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2E - Tuesday, September 6, 2011
NEW STUDENT EDITION
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NCAA concludes investigation
following practice violations
By TIM ROHAN The rumblings calling for
Daily Sports Editor Rodriguez's job grew louder
last Saturday after Michigan's
Nov. 5, 2010 - On Thursday, 41-31 loss against Penn State.
the book was finally closed on Now in the middle of a three-
the Michigan football pro- game losing streak, the Wol-
gram's first black mark in its verines' 2010 season draws
history. comparisons to 2009's down-
There were no surprises in fall, which included seven Big
the NCAA's investigation's ulti- Ten losses in a row.
mate findings regarding major Rodriguez and his players
violations. Back in May, Michi- have had to answer questions
gan responded to allegations since early September about
made by the NCAA and pro- avoiding what happened last
posed self-imposed sanctions. year. The unfortunate reality for
The final penalties weren't too Rodriguez is that despite his fast
far off. starts these past two seasons, he
"I'm glad the process is over still just has four Big Ten wins
so it can no longer be used as and a 13-19 record overall.
a thing that's hanging over Given that situation, com-
the program from a negative mitting major NCAA violations
recruiting standpoint," Michi- under Rodriguez's watch only
gan coach Rich Rodriguez said. creates more negative media
"That's why I'm glad this pro- attention and groaning from
cess is over and we can move fans.
on." Brandon boiled down Michi-
While the punishment has gan's violations to a misunder-
been determined, questions standing regarding the rules of
regarding Rodriguez's job secu- practice time and members of
rity still persist. Michigan Ath- the quality control staff, who
letic Director David Brandon were "overzealous" and acted
reiterated his support of Rodri- as coaches. Additionally, there
guez again on Thursday. But his was the issue of the University
job will be assessed at the end of and the football staff failing to
the season, Brandon said, just monitor those mistakes.
like every other coach. Over an extended period of
"I have said ad nauseam that time, the Wolverines exceeded
I have a process for all of our the maximum amount of count-
coaches and all of our sports," able hours for athletic-related
the athletic director said. "And activity by 65 hours. Brandon
at the end of the season, we sit said that 57 of those hours were
down and review an enormous committed due to misinter-
amount of information that is at pretations of the rules involv-
my disposal that pertains to all ing stretching and warm-ups.
aspects of the programs. And at The extra time - which Bran-
that point, obviouslyI have deci- don was quick to point out was
sions to make as it relates to who counted in minutes, not hours
coaches any of our sports and - added up incrementally.
our coaches have a decision to Based on those violations,
make as to whether they want to there were four penalties lev-
continue to coach at Michigan. ied that will affect Rodriguez
"The situation with our foot- and the program: public repri-
ball program is no different mand and censure, three years
than our other 26 sports in that probation (one more year than
regard. And that's what I'll do Michigan self-proposed) and a
at the end of this season and the reduction of 130 hours of count-
season after that and the season able, athletically related activ-
after that." ity hours over a specific period
of time. Rodriguez must also
attend the 2011 NCAA Regional
Rules Seminar.
Of those 130 hours that the
Wolverines will lose, 32 of them
have already been accounted for
and Rodriguez said that all of
them should be complete by the
end of next summer - about nine
months ahead of the deadline.
The most pressing results
might be the added pressure on
Michigan's head coach. It's not
just about wins and losses when
Brandon sits down to evaluate
his coaches.
"Wins and losses matter,"
Brandon said. "So does the man-
agement of your staff. So does
the pipeline of recruits. So does
the academic performance of
your student athletes. So does
the academic performance of
your prospective student ath-
letes. So does the conduct of
your student athletes. There's a
lot of statistical measures in ath-
letics. There's no lack of infor-
mation. And there's no lack of
benchmarking opportunities to
look at other prqgrams in simi-
lar positioning that we are in, in
any of one of our 27 sports."
Michigan is still one win
away from becoming bowl eli-
gible for the first time since
Rodriguez took over the pro-
gram in 2008. The Wolverines
had made a record-34 straight
bowl appearances prior to that
year. And there is still time to
impress with matchups against
highly-ranked Ohio State and
Wisconsin remaining.
"We still have a season to
play," Brandon said. "We still
have several important games
to play, that will be great tests
for our football program. Let's
just go play the games. And
let's let our coach and our play-
ers be focused on the task at
hand. And then at the end of
the season, we'll do what we do
at the end of every season: we'll
review and see where we've
gotten better and where we
need to improve."
FILE PHOTO/Daily
In wake of Rodriguez era, Brady
loke named as new head coach
By RYAN KARTJE Michigan's Jan. 1 bowl game,
Daily Sports Editor many were convinced that for-
mer Michigan quarterback Jim
Jan. 12, 2011 - After the Harbaugh - tapped by many as
worst three-year stretch in the a prototypical "Michigan Man"
history of the football program, - would spurn his Stanford
Athletic Director Dave Brandon team to help return his declin-
announced Tuesday that San ing alma mater to its glory days.
Diego State coach Brady Hoke But when Harbaugh opted to
will succeed Rich Rodriguez as coach the NFL's San Francisco
Michigan's head football coach. 49ers, the choice seemed to be
Holce will become the pro- Les Miles, another Michigan
gram's 19th coach in its 131-year Man who played with Brandon
history. under former coach Bo Schem-
"We are pleased to announce bechler in the 1970s. After meet-
the hiring of Brady," Brandon ing with Brandon on Monday,
wrote in the press release. "He Miles quashed any speculation
is a terrific coach and will be a the next day, announcing his
great ambassador and leader for return to Baton Rouge, La.
our football program. We look With both Harbaugh and
forward to having him build a Miles out of the picture, the door
championship program on the opened for another Michigan
field and in the classroom." Man - Hoke, who served as the
University spokesman Rick Wolverines' defensive line coach
Fitzgerald said University Presi- during the team's 1997 National
dent Mary Sue Coleman would Championship run.
not comment on the hiring of Following the announcement,
Hoke until he is formally intro- Brandon denied that either
duced in a press conference at 1 Harbaugh or Miles were ever
p.m tomorrow. He did, however, offered the job.
say that Coleman fully supported "The job was never offered to
Brandon and the search process. them," Brandon said. "We did
Hoke's hiring comes on the have different discussions with
heels of a week full of rumors them that were helpful and posi-
and speculation about who tive."
would coach the Wolverines. The athletic director main-
When Brandon announced tained, six days after he cut ties
that he would wait until after with Rodriguez, that Hoke was
his first choice.
Rodriguez was criticized
throughout his 15-22 tenure for
not understanding the tradition
of college football's most win-
ningest program. So when Bran-
don announced that Michigan
would undergo its second coach-
ing search in three years, an
understanding of the program's
history was naturally one of his
criteria. And with eight years
in Ann Arbor under his belt,
Hoke definitively fit Brandon's
requirement.
"Brady Hoke understands
Michigan and he wanted this job
because it has been dream job,"
[ G GBrandon told the AP. "We won't
have to teach him the words
223 North Main Street to 'The Victors,' and I believe
Ann Arbor, Michigan our players will respond to him
665-5340 because I got 100 percent posi-
tive feedback from anybody who
played for him here or since he
left Michigan."
Aside from struggling to
0 "grasp Michigan's traditions,
Rodriguez's teams were known
for notoriously bad defense, fin-
Bekatishing 108th, 82nd and 67th in
total defense in the coach's three
*dFauig years at thehelm.
So when Brandon was asked
*q Saabout improving the Wolver-
ines' defense with a new coach,
Brandon made his intentions
clear.
Weekdays 7am-3pm "Is there a thought of getting
a defensive-minded head coach?
Sundays 8am-3pm - There's a thought of getting a
defensive-minded everything,"
M
Brandon said at last week's press
conference. "I want the ball boys
to be defensive-minded."
And with Hoke, the Wolver-
ines will get just that, as the
coach turned San Diego State's
114th-ranked defense into the
nation's 44th-ranked unit in just
two years as the Aztecs' coach.
Much of that may have been
due to his defensive coordinator,
Rocky Long, who runs a 3-3-5
defense similar to what former
Michigan defensive coordinator
Greg Robinson ran last season.
But with Long primed to replace
Hoke as San Diego State's head
coach, the Wolverines' coordi-
nator positions are wide open.
That includes the offensive
coordinator spot, as Calvin
Magee took the same job at Pitt
this afternoon.
Hoke's coaching pedigree,
however, has been a cause for
concern for some - especially
at the advent of Michigan's
coaching search when Hoke was
named as a possible candidate.
In eightcyears as head coach of
Ball State and San Diego State,
Hoke finished a modest 47-50,
with a 1-1 record in bowl games.
He also managed just one win
against a ranked team in both of
his previous jobs combined.
The Big Ten will offer Hoke
a serious competition upgrade
from the Mid-American Confer-
ence and the Mountain West, and
an offensive overhaul could be in
store - the Aztecs ran a pro-style
offense, with quarterback Ryan
Lindley accounting for -33 yards
on the ground in 2010.
And with Denard Robin-
son - one of the most danger-
ous running quarterbacks in
NCAA history - at his disposal,
Hoke's approach to Michigan's
offense could be the talk of the
next few weeks, especially since
Robinson has yet to comment on
whether he'd stay in Ann Arbor
without Rodriguez as coach.
Question marks aside, Hoke
has made it clear all along that
- unlike Harbaugh and Miles
- his career goal was to become
head coach at Michigan. And
with Brandon's hiring of a Mich-
igan Man, many alumni and
current players have reacted
positively to their new coach.
"This is a new start of what
Michigan always has been," red-
shirt junior defensive end Will
Heininger said last night after
a players' meeting. "And this
is the kind of coach you want.
Dave Brandon really did have a
process as he explained in there
and he stuck by it no matter
what everybody said. He wanted
the best person for us and that's
who we got."
The Associated Press and Daily
News Editor Joseph Lichertman
contributed to this report
At
Robinson impresses coaches,
adjusting well to new offense
M
By TIM ROHAN explosive Wolverine offense
Daily Sports Editor will try to avoid a slump in 2011.
His left tackle, Taylor
April 4, 2011 - It didn't take Lewan, summed it up perfectly
long for Denard Robinson to in an interview with MGoBlue.
make Greg Mattison eat his com on Friday.
words. "No one has any doubts,
Michigan's star quarterback Denard is a great quarterback,"
and defensive coordinator had Lewan said. "That's prob-
been exchanging friendly jabs ably the No. 1 question: How's
before spring practice started Denard taking to the new
- and Robinson has served his offense. Denard's doing a great
coach a large piece of humble job."
pie. Then Lewan deadpanned
"I've had to be really hum- and looked directly into the
ble around him lately," Matti- camera: "So you guys can stop
son said. "Now, the other guy worrying. We're going to be just
I've really started to get on, so fine."
he's been getting hit a couple Most of the discussion sur-
of times. So I can get on him a rounding Robinson's transition
little bit." from Rich Rodriguez's spread
While Mattison turns his option offense to Brady Hoke's
mockery to Devin Gardner, one pro-style scheme has focused
would assume, Robinson has on the quarterback's ability to
dazzled his new coaches with take snaps from under center.
his speed and athleticism. In the same MGoBlue.com
"If the darn kid would throw video, Robinson downplayed
the ball, rather than run all playing under center, because
the time - I mean, anybody he played in an offense that
can scramble," Mattison said, required it in high school. But
tongue in cheek. he did say it was the biggest dif-
"No, I'll tell you one thing, if ference between last year's and
you're calling defenses against this year's offense.
him - I said it after one of our "When you look at taking
days - we rushed four, played the snap from center and the
regular coverage and you're mechanics that are involved,
asking for trouble," Mattison and I can tell you we're way
added. "When he drops back ahead with that part of it
and you're not perfect in your than we were at San Diego
lanes, it's going to be a first State," said Hoke on FoxSports
down. Because he beats some- Detroit's "Inside Michigan
body and he's going to beat you Football" show on Thursday.
inside or outside - I didn't real- "The quarterback there, was a
ize how fast he was. shotgun guy all through high
"I mean, there's guys that school and his first two years at
have perfect angles, and all of a San Diego State.
sudden I look and they're past "So Denard's done a great
the stakes. He really is some- job. And I think, sometimes,
thing." people feel you're running
The quarterback who fin- the spread so the quarterback
ished sixth place in the Heis- must not be able to throw the
man trophy voting last season football - that's not the case
and was the centerpiece of an with Denard. I think he's made
a '
improvements every day out
there."
Robinson's answers during
his interview carried the same
air of enthusiasm that Hoke and
Mattison had bragged the play-
ers bringto work every day.
"Learning, learning, learn-
ing," Robinson said of what
he's working on now. "Just
coming in here ready to learn.
That's the only thing I'm doing
right now, trying to learn the
offense."
And how does he feel about
the new offense so far?
"I like it, I like it," Robinson
said. "I think it's going to help
me a lot - get me ready for the
next level."
Interestingly enough, Robin-
son's high school coaches, with
whom he has stayed in contact,
said Robinson's ultimate goal is
to play in the NFL - playing in
the pro-style offense probably
gives Robinson a better shot of
playing quarterback at the next
level.
ESPN's NFL Draft Analyst
Todd McShay told The Michi-
gan Daily in an interview dur-
ing the NFL Scouting Combine
that he didn't think Robinson
would play quarterback in the
NFL - but a successful 2011
could change that notion.
For now, Robinson is work-
ing with his receivers to settle
into an offense that requires
him to drop back and spray
passes all over the field.
"We come in every day ready
to learn and readyto play," Rob-
inson said.
And though Mattison may
be off his back, but offensive
coordinator Al Borges isn't let-
ting up.
"(It's) funny," Robinson said
of his relationship with Borges.
"Because he always gives me
crap all the time - it's cool."