PEOPLESCHICKEN
Dysfunctional Member
I agree with some of your points. Specifically RR's inattention to defense. However, the spread offense that is present in almost 80% of the college football programs in this country was essentially authored by RR. And is not being run at Ohio St and Penn St to name a few. I actually believe that had RR been given time he would have had Michigan competing at the national levelRodriguez had a whole different scheme that did not translate to the B1G. He recruited fast, light-weight players who couldn't compete with other B1G defenses. Thus, the defense was decimated. Also, because of the offensive scheme, defensive players were on the field way too long and ran out of gas at the end of many games. It simply didn't work. Rodriguez had little interest in defense and didn't hire capable coordinators. He didn't understand the B1G in general or Michigan in particular. Rodriguez was a terrible fit for the program. He hasn't performed well at Arizona either.
Hoke recruited well but didn't have the first clue about how to "develop" players. Although he rebuilt the defense to an extent (it was his specialty), he failed to develop the offense. I'll go out on a limb here to say that Shane Morris, among others, was a casualty of his inability to coach players up.
Neither Rodriguez nor Hoke have the coaching skills of Jim Harbaugh. When Harbaugh came on board, he said he was no "savior" for Michigan. Instead, he said that people should not expect miracles after the previous 7 years of very bad coaching. This year is only his third year. I take Harbaugh at his word--even if this team doesn't measure up to the record of the two previous years. I don't expect him to "save" the Michigan football program. I expect him to build a winning program for the long haul that will likely have a few missteps in the process. He is already light years ahead of Rodriguez and Hoke in that process. Even St. Nick Saban's team took a step back in his 4th year at Alabama. Moreover, Michigan fans are not like Ohio State fans who fired two winning coaches because they could not beat their arch rival.
It's worth noting that the people most interested in the firing of Jim Harbaugh are fans of other teams who are only too happy to point out his flaws as if their coaches are all that. Sensible Michigan fans (translation: most of them) will not be triggered by their criticisms.