The Re-Birth Of The Michigan Wolverines

It hasn’t been easy for fans of the Michigan Wolverines, in fact it’s been embarrassing for the Michigan faithful. The glory years of Michigan football were dead and gone and the only thing that remained was the ghost’s of Fielding Yost and Bo Schembechler.

In 2008, Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez after the retirement of Lloyd Carr. Rodriguez was a flashy guy who was lured away from West Virginia he was the glamor pick. Rich Rod was going to bring spread offense speed to the slow Big Ten and bring championships to Ann Arbor, boy were we wrong.

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Rich Rodriguez was doomed from the beginning, he wasn’t backed by the boosters and Athletic Director Dave Brandon “Pizza Boy” wasn’t enumerated with him either. Rich Rodriguez’s day’s would be numbered from day one.

The 2008 season was embarrassing for the Michigan Wolverines, finishing at 3–9 and suffering its first losing campaign since 1967. Michigan also missed a bowl game invitation for the first time since 1974.

In 2009, Michigan would see two quarterbacks make their way to Ann Arbor. Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier both came to Michigan and were fits in the “Spread” offense Rich Rodriguez wanted to run. However the week before the season began, the Detroit Free Press accused the team of violating the NCAA’s practice time limits. While the NCAA conducted investigations Michigan won it’s first four games, and for the moment it seemed like Michigan Football was back, or so we thought. The season ended in the most un-Michigan way by going 1-7 in their last eight games and for the second straight year missed a bowl game.

Once again in 2010, the Michigan Wolverines started hot by going 5-0 after losing to Michigan State at home they went 2-5 in their last seven games, but this time they made a bowl progress was being made in Ann Arbor ever so slowly. Michigan went to play Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl where they were embarrassed 52-14. Michigan finished with their worst defensive performance in school history.

After the bowl game changes were made. Dave Brandon said Rich Rodriguez didn’t meet the goals or expectations of Michigan football and he was fired. Rich Rodriguez left Ann Arbor with a box of Josh Grobin CD’s and his belongings and headed home. Rodriguez finished at Michigan with no wins over Ohio State or Michigan State and finished with the worst record by any coach at Michigan before.

Before Rodriguez left, he didn’t disappoint he left a gift for Michigan as the NCAA announced its penalties against the Michigan Wolverines for the practice time violations. The program was placed on three years probation and docked 130 practice hours.

Michigan was searching for a new coach, and this time they looked for the “Michigan Man” and with that came the Brady Hoke era in Ann Arbor.

Brady Hoke was hired January 11th, 2011 and was a press conference winning kind of coach he responded with “This is Michigan for god sakes” when asked if Michigan was still an elite job, as that happened you could tell he was in over his head.

In 2011, He led the Michigan Wolverines to a 10-2 record losing to Michigan State and Iowa, but beating “Ohio” as he called Ohio State it was their first win over Ohio State in eight years. Michigan would go play for the Sugar Bowl against Frank Beamer and Virginia Tech they would go on to win a thrilling game over Virginia Tech 23-20 in OT. This was the program’s first bowl win since the season of 2007. Until the streak was broken in 2008, Michigan had appeared in a bowl game each year since the 1975 season.

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Michigan went into 2012 “thinking man we have something great going”. But the program took a giant left turn when facing the eventual National Champion. Alabama beat them all over the field and turned Jerry Jones new stadium into a crime scene as they murdered Michigan 41-14.

Michigan would still be able to reign with a winning record going 8-5 and beating Michigan State for the first time since 2007. The second straight year, Michigan would head to a bowl game a game they competed in the only thing remembered was Jadeveon Clowney hit on RB Vincent Smith it would be a friendly reminder to Michigan fans throughout the year as Sportscenter had it as their top play for most of the year.

South Carolina won that game 33-28,as Bruce Ellington caught a 32 yard pass from Dylan Thomson with 11 seconds left.

In 2013 the Michigan Wolverines finished with a 7–6 record, including a 3–5 record in Big Ten play and a loss to Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

In 2014 the train fell of the track for Chubbs and pizza boy as they went on to have a 5-7 record. After getting embarrassed by Notre Dame, Hoke went out and beat Miami of Ohio 34-10 but then droppped the next three games. During the loss to Minnesota, Shane Morris was basically taken out by a Minnesota defender to which Hoke sent Shane Morris back in the game with a concussion.

During that time, Dave Brandon resigned from Michigan October 31st, 2014.

The writing was on the wall for Hoke, as Michigan went on to beat Indiana after the resignation of Brandon and went on a week later to beat Northwestern, but Michigan would lose the next two games to Maryland and Ohio State.

Once again change was in the air in Ann Arbor, and the Michigan faithful were starving for something to happen, anything.

As soon as the 49ers started to falter and the seat got hot for Jim Harbaugh, so did Michigan rumors anywhere you went Michigan fans were hoping and praying for Jim to “Come home,”

Harbaugh was facing heat and didn’t get along with GM Trent Baalke, hours after the final game of San Francisco’s season, Harbaugh and owner Jed York decided to part ways which only made Michigan fans more hopeful, but reports said before the game Jim Harbaugh was a lock to Michigan.

On December 30th, 2014 Michigan hired Jim Harbaugh a coach who has turned around programs like Stanford and San Diego.

Harbaugh to Michigan is basically like the years before Bo, Michigan was on the downside not living up to expectations of what Michigan football really is. Now, no one is saying Jim Harbaugh is Bo however it’s a start.

Jim Harbaugh is what Michigan needed to become a college football power again, even with the track record of him not staying long in places and rumors he wants a Super Bowl ring, he’s back at a place he made his name Michigan.

Michigan is back! Now we’ve heard the monologue before with Hoke and Rich Rodriguez however this time it’s not debatable. Michigan is coming back in the picture they will compete for Big Ten titles and perhaps a National Championship, however Harbaugh comes into a Big Ten loaded with coaching talent not just in the Big Ten, but in his own State.

It’s clear as day, Michigan State and Ohio State are here to stay. Even with teams like Penn State and Maryland might play a factor, but Harbaugh is the right coach in Ann Arbor.

Often times, we live in the overreaction era in a social media driven world, we like to make more out of something like the past two hires at Michigan were told to be “Outside the box” and “That’s the Michigan man we needed,” Michigan is too prestigious to live off the glory years, this is the glory years of college football. Sorry Michigan fans, ten year war was great, problem Big Ten those years was basically the MAC.

The Michigan Man should be dead, and yes Michigan did get a “Michigan Man,” but the logic you need a Michigan man to get a good head coach is nonsense. Bo wasn’t from Michigan, either was Fielding Yost in fact it was a made up term for someone wanting to live in the past.

The Michigan Wolverines learned the hard way like they did from 48-68, as the saying goes sometimes through the worst times comes the best for Michigan and with the arrival of Harbaugh it doesn’t mean Michigan State is going back to “Little Brother” or Ohio State is going to end up like it was during the Cooper era in Columbus what it means in every victory earned against your rivals Ohio State and yes, Michigan State those victories become that much sweeter.

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