Rich Rod extends his own horizon
"As a coach, you think about years 4-5. But it's also important to enjoy the process of getting there."
http://www.freep.com/article/20090411/SPORTS06/90411019/1054/Rich+Rod++happy++to+have+f...
Rich Rod 'happy' to have first season behind him
By Teddy Greenstein "¢ Chicago Tribune "¢ April 11, 2009
He no longer has to tiptoe through Michigan's football offices, worried about stepping on the wrong carpet square or perhaps forgetting a secretary's name.
Advertisement
Year One of the Rich Rodriguez era was spectacularly awkward, with endless talk about his West Virginia buyout, his break from school tradition on captains, lineman Justin Boren's defection to Ohio State and his initial failure to reserve the No. 1 jersey for a veteran receiver.
"There were a lot of things," Rodriguez said in a telephone interview. "Some were a result of my ignorance and could have been avoided. Everyone's happy to get all that behind us."
Now Rodriguez is completely free to do his job: coach football.
The Wolverines' main goal has been to revitalize an offense that ranked 99th in the country - and last in the Big Ten - at 20.3 points per game.
You don't have to be the godfather of the modern spread-option attack - as Rodriguez is - to know that it all starts with the quarterback. Michigan again has a blank canvas at that position.
Nick Sheridan, a redshirt junior who showed slivers of promise in Michigan's 29-6 victory at Minnesota, was lost for the spring on March 24 after breaking a small bone in his right leg.
That injury put all the attention on Tate Forcier, an incoming freshman who has drawn raves for his quick feet and accurate arm.
Still, Forcier has no game experience, has to learn a complicated system and carries just 185 pounds on a 6-foot frame.
He'll be challenged in the fall by Sheridan and another smallish incoming freshman, Denard Robinson.
"They're really very similar," Rodriguez said of Robinson and Forcier. "They're not the biggest guys, but they both can throw on the run and are very accurate. The biggest thing is learning a new system. You don't want their minds to tie up their feet."
Rodriguez is being optimistic - or maybe he's dreaming - when he says he hopes his offense will rate a 7 out of 10. If his Pat White-led attack at West Virginia was a 10, how would he rate last season's?
"We were a 2," he said, "at best."
That's why Michigan went 3-9, its worst performance in school history and a shocking turn for Rodriguez, who went 32-5 in his final three years in Morgantown.
"I'd have taken it hard if we'd lost four or five games," he said. "Our great fans, they're not used to that. Neither am I. But it wasn't a total washout. We put the foundation in that will help us for the future.
"As a coach, you think about years 4-5. But it's also important to enjoy the process of getting there."
UM spring game liveblog
Anything jump out? I'll pull out what I find interesting and update below.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090411/SPORTS06/90411024/1048/sports/Transcript+of+today...
12:13 Scott Bell: Practice hasn't started off on a very good note. They began with the kicking game, and there were some badly missed kicks and a botched snap in the handful of attempts. They've now switched to punting, and the first snap for that was bounced to Zoltan Mesko. As U-M beat writer Mark Snyder pointed out, Michigan did lose Sean Griffin to graduation, and he could possibly be an NFL snapper. The scrimmage has not yet begun.
-----
12:18 Scott Bell: Three plays into the scrimmage: A rollout pass from Forcier to Odoms for a first down, a pass to Odoms in the flat and a 9-yard scramble by Forcier. All were run out of the shotgun.
12:21 John: Is Forcier wearing a non-contact jersey?
12:22 Scott Bell: Yes, Forcier - who just ran in for the first score in the scrimmage - has a red No. 5 on his jersey. They're blowing the play dead when he's running into any sort of contact. The offense scored pretty easily that drive, which is good or bad news - depending on if you're an offense or defense kind of guy.
-----
12:26 bob: what kind of defensive alignment were they using 3-3-5 3-4 4-3?
12:27 Scott Bell: It's only the third drive so far (the 2nd drive, quarterbacked by David Cone, was a 3-and-out) but the defense has already shown a variety of looks. The most common has been a variation of the 3-4, but sometimes they've had a member of the secondary being one of the "4s". This is probably a variation of the spinner position new d-coordinator Greg Robinson has talked about
------
12:40 Scott Bell: There's the second touchdown of the scrimmage: A Tate Forcier pass to Roy Roundtree.
-------
12:46 Scott Bell: So far it has been pretty offense heavy. There haven't been many jaw-dropping plays on defense, but the defense hasn't given up a really big play yet - something that definitely plagued it last year. Forcier has been impressive so far, and all of the tailbacks are gaining pretty decent yardage when they carry the ball. Minor started, but Smith, Carlos Brown and Kevin Grady have all gotten carries, too.
12:46 Scott Bell: Anddddddd 15 seconds later, the defense gives up a big play. Carlos Brown broke a run for 82 yards and a score.
--------
12:56 ryan: Is Forcier fast enough to run this offense? I know he wont be Pat White but does he have enough speed to be a threat running?
12:57 Scott Bell: It's kind of unfair to make too much of a judgment given the circumstances today (red jersey), but Forcier has impressed me so far. He seems pretty slippery and has good football speed. They've run a fair amount of rollouts for him as he seems to throw his best when he's on the run
---------
1:14 Scott Bell: Tate Forcier just hit Roy Roundtree on a deep vertical pass for a 50-yard completion. That's the second longest TD of the day. The ball was in the air for ~45 yards. It was against the third-team defense, though. An impressive throw nonetheless.
1:16 Nick from Ohio: How would you grade each position?
1:17 Scott Bell: I think that's kind of unfair given some of the reasons I listed earlier. There's been a relatively small sample of plays and it's unfair to be too hard on a third-team defender that gets burned by the first-team QB. I would say that the running backs have probably been the most solid position group as a whole on the day, with safety or linebacker being the shakiest.
Game is archived on UM's website...
for anyone inclined to do some scouting. My intital impression is that Michigan fans who are suddenly falling all over themselves in praise of Forcier and the MUCH IMPROVED! offense are all wet. First of all, defenders couldn't touch Forcier, which is kind of significant in an offense that stresses a running QB, and especially when that QB is about 180 pounds. Second, Michigan's defense lost several starters off a unit that was awful last season. Even worse, several more starters sat out with injuries Saturday. Even worse, Forcier and Co. were facing the SECOND STRING, which I'm pretty sure featured some walk-ons.
wonder why didn't they play 1s vs 1s
- No text -
Dunno
But I'm all for Tate developing false confidence before Tenuta unleashes holy hell on him in September.
My favorite ND coach quote, after 7 clinics...
After several incredibly stupid questions on formations, motions, personnel groupings, etc.
In my guy's defense, he answered question after question with the most tact he had, then he finally couldn't take it anymore...
"I called a f&$ckin' blitz, didn't I?! I'm still f&$ckin' sendin' 'em!!!!!!"
You all know the author.
He had me at "hello"...
Bad ass defensive players need bad ass coaches. The pretty boys and the geniuses can coach the offense. I want bad asses on the defensive staff.
Might be my typical sunny optimism, but...
by scriptcomesfirst 
, Sunday, April 12, 2009, 19:57 (6253 days ago) @ Busco21
this could be an arse kicking of epic proportions if we play offensively anywhere near where we did against Hawaii. I think our defense is going to feast on this poor kid.