And We're Back (again)

We here in Ann Arbor are inside one month until college football starts up again, and more importantly, one month until the vale of secrecy is lifted from the Michigan football program, and we see what the heck Rich Rodriguez (hereto known as "RichRod") has been doing for the past eight months.

Anywho, let's get to some of the great material coming out of the media about the Wolverines:

Oh How I Hate...Mark Schlabach has written a couple ESPN.com articles citing Ohio State as the most hated team in college football, and therefore the most hated team in the Big(11)Ten. Surprise: Michigan is number six!?? I'm actually sort of proud of that, because under Lloyd, no one feared that helmet towards the end of the year. What a difference a new coach and a thumping of Gator Nation makes. Writer Adam Rittenberg also cites the (gasp!) UM-OSU rivalry as Big(11)Ten's best, with UM-MSU in a distant second (?). It's also too early to predict games, but he says OSU by seven points on Nov. 22...

Hungry Hungry From the Big Ten media day in Chi-town: one notable snippet from Rich Rod in an AP story:
"We lost a lot of talent offensively," Rodriguez said. "When you're young, you're hungry. A hungry player is fun to watch."

Hoping they get along John Borton on Rivals.com examines what this new Michigan team could feel like.
RichRod quoted: "Obviously, if a call doesn't go your way, you're going to be upset," he acknowledged. "I used to yell a lot in my younger years as a coach, but then I figured out that they're not going to listen to you anyway. Now, with 100,000-some [in the stands], they're not going to hear you, so why scream and yell?"

Borton says: Just a guess here – he's not going to placidly fidget with his headset and hum "Hang On Sloopy" all the way to November.

Roster! RichRod put out the roster, but no depth chart...guess we'll have to wait and see who comes on the field on August 30th. Roster here. Steven Threet will be the QB, per some Michigan Daily reporting. I'm sort of encouraged by the kind of potential this guy has, I mean, he's gigantic, wants to play after never getting a shot at Georgia Tech, and won't become a John Navarre with Rodriguez in charge. Wide receivers should be adequate, and could fit the spread even better than Manningham/Arrington would have, since each of these guys are likely faster than those two. Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown I'm hoping will split time, because both have strengths that the other doesn't, and some seem to think Mark Moundros is getting the nod over Vince Helmuth, one of my favorite recruits of last year...ugh. I'm really excited about the defense, with Brandon Harrison, Morgan Trent and Donovan Warren leading the group. I expect lots of plays being made, and with a little luck, even the special teams could be good with some of these guys returning kicks/punts. And last but not least, Zoltan will rule all with his bionic leg making it impossible for opposing teams to ever have decent field position.

One last thing: I'd like to point out something that is a microcosm of Michigan's staleness before Rodriguez took over. Here is a collection of the previous coaching staff's pictures. Do any of those guys look like they ever adapt to anything or recognize that they squander talent? Especially linebacker coach Steve Szabo. How old was that guy!?!? Or Mike Gittleson the conditioning coach...he looks like an alcoholic!!

Now look at Rodriguez's coaches and conditioning staff. Big difference, right? First there are about half as many guys total than Lloyd's entire coaching staff, so I wonder if the sidelines will seem less populated this season. Calvin McGee looks like he ate Mike DeBord, Scott Shafer looks like he killed Jim Hermann and took his glasses, and Tony Gibson stares into my soul. And of course we all know the legend of Mike Barwis: here, here, here, and here and below:

New Michigan Strength Coach Mike Barwis