Michigan Wolverines: Season Review

The Michigan Wolverines football team finished the 2008 season with its worst record in school history, 3-9. What word bests describes this year? Abysmal? Frustrating? Ridiculous? I'm not sure what the right word would be. What I am sure of is Rich Rodriguez's leash just got a lot shorter, he no longer has the luxury of slowly ushering in his systems.

If Michigan is going to be competitive next year, the Quarterback situation has to do a 180 in the talent department. Threet and Sheridan were not only a bad fit for this system, but didn't look like the right Quarterbacks for any system! Their passes were often wobbly, thrown way too far, thrown way too short and at times did not even come close to hitting a receiver. Incoming Freshman QB's Tate Forcier and Shandrovik Beaver HAVE to be 1 and 2 on the depth chart for next year. If Threet or Sheridan are even sniffing playing time in 2009 then the Wolverines are in deep trouble.

Next, Rich Rodriguez needs to take a long hard look at his coaching staff and decide if they are worthy of being part of a top notch collegiate football program, particularly his defensive coaches. While the offense didn't have anywhere near the talent they needed to execute Rich Rod's plans, this defense had talent. Tim Jamison, Terrance Taylor, Donovan Warren, Obi Ezeh, Will Johnson, Morgan Trent... there is absolutely no excuse for this not being a top 15 defense, instead they finished somewhere around 50th. The only pass I will give the defense is that the offense was so bad that it left the defense on the field for far too long in far too many games.

Do I have faith Coach Rodriguez will turn this ship around? Yes, I do. Will it be next year? No, but there better be a dramatic improvement in his second year and if they aren't competing for a Big Ten title in year 3 expect to see Rich leaving Ann Arbor. Coach Rodriguez's basketball coaching counterpart John Beilein is seemingly turning around his program after a dismal first year, lets hope Rodriguez will do the same.