I stand corrected...

[tarun262]

on a couple things:

1. Rich Rod is sucking it up at Zona - 4th season and his team is 2-5 with the same pathetic defense he used to have at Michigan.
2. Sparty are pretty terrible. I just hope we beat them. They will be fired up for the game against us since a win there pretty much makes their season. Hope JH sticks it to them.

 

[ChicagoBlueFan]

on a couple things:

1. Rich Rod is sucking it up at Zona - 4th season and his team is 2-5 with the same pathetic defense he used to have at Michigan.
2. Sparty are pretty terrible. I just hope we beat them. They will be fired up for the game against us since a win there pretty much makes their season. Hope JH sticks it to them.

Well, it doesn't get fixed overnight...
He fired Casteel-is he still using that crap 3-3-5 defense that basically can't stop anything?

 

[anon_sg4bgyiuileo1]

on a couple things:

1. Rich Rod is sucking it up at Zona - 4th season and his team is 2-5 with the same pathetic defense he used to have at Michigan.
2. Sparty are pretty terrible. I just hope we beat them. They will be fired up for the game against us since a win there pretty much makes their season. Hope JH sticks it to them.

1. A couple of years back, a couple of guys here were lamenting that we let him go. Good times.
2. We will crush them. I love how they can get up for this game, but somehow our guys won't. Chill and enjoy the show.

 

[jemblue]

This is actually RichRod's 5th year there. All of his players were recruited by him. There are no excuses - he's just not that good of a coach.

 

[jemblue]

1. A couple of years back, a couple of guys here were lamenting that we let him go. Good times.
2. We will crush them. I love how they can get up for this game, but somehow our guys won't. Chill and enjoy the show.

Oh, we will. We have a bit of a score to settle...

 

[Reality Man]

I have actually watched a few Arizona games. Here are my thoughts.

RR is a good fit at UA. They are a basketball school. The Pac 12 is more of an offense oriented conference. So RR and UA need to stick it out.

RR actually is not running the 3-4. He has some talent but some injuries. His team actually looks more competent than he back in the day at UM.

UA is struggling with health at the qb position. New guy is young and talented but needs more seasoning and not a great passer.

Bottom line is RR can do very well if he gets a great dual threat qb and rb and is transitioning to playing a more conventional defense. Realizes he made mistakes. There was an article about him changing his defense after Casteel failed too at UA. It just doesn't work against better teams consistently.

Opponents have seen him enough to know how to prep. The problem going forward is that if RR doesn't have a great qb/rb then he is like a fish out of water and for the most part a .500 coach.

He is so much like Beilein. He is a system coach and just like JB...if he strikes lightning in a bottle with a great PG/SG and a #4 then he can do well. RR can't win big without superstar players unlike a Harbaugh who has a more balance oriented system where he can adjust.

Hope that makes sense. RR has been exposed as a fraud on some level. Not a bad coach. Not a Hoke. Think in the Brian Kelly range. JLS? Remember him? You have your Meyer, Saban, Harbaugh, Clemson coach(Ford?), etc. Then you have your Chryst, Riley, Stoops, Fisher in the 2nd tier, etc.

Then you start getting into the Kelly range and whole lot of guys that are basically average with their own strengths and weaknesses. Put Charlie Strong in that category to the low end like a Franklin and that is where you will RR. Just another guy unless you have a big time qb/rb.

My point isn't that RR is incompetent. He is not but most coaches are in the meaty part of the curve and they will always have a job. RR just got a job that was beyond his schemes and recruiting ability.


RM

 

[GoBlue_since1985]

1. A couple of years back, a couple of guys here were lamenting that we let him go. Good times.
2. We will crush them. I love how they can get up for this game, but somehow our guys won't. Chill and enjoy the show.

Exactly.
Somehow msu only plays tough in this game but UM players don't?
Give me a break.

 

[jemblue]

Bottom line is RR can do very well if he gets a great dual threat qb and rb

Couldn't this be said of most coaches? Who wouldn't look good with awesome players?

The thing about RichRod is that he came up with an innovative offense that put him ahead of the curve for a few years, when he was at WVU. But the game is always changing and coaches are always copying each others' playbooks. Today, there is nothing innovative about the spread, zone read or tempo - everyone uses them to some extent. So what makes RichRod stand out now offensively? Nothing. And offense is all he's got - he brings nothing to the table in terms of defense, special teams or recruiting. He's an average coach now, at best.

 

[ChicagoBlueFan]

Couldn't this be said of most coaches? Who wouldn't look good with awesome players?

The thing about RichRod is that he came up with an innovative offense that put him ahead of the curve for a few years, when he was at WVU. But the game is always changing and coaches are always copying each others' playbooks. Today, there is nothing innovative about the spread, zone read or tempo - everyone uses them to some extent. So what makes RichRod stand out now offensively? Nothing. And offense is all he's got - he brings nothing to the table in terms of defense, special teams or recruiting. He's an average coach now, at best.

Not just that-not only does he seem disinterested in playing defense, but he doesn't seem much concerned about the LOS on either side of the ball. So good teams will continually run it down his throat, while a good D can often snuff his running game by blowing up enough plays. I'd say he's definitely been exposed.

 

[dgerichs]

on a couple things:

1. Rich Rod is sucking it up at Zona - 4th season and his team is 2-5 with the same pathetic defense he used to have at Michigan.
2. Sparty are pretty terrible. I just hope we beat them. They will be fired up for the game against us since a win there pretty much makes their season. Hope JH sticks it to them.

Watch for Sparty and the cheap shots in that game. Nothing to lose.

 

[Reality Man]

Couldn't this be said of most coaches? Who wouldn't look good with awesome players?

The thing about RichRod is that he came up with an innovative offense that put him ahead of the curve for a few years, when he was at WVU. But the game is always changing and coaches are always copying each others' playbooks. Today, there is nothing innovative about the spread, zone read or tempo - everyone uses them to some extent. So what makes RichRod stand out now offensively? Nothing. And offense is all he's got - he brings nothing to the table in terms of defense, special teams or recruiting. He's an average coach now, at best.

Yes...although RR has a system that allows a dynamic dual threat qb to really put up points...See a guy like Lamar Jackson or Deshaun Watson.

RR gets a lot out of a great dual threat qb where other coaches wouldn't necessarily exploit that greatness. You are correct...the spread has been countered a little more effectively but the big variable that set RR apart a decade ago was he was GREAT in a lesser conference. Big fish in little pond with the occasional bowl victory against a team that hadn't seen his system.

Now...take the BT or Pac-12...these teams get to see you every year. Oregon runs it. Colorado. So the element of surprise isn't quite there as you said. RR is now to the point where he understands his teams need to now play defense since he just can't score 50 pts on a weekly basis.

Notice with RR...he lights up the scoreboard against weaker teams. Did the same thing at UM.

The real question is which was the bigger mistake....RR or Hoke.
Answer: RR because he changed the system and was a mediocre recruiter. This is the thing that really gets lost in this discussion...he is really not a very good recruiter or developer of talent.


RM

 

[ArrowheadBlue]

RR never has learned that defenses win titles. You can't always outscore your opponent and 8 years of losing, even with a competent QB, should have taught him something. Maybe he'll take over Purdue.

 

[BigHouseBallin]

we're gonna beat the brakes off of Sparty....