Today I am both excited and disappointed. Excited for the future at my beloved University of Michigan. Disappointed with how far the Lions have fallen in six weeks.
This morning the Wolverines announced Rich Rodriguez as their new head coach and I am about as happy as a fan can be. I’ve wanted them to pursue him since Lloyd Carr announced his retirement, and I was frustrated that they hadn’t even considered him more than three weeks into their coaching search. I was very excited on Friday when the news broke that Rodriguez met with Michigan officials for 6 hours. Then as the news reports continued throughout the weekend, there was no indication that Rodriguez had told the Wolverines that he wasn’t interested. Then the news broke yesterday that the deal was done.
Not only is Rodriguez bringing a dynamic spread offense with him, he may be bringing the best high school football player in the country with him. Terelle Pryor is the #1 high school football player according to rivals.com and Pryor is a big fan of ”Coach Rod”. With a versatile athlete like Pryor combined with a potent passer like current Michigan QB Ryan Mallett, the Wolverines could have a combo like the Chris Leak/Tim Tebow tandem that won a national title last year with the Florida Gators. I expect big things in years to come from Coach Rod, even if the next couple of seasons involve some growing pains. This is a major step forward for Michigan by going in a completely different direction than they’ve had for 40 years. I think the potential is there for this to be as big a moment in Michigan Wolverine history as when they hired Bo.
On the other hand, the Detroit Lions were embarassed yesterday 51-14 by the San Diego Chargers yesterday which dropped them to 6-8 on the season. They’ve lost 6 straight games since I professed my new-found confidence in them. I feel so stupid for getting sucked in by this team. I should know by now after a lifetime of cheering for the Lions that this kind of collapse was on its way. I can’t believe that I actually was talking with people about the Lions’ playoff chances just a few weeks ago. I wish I could say that I don’t care anymore, but that would be lying. I just hope that I can see a Lions team with a winning record before I have grandchildren.