In case any of you missed it over the weekend, here is a clip from Rich Rod’s SportsCenter interview:

I wouldn’t be surprised if (at least parts of) it appeared on SC again sometime soon, or when football season rolls around (so… far… away).

Posted under Coaching, Video

See the full press conference on MGoBlue now. Afterwards, we had a chance to ask Rich Rodriguez a couple extra questions. He responded thusly:

We also asked new DC Scott Shafer a couple questions about the defensive recruits and defensive schemes. Shafer, by the way, is a REALLY cool guy, and said a couple off-camera remarks about expecting to have a run of success against OSU.

Posted under Coaching, Personnel, Recruiting, Spring Coverage, Video

My roommate brought this story to my attention:

Leave it to a minor league hockey team to come up with “Shred Rich Rodriguez Night.”

The Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League are hosting just such a night on Saturday for their game against the Charlotte Checkers, the Intelligencer of Wheeling, W.Va., reported.

Fans are invited to bring newspaper articles or pictures of the ex-West Virginia / new Michigan coach and feed them into an industrial sized shredder that will be stationed in the concourse at WesBanco Arena.

Though I intend to stop worrying about West Virginia’s obsession with the Michigan coach, this one was too funny to pass up.

Posted under Coaching, Misc.

Calvin Magee left WVU, in part, because he felt that he could not be taken seriously there due to his race.

This sort of story is probably partially true (notice how immaturely WVU fans and administration have acted through the entire ordeal), and partially “if you’re going to come up with stupid bullshit, I’ll fire back with something that is at least plausible, if no more true.”

At this point, Michigan coaches could just stop dignifying a lot of what West Virginia fans and administration, etc., are doing and saying with this sort of response. However, it’s been over a month of dealing with this shit, so they can be forgiven, at least this once.

Posted under Coaching

Toledo Blade

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if there was a real basis to the rumors, why would a source inside WVU’s athletic department insist on remaining anonymous?

Posted under Coaching

By now, the story of Rich Rodriguez sneaking into WVU’s athletic offices to shred every file known to man has become well circulated. However, its veracity has yet to be proven. Aside from the fact that West Virginia apparently allowed Michigan’s head coach access to all its files (of which there were no backup copies), this story seems to be sketchy.

What motivations are in play here?
Why is Rich Rodriguez motivated to destroy scholarship and community service information of West Virginia’s football team? There is no readily apparent reason he would do this.
Why would someone from West Virginia’s athletic department leak the story on condition of anonymity if it were true? Speaking anonymously appears to be a smokescreen to drag Rodriguez’s name through the mud without repercussion.
The West Virginia motivation to do anything negative to Rodriguez has been established by this point (down to new Michigan WR coach Tony Dews having to tell the PRINCIPAL(!) of his son’s school in West Virginia to stop mistreating the son).

Posted under Coaching

Several Michigan fans have expressed concern with Rich Rodriguez’s recruiting prowess, based on the classes he was able to pull at West Virginia, and the prospects he is in on now at Michigan. Is Rich Rodriguez a bad recruiter? Are players who would fit Rodriguez’s system simply not as highly-rated?

First, Coach Rodriguez’s recruiting situation at West Virginia is not at all similar to what it is (and will be) at Michigan. WVU’s recruiting class for the current year is ranked 53rd. However, this includes the decommit of 5-star Josh Jenkins (at least partially because of Rod’s departure), and some recruits who were likely to commit to West Virginia following Rodriguez to Michigan (which includes LB Taylor Hill, and is expected to include D.J. Woods in the near future). West Virginia’s 2007 class was ranked 18th, and 2006’s class was tied for 56th. This was all despite top-ten finishes during that span.

Moving to Michigan, the in-state talent pool will be greater, as will national recruiting prowess. West Virginia was able to recruit primarily in the East, mostly northern, but with a few Floridians and a couple pulled from the South, along with some players from Ohio. Michigan regular gets commitments from players in Texas, California, the east coast, and all over the Midwest. In this case, the prestigious name of Michigan can only help in recruiting, despite the fact that West Virginia has been more successful (or at least as successful) in the past 3 years.

Another concern among fans is the current caliber of recruit that Rich Rodriguez is working, even with the added advantages of being at Michigan. 3 to 4-stars such as Taylor Hill, D.J. Woods, and Terrance Robinson have become the hot names of late in Wolverine recruiting circles. There are several factors to take into account here. First, Rodriguez must fill a need for slot receivers in his offensive scheme, as Michigan is almost utterly lacking in that category. These slot-types are not as desired nationally, as their use is not important to all offensive styles. Secondly, it is late in the recruiting process. This has a two-fold effect: Rodriguez must play catch-up with most recruits, who he hasn’t had an opportunity to be in contact with as Michigan’s coach (which puts him more than a year behind on most kids). Also, this late in the recruiting process, many highly-rated players are already committed. Despite this, Rodriguez was able to secure the commitment of high-4-star S Brandon Smith. Only 8 5-stars on Scout remain uncommitted (Michigan already has a commitment from a 5-star in Boubacar Cissoko):

• Terrelle Pryor had eliminated Michigan before they hired Rodriguez. Now they are considered to be in his top 2.
• Julio Jones and Deandre Brown are big (6-4 and 6-6.5(!), respectively) wide receivers. There is not much need for them on Michigan’s roster.
• Omar Hunter had Michigan as his leader at one point, but then committed to Notre Dame. After reopening his commitment, he is considered a Florida lock.
• Rahim Moore would be a nice player to have, but he has not considered Michigan since last summer.
• Jamie Harper is expected to stay within the state of Florida, and Michigan already has 2 RB commitments (plus a fullback if you consider Christian Wilson still committed).
• Josh Jenkins felt betrayed by Rodriguez when he left WVU.
• Brandon Harris never considered either Michigan or West Virginia.

Rodriguez’s primary recruiting job this year was to re-recruit the players already on Michigan’s roster that could be of use in his new offense (which didn’t necessarily mean Ryan Mallett, though he would likely have been the starter in 2008). Also, Rodriguez needed to keep Michigan’s recruiting class intact, which he has done perfectly thus far. Finishing the recruiting class with players that fit his offensive system (which Michigan’s current roster is lacking), and hopefully snagging a highly rated player along the way (Terrelle Pryor) are next in line in terms of priority. Don’t judge Rodriguez’s recruiting abilities until the first class that is all his, next year.

Posted under Coaching, Recruiting

Michigan’s change in the coaching department is not limited merely to the new headman, Rich Rodriguez, and his coaches, but Director of Weight Training Mike Barwis is now a Michigan man, bringing his support staff with him.

Blue Steel

Not only is Barwis’s philosophy different from outgoing S&C guru Mike Gittleson, but his equipment is as well. Rumors of Michigan’s purchase of $600,000 circulated shortly following Rodriguez’s introduction as UM’s head coach. Confirmation comes in the way of an auction, held this Sunday at Oosterbaan fieldhouse. The Michigan Athletic Department is selling off all of Schembechler Hall’s old gear.

Barwis is known as an intense motivator, who expects nothing less than the best from his players. Ryan Mundy, ex-Michigan and West Virginia YAC-ceding safety has experience in the programs of both Gittleson at Michigan and Barwis at West Virginia. Mundy thought Barwis’s program was much better:

As far as the strength and conditioning program is concerned, Mundy says West Virginia’s program is much more intense than Michigan’s. Other players that have transferred to West Virginia have said similar things in the past, explaining that at some other places the players coming into the program are physically bigger and more explosive. West Virginia develops it.

“Down here we do a lot of Olympic lifts – squats, power clings, hang clings and things like that – and I hadn’t done that type of stuff since high school,” Mundy said. “I had to get my body back used to doing those types of movements. As far as the practice down here we run after practice and we never ran after practice at Michigan.”

For a nearly-obsessive look at Mike Barwis, check out Go Blue Michigan Wolverine, and try to ignore the fact that he’s practically illiterate.

Posted under Coaching

Dean Hood’s WF Bio

Hood runs a 4-3 defense at Wake, and his teams have been successful comparative to their recruiting rankings, especially in the past two years. None of Hood’s defenses (or Wake’s teams, for that matter) have had a four-star recruit, let alone a five-star. Hood has taken mostly two-star recruits, with the occasional three-star, and turned them into not only respectable, but actually good units.

Wake’s 2007 team, after losing several starters off a great 2006 squad (including 3-star turned-NFLer John Abbate), was 27th in total defense, without facing any 1-AA teams to pump up the stats. 2006’s team was more lauded, but was actually worse, 45th in the nation in total defense.

One area in which Wake has excelled is forcing turnovers. Though turnovers are somewhat random occurrences, if a team consistently forces them, there has to be some schematic or style element that helps cause them (this is particularly true of interceptions, which is where Wake’s defense gets the majority of their takeaways). In 2006, the Deacons gained 31 turnovers, good for 10th in the nation. 2007’s team gained 35, 3rd in the nation.

These gains between 2006 and 2007 were made despite the team losing 6 starters on the defensive side of the ball. This includes John Abbate, an early entrant who led the team in tackles.

Posted under Coaching

Rodriguez’s staff is still being completed, but as of now we know (or assume) the following:

Offensive Staff
Coordinator/RB Coach Calvin Magee, QB Coach Rod Smith, and Line Coach Greg Frey are following Rodriguez from Morgantown to Ann Arbor. UM holdover Fred Jackson will also be on the offensive staff. West Virginia’s WR coach Tony Dews is still questionable, but those in the know expect him to come along. Magee will apparently step back from RB coaching duties, with Fred Jackson taking them over.

Defensive Staff
Coordinator Jeff Casteel has agreed to stay on Bill Stewart’s staff at West Virginia. Safety Coach Bruce Tall and Secondary Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Tony Gibson, however, are heading to Michigan. It is expected that Michigan’s DL Coach Stripling will be rehired, as Bill Kirelawich is staying at WVU. Michigan will need a new coordinator, in addition to a linebackers coach. Wake Forest’s Dean Hood has coached with Rodriguez in the past, and is being mentioned as a potential DC, for the 9th and final spot.

Others
West Virginia’s Mike Barwis is expected to become Strength and Conditioning coach at Michigan, taking over not only football but all men’s programs. His wife, Autumn, would then be named as director of strength training for women’s programs.

Since Hood is a new name to most Michigan fans, more will be coming on him soon.

Posted under Coaching