Back in the late 1960s, Michigan picked up a new head coach, some guy by the name of Schembechler. His coaching style irritated a lot of the people at Michigan. He worked his kids like dogs. Players left the team in droves.
But Bo had a method to his madness. He was going to whip these players into men. In the locker room, he erected a sign that proudly read “Those who stay will be champions”.
And then he went out and made those men into champions. Bo Schembechler was the greatest coach Michigan football has ever known, and probably ever will know. Those players who left the team became nothing more than a motto for his newer players, and he used their weakness to make the rest of the team stronger.
It was brilliance and it drove Woody Hayes insane.
Fast-forward to today.
Michigan just lost two more players to transfer, LB Marell Evans and DL Vince Helmuth have both announced their intent to transfer and will no longer be with the team.
How many players have now transferred out of Michigan since Rich Rodriquez took over as head coach? 10? 20? Seriously, does anybody know? And does Justin Feagin count, since he was only kicked off the team for selling cocaine to UM students?
The second season of RichRod hasn’t even begun yet, and Michigan fans are touting their fourth “star quarterback” of his era (five if you count Ryan Mallett). Every position has been hit by transfer and dismissal, and very few positive things have been said by the outgoing players.
The point is that these kids are not being worked to death by a great coach like Bo. These kids are simply not being given what they thought they were getting when they signed on at Michigan.
Rich Rodriquez is no Bo Schembechler, and the evidence of that keeps piling up.
Yes, Michigan has a weak schedule this year. Yes, they will likely win more than the 3 that they won last year. Yes, they will get better.
But if anybody thinks that the mass exodus that we are seeing now resembles the 1969 Michigan team, you’re sadly sadly mistaken. Clinging to the “but RichRod had a history of awesome second seasons” is not going to cut it.
His players know it, and you know it. The rest of the college football world knows it too.
But for some reason, the Michigan fans refuse to see the writing on the wall. By the time Jim Tressel has won 8 in a row against Michigan, they might be angry enough to see it too. Let’s hope they cling to Rodriquez as long as we clung to John Cooper.
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