The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/402034
"Michigan Man" at all … until he be- came the ultimate Michigan Man. He combined immediate success with a powerful personality, and it all un- folded as magic in Michigan minds. "When you look at what Bo did, no he wasn't a Michigan guy," Ray said. "Not at all. But he made himself a Michigan guy. What Bo did was instituted this new Michigan … and it worked. It worked right away. "Look at '69, '70, '71, '72 … we're talking about some good football teams, considering where Michigan was. That's why people revered him so much, because of how he came. "He ran guys out of here, and he made it tough. Those who stay … what? Stay the course, stay with the commitment to the football program, stay with the books. If you stay, you're going to be a champion." GAINING NO TRACTION Rodriguez never appeared des- tined to stay, from the 3-9 start to the political wrangling, to the numbing 6-18 Big Ten record over the course of three seasons. His defenders point to his increased win totals over those campaigns, from three to five to seven. Others look at his wins in the con- ference — two against Indiana, one each versus Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Purdue. They see an av- erage of 8.0 points per game scored against Ohio State, 0-3 records to the Buckeyes and Spartans, and a defense surrendering 35 points per game three years in. So while Skene wasn't impressed by some of the impediments Rodri- guez faced compared to other Michi- gan coaches, his eyes told him this wasn't working anyway. "I don't back off of that," Skene stressed. "From a football point of view, it wasn't working." He recalled with particular pain Wisconsin's 48-28 romp over the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium in Rodriguez's final season. "The 3-3-5 defense, on first-and-10 in the Big Ten, didn't work," Skene insisted. "I saw it come to the tipping point when I sat in the stadium and watched Wisconsin absolutely bru- talize Mike Martin. The guards and center did, all day long. "They were just going up and down the field. I think they threw the ball once or twice in the whole second half. They ran the same play, over and over and over again. "[Wisconsin coach Bret] Bielema, at that time, was just toying with them. He all but said so afterward. They would pull a guard, and Martin would hang onto the guard, and they just started chop-blocking Martin. The minute after the game, Bielema said, 'We had to take care of that.'" Rodriguez's offense couldn't over- come the defense, especially against more quality foes. "Offensively, it wasn't working be- cause he didn't have the horses up front," Skene said. "This is something former players argue about. There's the controversy about whether the cupboard was empty when RichRod came in. "In some positional groups, it was. As a unit, I don't think that of- fensive line talent level was as high