Thursday, July 17, 2014

Athlon Sports: Is it time to panic at Michigan?

Is it time to panic at Michigan? My answer is no, but it won't stop people from speculating about the future of Michigan football.

Hit the jump for three very attractive ladies.



Kara Thoms



13 comments:

  1. No. We should learn from overreacting on Rodriguez, who is now running a program on par with Michigan's without the benefit of tradition/academics and having 1 year less to turn things around. Hoke should get 5 years, minimum. So should any coach unless he does something obviously negligent.

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    1. Sorry, but we did not overreact on Rodriguez. This program was going nowhere under him, and his recruiting was awful. He certainly wouldn't be doing any better than Hoke is right now.

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    2. He's doing equally as well as Hoke at an inferior program. There's nothing certain about what you said.

      I don't know if he could have turned the defense around, but the offense would certainly be better off under Rodriguez. Hoke has struggled to get even close to the 2010 offense's production.

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  2. There's no reason to panic *right now.* Fall camp hasn't yet started, no games have been played.

    Now, if we see disarray in camp, or if the first game is a mess ... well, then there's reason to start to worry. And if that trend continues ...

    I have a sense none of that will happen. We may not go 12-0, but we'll definitely see evidence of a trend line upwards.

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    1. Tough to trend upwards when you start with 11 wins. Hoke took Rodriguez's guys and kicked them into gear. The job's gotten harder since the initial new-guy shine wore off a bit. Harder to sell the "bringing Michigan back" narrative now that there's a track record pointing mostly down. Hoke's early success is both his best friend (goodwill built up) and his worst enemy (establishes a tough bar).

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  3. I feel panic only when I see that Zebra in the middle - intimidating to say the least.

    No, there is no reason to panic. Hoke is not perfect but the team overall is getting better and better. The only thing that is going against Michigan is that all main rivals are getting better at the same time.

    Good luck Hoke. I won't be surprised if Michigan plays in the Championship playoff.

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  4. I agree with Lanknows. I think RR deserved another year. His recruiting was poor due to fact that he was on hot seat with poor fan and alumni support.

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    1. Sorry, but 52-14 to Miss. State? After three years at the helm? How could anyone think this program was on the way up after a fiasco like that?

      And the old "everyone hated Rodriguez" meme just won't wash. He recruited horribly. He didn't know how to balance a class, regardless of talent level. 2010 is a perfect example. Five safeties, five WR and ONE offensive lineman in that class. That's so stupid, it's almost criminal.

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    2. You said it. RR recruiting was horrible and Hoke has suffered a lot because of this. Clearly the young linemen will be better this year, the new OC will help tremendously, and having higher quality recruits mature will be a huge plus. The team will be much better this year but still I think Hoke deserves another year if they go 8 wins - as long as none of the losses are embarrassing beat downs.

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    3. Poor Hoke. Saddled with Denard Robinson, Devin Gardner, Jeremy Gallon and Taylor Lewan. It's no wonder the offense could barely get a first down against MSU these last 3 years. Now that those schlubs are starting to clear out we'll see if Hoke can get somebody to move the ball. Derrick Green's 3 ypc tells you the sky is the limit.

      As awful as Rodriguez was on the Defense, Hoke has been on the run game. Without Gardner and Robinson it would have been ugly. We'll see if Nussmeir can save the day.

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  5. Definitely not yet. This season will tell us whether or not to panic. We will absolutely know one way or another IMHO at the end of this coming season.

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    1. Agreed...if we don't see real improvement on the field this year, by individuals, and the team as a whole, then there will be serious doubts about whether Hoke can get it done at this level.

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    2. I agree with that BUT - people tend to boil everything down to wins and losses, regardless of all the other details. Our offense and specifically the OL can show GREAT improvements and we could still end up with 7 or 8 wins, which will cause a lot of people to want to FIRE, even though 8 wins would exceed subjective expectations and the schedule doesn't offer a lot of opportunity to get to a number like 10 or 11.

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