CHICAGO — Fans have had a simple question for Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez over the past eight months, which he echoed at the first day of Big Ten Media Days on Monday.
“Hey coach, when are we going to win more?”
The Wolverines’ misfortunes the first two seasons under Rodriguez are right at the forefront of fans’ minds. An 8-16 start is hardly what Rodriguez hoped for to begin his stint at Michigan.
“Really, our fans have been terrific,” Rodriguez said. “You know, we have high expectations of Michigan. Rightfully so we should. But since the day we’ve gotten on campus, they’ve been overwhelmingly positive. And there’s always going to be some negativity, particularly when you don’t win. But that comes with the deal, comes with the profession. I think you understand it. Nobody wants to win more than the coaches and players.”
On Monday and Tuesday, Rodriguez and Michigan’s three player representatives, seniors Troy Woolfolk, Steve Schilling and Mark Moundros, all fielded questions about the quarterback situation, who might start at middle linebacker (Rodriguez says Moundros has a good chance) and other various position battles. But all of the personnel questions in the world pale in comparison to the question of when Wolverines are going to get back to their winning ways.
“I still think they’re a pretty good team,” Penn State running back Evan Royster said. “They’ve got talent on the team, they were just young last year. I think once they get it together, they’ll be right back where they were. It could be this year. It could be next year. I mean, I don’t think they would be able to just fall off. Look at the tradition (Michigan) has.”
As a senior in his fifth year, Schilling said he expects to make a bowl every year, despite the past two years’ misfortunes. Woolfolk said he expects the team to win eight games — that would be a marked improvement and a goal last year’s team seemed to be heading toward before faltering down the stretch.
Shoring up a defense that had lapses that led to big plays and allowed the third most points in the Big Ten last season could be the key to a turnaround and alleviating pressure. Woolfolk said that the coaches made the defense simpler this year, to ensure that everyone could start reacting and avoiding thinking too much on the field.
Rodriguez said that, despite being on the proverbial “hotseat,” there is only as much pressure on him that he puts on himself. And there’s no doubt that he’s feeling his own self-pressure to ensure that the team improves in practice every single day. That itself, he hopes, will translate into wins.
There’s always been pressure at Michigan though. Before Rodriguez came, even with former head coach Lloyd Carr’s success, he was criticized in his last year as coach in 2007.
“Nothing you can do is good enough,” Schilling said. “Coach Carr’s last year, we were 9-4, but we lost those last two games and could’ve won the Big Ten title with a win in either of those. There’s always more you can do … no matter how we do, there’s that pressure to do better. The fans are almost never happy … they want wins.”
Even though Rodriguez might be feeling the heat, the players always have too. But Woolfolk said the team isn’t feeling anything extra due to its coach’s situation.
“The outside pressure has no effect on the team as a whole,” Woolfolk said. “We know it’s there. But it’s nothing that is actually consciously bothering us as we play. There’s always going to be pressure to win. We’re at Michigan, the most winningest school in the nation … so we’re not really affected by any of that outside pressure because the pressure we have to win is so great.”
The one game that could single-handedly change people’s opinions of a season is the Wolverines season finale against Ohio State.
With all of the talk of the conference surrounding rivalries and maintaining the game between Michigan and Ohio State amongst division alignment and schedule tinkering, Rodriguez knows his 0-2 record against the Buckeyes needs to change.
“For us, as far as going into that game, we need to win it,” Rodriguez said. “More so now because we lost the last two. I think we go into every season, we need to win that game. And that’s I think that’s kind of something that we always feel.”
No matter if its Ohio State, another Big Ten power or UConn, the winning ways of years past are becoming a distant memory and Michigan is trying to rectify the situation.
Until then, winning one game at a time is certainly a good place to start.
Note: Rodriguez said that Mike Parrish had been named the new Director of Football Operations replacing Brad Labadie, who resigned from the position last month.