Back in August, when talk surrounding the Michigan football season was merely speculation upon speculation upon more speculation, brand new athletic director David Brandon was bombarded with questions about his football coach’s job security.

Rich Rodriguez, after all, had won just eight games in two years, including a measly three Big Ten games.

So Brandon did his best to deflect these questions — each reporter wondering the same thing: How many wins would it take for Rodriguez to keep his job?

In an interview with long-time radio host Jim Brandstatter at the Detroit Economic Club, Brandon said that “progress” will ultimately be what measures Rodriguez or any other coach’s job security, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“This crap about what’s the record got to be, it reduces those decisions to something so simplistic, it’s almost insulting,” Brandon said.

“You get a variety of inputs to measure the health of that program and the leadership that program is receiving and, based on a variety of inputs, you make decisions. That’s what I do and anybody in my job does. But it isn’t this, ‘If you’re 7-5 … .’ That’s nonsense.”

But watching the offense constantly reeling was painful as its defense probably couldn’t shut down a single Division-I team, let alone a Big Ten one. Then, as I watched Rodriguez push his maligned defensive coordinator out of the way to chastise his defense personally, it became increasingly clear that there has been very little semblance of any so-called progress.

Sure, Rodriguez uncovered a diamond in the rough in quarterback Denard Robinson, a superstar who should be the face of the Michigan football program for his remaining years in Ann Arbor. With Robinson at the center of the offense, the change has been noticeable – when you have the NCAA’s leading rusher, there’s no reason why your offense shouldn’t be racking up ridiculous amounts of points.

That’s all fine and dandy. Is Robinson a once-in-a-decade talent? Yeah, probably. But can you really argue that the rest of the offense has been better around him?

The run game, outside of Robinson, has stalled in almost every game, including a 43-yard effort against Penn State — a team that was absolutely decimated by injuries in the front seven and ranks 68th in the nation in rush defense. Oh, and sophomore Vincent Smith and junior Mike Shaw, Michigan’s two main backs, are averaging just 79 yards combined per game.

Receivers have dropped balls on several occasions, and even the offensive line isn’t opening up holes for Robinson like they did in the Wolverines’ five-game win streak to open the season.

There seems to be plenty of capable pieces on the field, they just can’t by any means find their place in the puzzle — and simply said, that’s Rodriguez’s fault.

Ha! And I almost forgot the defense! But I don’t need to reiterate how bad they are, do I? Because the sheer embarrassment of seeing Michigan’s secondary out of position or Michigan’s linebackers missing tackles or Michigan’s defensive line not getting any penetration or holding contain on a walk-on quarterback had to have been enough.

Greg Robinson and his defense have clearly regressed this season. And as much as that may not be Rodriguez’s fault, someone has to be held accountable for the defense and for Robinson’s poor coaching — that guy is the head coach.

Brandon said himself that this team’s progress or Rodriguez’s job security won’t be defined by a specific number of wins and losses. But it’s hard to imagine, with Robinson (the quarterback) being the only visible improvement on this team, that Rodriguez will keep his job without at least two wins the rest of the season. He needs to show something that Michigan fans, alumni, boosters and Brandon haven’t seen since he came over from Morgantown — a reason, aside from Robinson, to feel optimistic.

Because it’s hard to ignore the epic, seven-game Big Ten slide last year as it repeats itself in 2010.

Wins and losses for the rest of the season should probably have something to do with Brandon’s choice on Rodriguez’s future because he sure hasn’t given me a reason to believe things are on the upswing.

And if that doesn’t happen, Brandon’s going to be answering a lot more questions from the media. This time though, it will be about a new coach.