The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/544673
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? the west side of the state, Van Bergen wanted to wear the winged helmet for the same reason many 18-year-olds of his generation did — because Michigan was a dominant Big Ten program that had gone 44-12 in league play from 2000-06 with three top-10 finishes na- tionally over that seven-year stretch. "My expectation was I was going to win Big Ten championships and national championships," Van Bergen said. "I just wanted to be a part of one of the best programs in the country." By the end of his first game at The Big House, though, the landscape had shifted dramatically. The Wolverines would start 6-0 in Big Ten play in 2007, but regular-season- ending losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State, coupled with Appalachian State and Oregon defeats, may have played a role in Carr's decision to retire. On Dec. 17, 2007, U-M hired famed spread-offense mastermind Rich Ro- driguez, and while there was general excitement from the fan base, the play- ers carried reservations. "Selfishly I thought, 'Man, I don't want to play in a 3-3-5 defense' because the defensive linemen are sacrificial lambs," Van Bergen said. "You're not there to make plays. You're there to oc- cupy blockers for the guys behind you. I didn't come to Michigan just to be a punching bag for an offensive lineman. "I was really disappointed. I actually considered transferring, but I thought, 'This is Michigan. I can still play in a No. 1 vs. 2 matchup. It may take a year but with the kids we recruit, we're go- ing to be really good really soon.' "I had to trust that the guys in charge were making the right decisions for the success of our team." If Van Bergen and his classmates did not think anything could be worse than the loss to ASU, they were wrong; in 2008 the Wolverines went 3-9, snap- ping a 33-year bowl streak and a 40- year string without a losing record. Over the next two years, Michigan started 4-0 both seasons but then went 1-7 in 2009 and 3-6 in 2010. "The Achilles heel was defensively we had a new coordinator and a new system every year, and that set us back," said Van Bergen, who was a full- time starter in 2009-10, racking up eight sacks and 14 tackles for loss. "As Rich Rodriguez continued to feel pressure, he tried to micromanage the defense. He was such an offensive guy that as he became more involved defensively, our coordinator was sort of stuck. He didn't know if he was run- ning his defense or whatever version Rich wanted to try that week. "And then the turnovers. We could not stop turning the football over, and that really kept putting our team in bad situations. Simple rule of football — if you turn it over more than your oppo- nent, you will lose. And we did." Rodriguez was fired after the 2010 season, and Brady Hoke was hired. While Van Bergen found Hoke's open- ing press conference inspiring, he was lukewarm to another change. "There are so many factors that de- termine your success during a season, and a head-coaching change is such a hard obstacle to overcome," he said. "When you're going into your last year, you take that as a negative because this