JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — From the beginning, we never really liked the guy.

Sure, we heard what they said about Rich Rodriguez. He was an offensive guru. His teams were insanely fast with quarterbacks who could throw AND (gasp!) run? He was dominant in the Big East. He had won everywhere he’d ever been.

But we were skeptical. And we were scared. We were looking at the end of Michigan football as we knew it. Lloyd Carr, the last in the Schembechler coaching line, was retiring. And Les Miles, his heir apparent, said thanks but no thanks. To Michigan! What was the world coming to? After 40 years of championships with three yards and a cloud of dust, we were going to run an offense that looked more like three plays and a touchdown.

There was a good number of fans who were excited for the change and wanted to see what he could do. They were there, but I guess they just weren’t quite as loud as some of us who disliked him before he ever stepped foot on campus. We said he wasn’t a “Michigan Man,” a term of respect among Michigan fans and alumni.

See, change was hard — especially at tradition-bound Michigan. So we handed over the Michigan football program — but not completely. We held back our trust, our confidence in his system. He had to earn that by winning, of course. But even before he got to Ann Arbor, before he even had a chance to win, it seemed to us like he’d already lost.

From there, starting without the support of a sizeable portion of the fan base, winning consistently was difficult at best.

And he didn’t win. Three wins in the first year? Are you kidding? Michigan became the laughingstock of the Big Ten and the country. Mighty Michigan, reduced to a shell of what it once was. And he just kept losing. Even when he won, we remained skeptical. Sure, he beat rival Notre Dame twice, but they were struggling, too; in shootouts, we worried about the defense and whether the spread could work consistently in the Big Ten.

“He just isn’t a Michigan man.” Rodriguez would have to earn that title — but could he, really? Because doesn’t that title imply more than just success on the football field? We like to think it does, because if it doesn’t we’re exactly how we believe almost every other fan base is — winning is everything.

For us, it’s supposed to be about more. If he had won eight games his first year and Michigan had played in the Rose Bowl instead of the Gator Bowl on Saturday, would Rich Rodriguez be a Michigan man? If so, doesn’t the term “Michigan Man” mean “A Man Who Wins”? And if not, was Rodriguez ever going to be able to become a Michigan Man?

During this past season, in the midst of our excitement about the high-scoring offense and Denard Robinson, we knew. We knew the defense was still suspect. We knew Robinson wouldn’t stay healthy. We watched the wins, but did we ever really believe them? It’s hard to say. Some of us probably did. Most of us did not. Watching Michigan’s 52-14 loss in the Gator Bowl, Rodriguez’s only bowl as coach of the Wolverines, our suspicions appeared to be confirmed.

If it is over for Rodriguez, perhaps we have to question whether he ever had a chance. He wasn’t from the Midwest. He didn’t run an offense we were comfortable with. He wasn’t a Schembechler protégé. All reasons for skepticism and doubt. But I wonder if he’d come in with the trust and confidence of nearly all the fans like his potential successor might, would he have had that fighting chance?

In the end, if Rodriguez is fired, it will be for not winning enough football games, plain and simple. It won’t be because he’s not a “Michigan Man,” or anything else. Let’s take a look at how Rodriguez’s likely successor is received. He, of course, will be immediately named a “Michigan Man” and enjoy all the support and love from a united fan base in a way Rodriguez never did.

Junior nose tackle Mike Martin — a more ideal Michigan football player would be hard to find; he’s a smart guy who plays through injuries and eats up running backs and goes hard every single play. He had this to say after the game when he was asked about what he thought of people saying Rich Rodriguez wasn’t a “Michigan Man”?

“I think that’s bull. Whatever a Michigan man is. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been called a good Michigan man. He’s been here as long as I have and he’s been there for me and the rest of my teammates,” Martin said.

“The whole staff and him, they’re Michigan men. They’re great men. (He is) someone I’ll look to in ten years. I’ll call him up and say, ‘Hey coach. Thanks for being there for me.’”