When is Enough, Enough?

2008, Lloyd Carr is gone, Michigan is without a coach. With no worthy candidate in the system, Michigan would be hiring a non-Michigan man since the man who coined the phrase, Bo Schembechler. Michigan is coming off a disappointing year, which included a loss to App State. However they had a chance to win the Big Ten with a win over OSU, they lost, and then beat Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow in Coach Carr's last game. Michigan had a stud QB in waiting with Ryan Mallett, two great senior wideouts for him to throw to with Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington. Michigan had tons of upside. The defense had solid guys returning (but little known fact, Carr had 14 scholarship spots available on his roster, meaning he left Michigan barren with recruits coming up, and the defense suffered most.)

But Michigan is still an enticing job. They're good every year, and with the right coach, they could be a national championship contender in a couple seasons with a QB like Mallett. Michigan had it's short list of candidates, top two guys were Michigan men. The first guy to get an offer was Jim Harbaugh, he declined.

Harbaugh had been at Stanford for one season, they went 4-8. Doesn't seem like a resume that would qualify one to be the head coach of the University of Michigan, now does it? Harbaugh had success before that at San Diego, three seasons there and two of them he went 11-1. Coaching resume would say he was under-qualified, but he fit an important criteria: He was a Michigan Man. Jim had played quarterback at Michigan for four years and new what it meant to be a Michigan man.

But he turned down the job. He didn't want to leave Stanford after one, losing season. He didn't want to leave the program in a terrible situation. I respect him for doing it. Now he's turned them around. They had a heisman finalist last year in Toby Gerhart, contended for a Pac-10 title, and this year they are a contender again with QB Andrew Luck.

Next on the list, Les Miles. Current coach of the LSU Tigers. LSU was a dominant program at the time, but he was playing with mostly Saban's guys. LSU won the national title that year, but it seemed like Les was the guy. He played for Bo, Michigan man, successful coach. Everyone thought for sure he was going to be the next head coach of the University of Michigan.

And so did Herbstreit... Kirk reported prematurely that Les was going to coach Michigan, this made Les angry, and he signed an extension with LSU. "The Riverboat Gambler" was staying at LSU. Les Miles was supposed to be the guy. He was supposed to be the guy that steps in, run a similar offense but with a change from the stale past of the Lloyd Carr system. But he didn't... Now the next coach of the most storied program in football was a mystery.

The Wolverines then turned to Greg Schiano, the head coach at Rutgers. He had turned the program around and was having some success that seemed to come out of no where. It looked like he was on the brink of accepting the Michigan job, then he had a team meeting and told his team he was staying. He was crying his eyes out saying he felt bad for considering it... Not the guy I want as my coach, but hey, it works for Rutgers...

Finally the Wolverines found there way to Morgantown, West Virginia, talking to a coach by the name of Rich Rodriguez. This seemed like a desperate move for the Wolverines. He had just turned down Alabama, signed a big extension, and was coaching at his hometown school. Plus he ran a drastically different system and surely Michigan would not want to go through a drastic change. Michigan would want a fresh face who runs a similar system so he could step in and win, right?

Apparently not... Rich Rod agreed to become the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, and that's when everything went bad... The leave from WVU was messy and it cost Michigan a lot of money and a lot of bad publicity. Stud QB Mallett transfered to Arkansas and other recruits backed out of their commitment because they did not want to play in this system. Manningham and Arrington went pro, All-American lineman Justin Boren transfered. Things did not look good for Michigan...

And they weren't. Rich Rod went 3-9, the worst record Michigan has ever had. The 30+ Bowl streak ended, and Michigan went 0-3 verse the rivals. It was embarrassing. But things were supposed to improve when he got his guys. Rich Rod kept preaching give the system time...

Year two, Michigan gets off to a red hot start. 4-0 and everything was going great. Michigan looked on track and people started to believe in his spread system... Until Michigan tanked, finishing 5-7 and once again would not be playing in a bowl game. But there's Rich, preaching to us that we have to give his guys time to fit into his system.

Year three, the test year. Michigan is 5-0 and looking very impressive... on offense. The defense looks horrible, worse than last year, and last year's set Michigan records for suck. Big game against the rival Spartans this Saturday, a "must win" for Rich Rod and Michigan. He can't afford to go 0-3 verse Sparty and you have to defend the Big House.

But once again, the spread and Rich's system was thwarted by a legitimate Big Ten team. Can this spread work in the Big Ten? Rich Rod better hope it does, other wise he's gone.

In my opinion, Rich should be gone regardless of how this season ends. He's lowered the academic standard of the players, (most notably trying to recruit Demar Dorsey) his players aren't held as accountable as they were in previous regimes (Darryl Stonum, Justin Feagan) And for the first time ever Michigan has had NCAA sanctions imposed on them. Michigan just needs to cut ties with Rich Rod and try to forget it ever happened.

His record at Michigan speaks for itself. The great Rich Rod is a stellar 13-17 (includes 2010) at Michigan with an even more impressive 4-14 mark in Big Ten play. The only rival he's beaten is Notre dame, which he's done twice. He's 0-3 verse State and 0-2 verse Ohio State. And by looking at both teams, you can pretty much chalk up 0-3 verse the Buckeyes.

The rest of the season could determine if he stays or is fired at the end of the year. 0-3 verse MSU and 0-3 verse OSU is a fireable offense for a Michigan coach in my book, so the only thing left that could save him is a win verse the Buckeyes. If he does that, every Michigan fan will praise him and everything he's done, but regardless of that game, he needs to lose his job. No ifs ands or buts about it.

But who will replace him. Dave? The new guy is gonna struggle with transition too! Yes, he will struggle going from this mess to a legitimate football style. But there is only one guy I want to be the next coach: Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh turned around the Stanford Cardinal and can do the same for Michigan. He is a Michigan man, so the integrity will return, and he knows the expectations and standards Michigan has.

Jim Harbaugh is the perfect fit as the next Wolverine coach.