and conference. After a year there, he went directly to the New England Patriots where he served in a number of positions, none more important than as offensive coordinator late in his tenure there (though he spent some time as quarterbacks coach as well). From there, McDaniels was hired as the head coach of the Denver Broncos and had a promising season in 2009 before falling apart and a wreck of a season in 2010 that was headlined by a bunch of quarterbacks (including Tim Tebow) that have no business starting in the NFL. 

Track record: Covered above, really. McDaniels has NFL experience, which is important to a lot of people, and a season in the Big Ten as a graduate assistant. He also spent time with the Golden Boy in New England.
Excitement level: B+. McDaniels has the brand name that people are interested in and a record of wild success as the offensive coordinator in New England (largely because of Tom Brady, but still...). Not to mention that McDaniels is the guy in the Broncos organization that really pushed to draft Tebow in the first round, implying that he's interested in the spread offense and college sensibilities.
Likelihood: C-. McDaniels has the name and NFL experience but little else that the administration is looking for out of their next coach. He would be an interesting hire and someone who is almost certainly looking to get back on the field, but ultimately, he probably won't end up in Ann Arbor.

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If you're saying to yourself, "Who else is there?", you're not alone. There's not much. So barring something miraculous with Harbaugh or a coup the likes of which we saw three years ago (Gary Patterson?), Michigan is in a tough spot.

Farewell Rich Rodriguez

I've made no bones about my support of Rich Rodriguez. Since day one, I've been firmly in his corner. I like his attempted overhaul of an albatross of a program, his scrappy mentality, and most of all his offense. I like Denard Robinson and Vincent Smith. I like that every player that has played for him says that he's a wonderful coach and has helped prepare them for the next level. I like the Tao of Barwis and the idea that someone on Michigan's coaching staff owns wolves.

Those who say there wasn't any progress made during Rodriguez's tenure are simply wrong. Three years ago, he inherited a team that lost to Toledo. Whose starting quarterback--at Michigan, no less--was a walk-on. The only reason it seems like this program hasn't made any progress is because the dreck he took over has been put light years in the rear view mirror. Whether or not Michigan should've ever gone 3-9 is another argument altogether, but we knew what we were getting when Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez, and frankly, he delivered.

Ultimately, that wasn't enough. A doomed marriage from the start, Michigan's fanbase was arrogant, petulant, and downright ignorant in its division and rejection of his hiring. At what other school can you imagine such dissidence simply through the hiring of a rising-star coach with a proven track record? Rodriguez wanted to change Michigan's culture into a program of the future when it was clear that the vast majority of the fanbase was too stupid to even imagine it.

There were scandals and losing seasons and a blowout bowl loss, but I will remember Rich Rodriguez's time at Michigan fondly. My four years at Michigan were spent with the last four of the Carr era. Even then, though it wasn't quite as transparent, it was clear Michigan was a program stuck in idle. My malaise had already started to congeal by my senior year when Michigan lost the season opener to Appalachian State. When I was leaving the stadium and everyone was swearing and cursing the heavens, the only thing I said was, "If you're going to ruin my senior year, you might as well do it in week one." The last regular season game we played was The The Game and I just assumed that heartbreak was destined for my senior year as well.

A friend of mine said to me yesterday, "The real problem with this is that now, Michigan won't be a national power for at least two or three more years." But frankly, I haven't been a tried-and-true Michigan fan long enough to ever remember them being a legitimate national power. My love of the program didn't really start until I went to school there. Since then, Michigan is winless against Ohio State and has had approximately one season of national relevance. The rest has been, well, just OK. That Michigan is entitled to national relevance is not something that computes with me, which is very likely something that makes me less angry and embittered toward Rodriguez.

Today, the coaching search begins with Jim Harbaugh likely out of the picture. It's a happy day for Ann Arbor. It's a sad day for me.

Jim Harbaugh, Come on down

Since Michigan's last demoralizing loss at the hands of Ohio State, I kept telling people, "I think Rich Rod will probably be around next year. But the team has to at least be competitive in the bowl game." This is no longer the case. For all intents and purposes, Rich Rodriguez is no longer the head coach at Michigan. Dave Brandon will avoid the media until Wednesday or Thursday when he can officially announce that Rodriguez has been canned and they're beginning the coaching search, which will be over in a day or two when Michigan and Jim Harbaugh come to terms on a contract.

This is disappointing because it means the end of the spread offense at Michigan and more importantly, Denard Robinson, who will land on his feet after a redshirt year at some spread offense powerhouse (see: Auburn, Oregon, etc.). Losing Denard will be the biggest disappointment of all because aside from being an incredible athlete and football talent, he's the kind of kid you want to be the face of your program. So Michigan will be tossed back into the throes of attrition and rebuilding as a new coaching staff looks to maintain the current roster and rebuild a new one. Whether or not they have a redshirt freshman Devin Gardner to take the reigns a la Pryor at Ohio State is yet to be seen, but regardless, Michigan is going to be seriously devoid of talent at key positions once again.

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On Saturday, Michigan was killed. It wasn't even competitive. Part of that was talent: the defense is still remarkably young, poorly coached, and lacking in physical skills. But worse was the playcalling, and this time, not just Greg Robinson's. Michigan didn't do anything on either side of the ball. Mississippi State was, as they showed all year, blitzing like mad men and yet Michigan kept handing the ball off to Vincent "Can't Break a Tackle" Smith who was slaughtered to the tune of 1.9 YPC. The Denard one-man play action wasn't shown once, a play that would've been effective against the Bulldogs defense. Michigan threw about a half dozen screens, a common method for slowing down a blitz. Mississippi State said, "We're going to sell out on the run" and Michigan kept running the ball. This was not an impressive performance from the offensive coaching staff.

On the defensive side of the ball, you have to feel for the linemen, who had to play 80+ defensive snaps and managed to hold the 16th best rushing attack in the country to 3.5 YPC. The secondary, on the other hand, was exactly what we've come to expect: nonexistent. Chris Relf, who is mediocre at best, went 18/23 (what?!?!) for 281 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT. This defense has gotten no better throughout the year and might be the worst in the country. This is an utter embarrassment and it'll be interesting to see what players get substantial playing time next year with the coaching overhaul.

Bullets

• Mississippi St. was 5/5 of fourth down. There was no need to punt the ball because Michigan was unable to stop the Bulldogs from getting 1-2 yards on any play. Reasonable coaches against any other defense in the same position would've kicked the ball 5/5 times. But since Michigan's defense is so terrible, punting was a ludicrous options.
• Denard was held mostly in check going 27/41 through the air for 254 yards. Michigan's coaches kept putting the offense behind the chains by running the same read-option on first down that Mississippi St. was selling out against. Denard did make two of his best throws as a Wolverine in this game (the touchdown passes), but he was put in such awful situations all game that his passing stats look unimpressive at best.
• Relf is bigger than most of Michigan's defenders and ran over all of them.
• Why Rodriguez thought it was a reasonable idea to attempt any field goals in this game is beyond me. Michigan's kickers can't kick.
• Martavious Odoms was a revelation on kick returns. It's a shame he's been out the whole season.
• Michigan's other receivers all looked good in this game, making difficult catches to bail out Denard and the offense in tough situations.
• Michigan's first drive was impressive, but it was clear right away that it wasn't replicable in the long term. The team was in too many third and long situations to expect them to be that successful all day. Michigan didn't make any adjustments all game and it showed.

Going forward, it'll probably be a lot of insider news that this blog isn't great (or concerned with) breaking. Big news will come in the form of coaching announcements, recruit commits/decommits, and other general whathaveyou. I doubt I'll do much posting about the Gator Bowl, making basketball more of a focus. I'll also try to do report cards for all players and coaches throughout the offseason. Time to hunker down and hope that this "coaching search"* goes as smoothly as planned.

*For the record, if Harbaugh ends up taking an NFL job, I'd bet that Rodriguez is around for another year with a new defensive coaching staff. But with the kind of money that Michigan is going to throw at Harbaugh, it's probably close to a done deal that he comes back.