Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines...

[Psyblast]

Generally I would just discuss this in the Michigan team thread, but I think a lot of outsiders would be very, very interested in this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080...=operasport-20

http://mgoblog.com/content/three-and-out-questioning

Some cliff notes:

• John Bacon is a very, very credible writer, and is very well-known at Michigan.
• Bacon was given unrestricted, unfettered, 100% total inside access to the football program during RR's three years in Ann Arbor.
• Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is pissed at him now because of this book. It paints everyone you can think of in a negative light. Rodriguez, Lloyd Carr, Michael Rosenberg, the Athletic Department, everything.
• Bacon has since been banished to the cheap seats in press row in Michigan Stadium, the spot usually reserved for The Worst Sports Writer in America*.
• The UM Athletic Department has put pressure on the M-Den (official UM store) to not sell the book. Try and digest that for a second.

This throws the curtain back from everything that happened from the coaching search in November and December of 2007 to the end of Rodriguez's three years in January 2011. Michigan football's been shrouded in a cloud of mystery (by design) for basically all of our lives. Anyone who's curious about a peek inside will want to read this. General consensus is every Michigan fan that reads it will be angry, no matter whose side you were on during the last three years.







* - Drew Sharp

[Blaxican8504]

Consider me intrigued.

[Sportsbuck]

I'm very intrigued as well.

[ImTellinTim]

*Clicks on amazon link and pulls debit card out of wallet*

[Herky]

Looks interesting. Rich Rod seemed like such a weird hire from the start and things never panned out.

I know Kirk Ferentz was a name that Bo wanted before he passed, and that former Iowa president and Michigan prez Mary Sue Coleman did as well when Carr was done. I wonder if that will get touched on?

[NEOPARADIGM]

Quote: Originally Posted by Herky

Rich Rod seemed like such a weird hire from the start ...

From a fan's perspective there wasn't anything weird about it. He was the hotshot, up-and-comer, and the fanbase was screaming Michigan needed to "catch up" to the rest of the country. So they went out and got the guy who invented the spread, the very offense that was shredding the Wolverines under Carr. Made good sense at the time.

In lieu of this book, however, I suspect everything I just typed will look naive. Very interested, indeed.

[lonewolf371]

Quote: Originally Posted by NEOPARADIGM

From a fan's perspective there wasn't anything weird about it. He was the hotshot, up-and-comer, and the fanbase was screaming Michigan needed to "catch up" to the rest of the country. So they went out and got the guy who invented the spread, the very offense that was shredding the Wolverines under Carr. Made good sense at the time. In lieu of this book, however, I suspect everything I just typed will look naive. Very interested, indeed.

That's just you. A lot of the fan base was divided over Rich Rod.

[jake44np]

Quote: Originally Posted by NEOPARADIGM

From a fan's perspective there wasn't anything weird about it. He was the hotshot, up-and-comer, and the fanbase was screaming Michigan needed to "catch up" to the rest of the country. So they went out and got the guy who invented the spread, the very offense that was shredding the Wolverines under Carr. Made good sense at the time. In lieu of this book, however, I suspect everything I just typed will look naive. Very interested, indeed.

Invented the spread?? Come on now. RR didnt invent the spread.