Jethro's "Is Dickrod Ruining Michigan" Thread

[Zip Goshboots]

First off, this is a tribute to Jethro, and we here at Zip Goshboots, Inc. want to thank him for the idea. Any profits that roll in from this thread will not be donated to the charity of his choice (but we'll at least mention the charity).

Now let's get to it: Is DickRod destroying MEECHIGAN?

Mark Dantonio, Charlie Weis, Jim Tressel: Those guys, without question the coaches of our most hated and biggest rivals, all came in and won games with another guy's players.

Tressel has been a freight train to Michigan's damsel in distress tied down to the tracks. No discussion can be made: He *PWNS Michigan.

Dantonio has not only improved MSU by a mile in his first two seasons (with John L Smiff's playas), but he seems to have won a culture war with UM--and the hearts and minds of at least the Michigan Media. There is the perception that MSU is walloping UM in recruiting--a provincial midwestern state like Michigan is easily convinced that because MSU is getting some of the top recruits in Michigan, they are the better program and it seems to have, combined with their victory last season over UM, wiped out 40 years of dominance by our beloved Wolverines. And he is all of 1-1 vs UM.

Charlie Weis has made no secret of his hatred for Michigan "To HELL with Michigan! I'll eat that whole goddamm stadium!"--he has let Michigan have it quite a bit since he took over at ND. It should be mentioned that he is all of 2-2 vs UM. But Notre Dame is [I]stockpiling[I] talent. And they have brought in John Tenuda to work with uber-recruiting Defensive Coordinator Corwin Brown--a former WOVERINE!!! They thrashed our horrible Wolverines last year and it probably won't be pretty when they invade Ann Arbor this year.

So where does that leave our DickRod?

The Departed: No need to mention them, Steve Shafer, The Record, the horrible shit we saw on the field for most of the season: You all know, you all saw, and it spoke for itself.

DickRod, Michigan fans say, needs time to get HIS players in. Unlike, apparently, a few notable other guys who didn't. I mean, don't get me wrong--UM recruiting had fallen off and there wasn't the talent we Michigan fans had grown used to. But Toledo? Purdue? Northworstern? REALLY? A team that showed great promise, even with the notre Dame debacle, and stood at 2-2 after a narrow loss to Utah and an inspiring comeback over Wisconsin--completely collapsed and was one of the worst teams in the country. The Wolverines were probably lucky to have caught the Minnesota Golden Goophers a week after they were stomped 55-0 but Iowa, and were probably lucky to have avoided Indiana as well.

Enough of that. Let's look forward!

The SOLID class of 2008, which he worked hard to keep Lloyd's recruits in the fold (losing only two: Christian something-or-other and John Wanker, a dropback passer--and an Elite 11 QB)--is dwindling fast. Already, five players of the 24 who signed with UM in 2008 are gonzo: Big Dann O'Neill, Kurt Wermers, Sam McGuffie, Marcus Wihterspoon and Taylor Hill. A sixth, Justin Feagin, has probably seen the field for the last time. A seventh--the horribly named Mike Cox--well, he is on the daily transfer rumor mill, and may get his chance next year as the field opens up with the departures of Minor, Brown, and Grady--but we shall see.

the GREAT class of 2009--which I really loved almost to the point that I wanted to marry it, seems to be all shored up despite some qualifying concerns. It is expected that Jeremy Gallon will get the ONE POINT he needs to get the qualifying ACT score. We expect a GUTSY and performance on that ACT. JT Turner needs to pass one section of something called the Ohio Graduate Test (an oxymoron if ever there was one). The rest are in, even my man, the human FITZGERALD TOUSSAINT!

Now, 2010 recruiting, if you ask me, well, you got to be a huge KOOL AID drinker to be buying into that shit. HOWEVA, HAVING SAID THAT, THAT BEING SAID, THAT HAVING BEEN BEING SAID, WITH ALL OF HAVING THAT BEING SAID, DickRod (can I get an emoticon, motherfucker?) DO show closing abilities late in the process, he DO be having the balls to tell a commit to take a flying leap over to Tulsa, and he DO be able to target players later and get them (Lewan, Lalota, Warshington, and a few others)--and his late targets are good ones who the Scout Inside Eckspertz sem to love. So I'll pass on critiquing the 2010 class right now, but suffice to say: It is mostly shit. YOu got about 7-8 guys that are "flyers"--diamonds in the rough. The rest might actually be guys DickRod wants.
So here's the problem: look at 2008. I think it's safe to say that even with a class that looks good, with players you want, about 25% of them (maybe more) won't see the field with the team that originally recruited them. If you have a bunch of turds that you hope develop--that pretty much means they have to be home runs instead of, well, turds that really should have gone to Iowa State or Wyoming. Do DickRod have THAT good an eye for talent? Do DickRod be THAT good at player development? I say NO. Maybe when playing UConn and Rutgers week in and week out. But not with the Big Boys.

Freshman QB, a very young team. Playing all SIX contendahs in the Big Ten this year. At Sparty and Iowa and Wisconsin. Notre Dame, Penn State and Ohio State come to Ann Arbor. A tough Western Michigan team.
THIS season is a recipe for disastah, ladies.

DO YOU REALLY THINK DICKROD WILL HAVE THIS TEAM, which is young and totally totally unproven, paper thin on the defensive two-deep, playing under its third DC in three years--and reeling from Lloyd Carr recruiting and non-player development still--ret to go and take on these challenges?

I leave it to you guys, my esteemed colleagues here at WTF Detroit--to debate the issue (and yeah, I'll participate so there is at least a semblance of sanity):

IS DICKROD RUINING WHAT WAS LEFT OF UM FOOTBALL AND IS HE THE RIGHT GUY TO BUILD IT BACK UP AND HOW MUCH TIME DO HE HAVE AND WHAT KIND OF RESULTS DO YOU NEED TO SEE IN 2009 and 2010 TO KEEP FROM WANTING TO SEND HIM TO WORK ON ONE OF TAHOE'S TEN CREWS AND BE KILLED WITH ALL THE HARD WORK OF SITTING AROUND WATCHING CONCRETE CURE AND PARTICLE BOARD HANGERS GO TO TOWN?

[Glenn]

That was great, I actually read the whole thing!

I admit, my attention shifted to the box of paperclips on my desk when he started dropping the ill-conceived "DO"s here and there, but he somehow managed to pull me back in.

8.5/10.

[Zip Goshboots]

I'll take an 8.5, even on a day when I'm somewhat coherent (which is a great day for me).

[darkobetterthanmelo]

very impressive, Zip

[Zip Goshboots]

Yeah, the semi coherence is sometimes a good feeling, darko.

[Glenn]

HOWEVA, HAVING SAID THAT, THAT BEING SAID, THAT HAVING BEEN BEING SAID, WITH ALL OF HAVING THAT BEING SAID, DickRod (can I get an emoticon, motherfucker?)

[Zip Goshboots]

^^^I LIKE it!

[b-diddy]

1) the percieved surge from msu under dantonio and ND under weiss is just typical media overreaction, which is also typical among some fans and posters on this very board, actually. i dont pay it much attention. last year vs ND they were playing in the same conditions that led to danny glover winning the US open. and desite that, weiss' giant ass is hanging on by a tenuous thread at ND. dantonio was using john l's players, but they fit his system, which also happens to be the most mundane, archaic, simple system in college football.

2) which brings us to talent and fit. last year we were largely trying to fit a sqaure peg into a round hole. forcier even talked about it during the season (before being silenced). i think part of the lack of percieved progress was 1)better teams at the end of the season, 2) our guys getting worn down through the season (especially threet), 3) frustration becuase no matter what they did, especially threet, they were not the players for the system.

im double fisting the koolaid. i think, on offense, number of stars matter less and fit will matter more. defense is another story. i think our defense might be thin, but if things go right it could actually be pretty good. of course, things going right includes things like will campbell being dominant as a true frosh, and donovan warren finally reaching his potential after 2 disapointing seasons.

[bukdow]

Not bad, Zip. Disguised in that meth induced rant was some fairly germane analysis. I for one think RR is destroying the Michigan that came before him. I think he is doing this purposefully. He is going to remake the program into the type of team he is comfortable with. Is that a team that compete against Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, etc. instead of UConn, Rutgers, etc. week in and week out? I don`t think so. I am afraid UM has wandered too far from itself with RR and there will be a divorce as ugly as Rita Rodriguez. Rita Rodriguez, what the hell kind of name is that? And, from West Virginny! For Christ`s sake Michigan, what the fuck did you do?!

[bukdow]

1) the percieved surge from msu under dantonio and ND under weiss is just typical media overreaction, which is also typical among some fans and posters on this very board, actually. i dont pay it much attention. last year vs ND they were playing in the same conditions that led to danny glover winning the US open. and desite that, weiss' giant ass is hanging on by a tenuous thread at ND. dantonio was using john l's players, but they fit his system, which also happens to be the most mundane, archaic, simple system in college football.
2) which brings us to talent and fit. last year we were largely trying to fit a sqaure peg into a round hole. forcier even talked about it during the season (before being silenced). i think part of the lack of percieved progress was 1)better teams at the end of the season, 2) our guys getting worn down through the season (especially threet), 3) frustration becuase no matter what they did, especially threet, they were not the players for the system.

im double fisting the koolaid. i think, on offense, number of stars matter less and fit will matter more. defense is another story. i think our defense might be thin, but if things go right it could actually be pretty good. of course, things going right includes things like will campbell being dominant as a true frosh, and donovan warren finally reaching his potential after 2 disapointing seasons.

Retarded douchebag, let me enlighten your pea-brained self. JLS ran a SPREAD and Dantonio runs a PRO-STYLE offense predicated on running the ball.

You should go back in your closet, put the noose around your neck, drop your underroos, dip your hand in the Vaseline and stare at your picture of Eric Estrada and leave football to the boys.