Bear Down Wildcats

What really going to give at this point at the end of the season for RR and Staff.

We know damn well that RR is loyal to his staff member.

We know damn well that RR isn't going to change his approach to his defense with 3-3-5.

We know damn well that RR isn't going to fired his best friend Casteel as DC for another.

We know damn well that this is going to be RR last season at Arizona because he doesn't want to make any changes.

He know damn well that season is over.

A HC is responsible for the entire team. Offense, Defense, Special Team, Recruiting, Player Development, etc.

Assistant Coaches are responsible for Individual position area, QB, RB, WR. OL, DL, LB. DB, Punter and Kicker.

What bother me as a fan is that I don't believe he will leave Arizona after a bad season. Yes our team is having probably a down year but it should not be some type of excuse for him to not make any changes of what happening this season. Yea we did win 10 game, Yea we did win the south when no one though we wouldn't, Yea we did play in PAC 12 title when no one though we shouldn't be their, Yea we made it the Fiesta bowl when no though it was possible. it hard to believe RR would leave all of that accomplishment for another job.

If was him I would stay and finish what I started. I will stay because I have a veteran Offensive group coming back. A QB in Solomon, A RB in Wilson, A WR group that is experience. I wouldn't trade that for any jobs or start that all over again.

If was him, I will have to make a tough decision on whether or not I need to fired my DC and improve the Defense.

But that RR, Good on offense but Bad on Defense. He need to understand that. I have see Many HC hired their own staff member and fire their own staff member. If RR cant do neither of those, Then those schools need to start questioning his motive.

wait, are you the jethie?

Nope it just my concern. You don't have to agree with it.

Honest question, are you typing in a different language and having it translated to English?

Here Honest question, Can you read. Instead of downplaying what I wrote.

oook....just seemed similar to our old friend jessie!

So far most of you are making joke. Instead of giving in opinion. What of joke this is.

cordera89 wrote:So far most of you are making joke. Instead of giving in opinion. What of joke this is.

An opinion would be: "I don't think he's coming back."

Bat shit crazy hysteria is: "We all know damn well..............!!!!!!"

Then what happen if he doesn't leave and come back. If was to say what do you think.

cordera89 wrote:Then what happen if he doesn't leave and come back. If was to say what do you think.

I haven't made up my mind yet. However, I'm leaning towards "Injuries we're devastating this year so he should get another year if he wants it."

I'm leaning towards, "Do we really need another thread on this?"

After reading some of these comment not one person really get it. Ok I don't believe RR is going to leave this team if they end up 5-7. If he really want to leave, He can go. Topic of this thread is about What is he really going to give up on?
The Team.
The Program.
Loyal to Defense Staff Members.
3-3-5 scheme.
Casteel
Or A better Job.

If Byrne ever asks Rich Rod what is wrong with the team? RR will simply say "the injury bug" and that will placate Greg. He'll give him and Casteel another year. After that if they don't turn it around, then Arizona plays musical coaches once again. I'm quite certain most of you are frustrated and somewhat upset as I. With the prospect of having to sit through a replay of the same scenario since Smith left.

I'm sure Byrne is hearing it from plenty of boosters. Up tempo offense is fun when you're winning games. But we've been boat raced three times this season. Just plain manhandled by more physical teams. RR bought himself a lot of equity with last season and it's not like he's in hot water. But we've had four seasons of mediocre to crappy defense. When you're QB situation becomes fragile because of injuries and your top RB is 50/50 every conference game because of injuries...you need to lean on your defense sometimes to help you keep the damn from breaking.
I'd respect our team a lot more if we realized the situation they were in and threw a little caution to the wind. If we're limited by injuries and personnel problems, we should do everything to keep our opponents off balance. Not let them pin their ears back and annihilate us. We should be running trick plays, faking punts, onside kicks, and blitzing from every spot on the field. At least we should go down guns blazing.

I've been saying for well over two years that RR would eventually leave. I went as far as to say he would leave even if the move was a lateral position because I think his stock has dropped a little. Just a gut feeling on my part.

This guy is not retiring in Tucson and never was. His heart has always resided on the east coast.

Having said that, if even 1% of the goofy rumors floating around about RR having a secret hand shake deal already to go at another school would be a huge slap in the face to Greg Byrne and Arizona.

I can't even bring myself to imagine that "UofACats" from the old board could have been right about RR and may turn out to be right.

Now that would be the ultimate slap up side the head. This is all pure conjecture at this point but one has stop and take pause for a moment.

In my heart of hearts I don't think there is any chance in hell RR lets all of those east coast jobs get filled without his name being on one of them.

I like RR, but human nature takes all kinds of twists and turns. If it happens I think the attendance and support card (which is bogus) will be used to justify an eleventh hour move.

Gladiator Cat wrote:I've been saying for well over two years that RR would eventually leave. I went as far as to say he would leave even if the move was a lateral position because I think his stock has dropped a little. Just a gut feeling on my part.

This guy is not retiring in Tucson and never was. His heart has always resided on the east coast.

Having said that, if even 1% of the goofy rumors floating around about RR having a secret hand shake deal already to go at another school would be a huge slap in the face to Greg Byrne and Arizona.

I can't even bring myself to imagine that "UofACats" from the old board could have been right about RR and may turn out to be right.

Now that would be the ultimate slap up side the head. This is all pure conjecture at this point but one has stop and take pause for a moment.

In my heart of hearts I don't think there is any chance in hell RR lets all of those east coast jobs get filled without his name being on one of them.

I like RR, but human nature takes all kinds of twists and turns. If it happens I think the attendance and support card (which is bogus) will be used to justify an eleventh hour move.

If he leaves because his heart lies on the east coast, I will harbor zero resentment for him. I never cared for the "I want to retire" pandering the day he was hired... But only the most gullible would have taken that obvious coach speak as gospel truth.

IF he does leave and plays the "attendance & support" card as an excuse, I will root aggressively for him to fail. And let my schadenfreude take over should he be terminated for a bad season in years 3-4.

All this assumes he is offered AND takes one of those EC jobs. I hope he proves all the speculation wrong, but (judging from fanbase reactions to his name being mentioned) I am not sure he will be given the opportunity.

Harvey, this is turning out to be quite a head scratcher for me.

If for some crazy reason, rightly or wrongly a perception is born and takes on a life of its own or if it is confirmed by solid sources that Rich Rod is comping at the bit to get out of town, support and loyalty by the fans will be hard to come by.

I'm not trying to start BS rumors, there is already enough of them to go around.

I hate to see this type of disruption and fragmentation in the program. The injuries have really exacerbated this situation along with poor coaching. Truth is, we may have some coaches that need a change of address. Folks get old and situations change and as the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

This is all bad mojo in my book.

I can't help but think where there is smoke, there is fire.

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

Rich Rod has not seemed to have any issue with firing assistants, even after a short stint. He hired Scot Shafer away from Stanford to be his DC at Michigan out of the gate. RR then fired him after one year, and replaced him with Greg Robinson, whose defense turned to be a downgrade from his predecessor. In addition to the successful one-year stint as DC at Stanford, Shafer had a very successful run as DC at Syracuse after RR fired him. For the last 3 years he has been head coach at Syracuse, and not fared well.

What Rich Rod does not seem to have shown a willingness to do is deviate from the 3-3-5. I believe he insisted that both Shafer and Robinson were mandated to run that scheme in Ann Arbor... And neither were given free reign to assemble their own defensive staffs.

He has shown more loyalty to assistants with whom he has enjoyed a longer-term personal relationship, which I can respect. It would seem he will definitely not abandon the scheme, and will likely not make any change with Casteel. He wants to be in control of all personnel decisions under his domain, but will not be receptive to any personnel changes mandated by those above him.

I would rather see the 3-3-5 dropped than Casteel... I think the 3-3-5 is here to stay, and Casteel should be given one more year - with the understanding that marked improvement will be expected and must be achieved.

If you think the 3-3-5 is here to stay, then it's hard to imagine someone running it more effectively than Casteel. The limited history out there would imply differently.

Puerco wrote:If you think the 3-3-5 is here to stay, then it's hard to imagine someone running it more effectively than Casteel. The limited history out there would imply differently.

I agree that Casteel is probably the best (and most accomplished) DC to run the 3-3-5. If that is what we are destined to run, then I do not think we will get anyone better.

That said, if we have another abysmal defensive performance next year, then I think some change will need to be made. The popular definition of insanity comes to mind, and 5 years is a large enough sample size to conclude the current formula is not working, and will not work.

I'd much rather see the 3-3-5 dumped, as the sample size is even bigger. Next year will be the 8th consecutive where RR has used it in a BCS conference. But for whatever reason, it seems RR is married to the scheme and will refuse to drop it under any circumstances.

Scooby appears to be on his way to greener pastures after this season; I don't see anyone on the roster who will come close to replacing his production and impact. Maybe Turituri and Ippolito will prove to be the missing link, but I just don't see it.

Harvey Specter wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

Rich Rod has not seemed to have any issue with firing assistants, even after a short stint. He hired Scot Shafer away from Stanford to be his DC at Michigan out of the gate. RR then fired him after one year, and replaced him with Greg Robinson, whose defense turned to be a downgrade from his predecessor. In addition to the successful one-year stint as DC at Stanford, Shafer had a very successful run as DC at Syracuse after RR fired him. For the last 3 years he has been head coach at Syracuse, and not fared well.

What Rich Rod does not seem to have shown a willingness to do is deviate from the 3-3-5. I believe he insisted that both Shafer and Robinson were mandated to run that scheme in Ann Arbor... And neither were given free reign to assemble their own defensive staffs.

He has shown more loyalty to assistants with whom he has enjoyed a longer-term personal relationship, which I can respect. It would seem he will definitely not abandon the scheme, and will likely not make any change with Casteel. He wants to be in control of all personnel decisions under his domain, but will not be receptive to any personnel changes mandated by those above him.

I would rather see the 3-3-5 dropped than Casteel... I think the 3-3-5 is here to stay, and Casteel should be given one more year - with the understanding that marked improvement will be expected and must be achieved.

When i look back during his time at Michigan when he hired shafer and robinson as DC it was good choice by Michigan not by RR. Because you have to this as a prospected and say did Michigan force RR to hired Shafer and Robinson or Did Michigan wouldn't pony up the budget for RR to get actually quality DC or Did Michigan try to avoid not bringing in Casteel. By the third when i know that he was in depressed mood that insist of bring in 3-3-5 in which that put that nail in coffin for him If read the book it wouldn't explain what I said it explain in why casteel didn't go with him to Michigan.

Well you cant drop the 3-3-5 with Casteel, It would be you have to drop both. Even I would Casteel one more shot to improve the defense somewhere between 60 to 75 in defense of rank. Any thing higher of 80 to 100 in defense rank, he done.

I don't have problem with loyalty to his staff either but if they cant improve on certain area, Then he going to have to make a really tough decision. I mean Miami fan wanted Al golden to fire his DC that Golden was Loyal to him. I wouldn't say that cost him his job.

cordera89 wrote:

Harvey Specter wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

Rich Rod has not seemed to have any issue with firing assistants, even after a short stint. He hired Scot Shafer away from Stanford to be his DC at Michigan out of the gate. RR then fired him after one year, and replaced him with Greg Robinson, whose defense turned to be a downgrade from his predecessor. In addition to the successful one-year stint as DC at Stanford, Shafer had a very successful run as DC at Syracuse after RR fired him. For the last 3 years he has been head coach at Syracuse, and not fared well.

What Rich Rod does not seem to have shown a willingness to do is deviate from the 3-3-5. I believe he insisted that both Shafer and Robinson were mandated to run that scheme in Ann Arbor... And neither were given free reign to assemble their own defensive staffs.

He has shown more loyalty to assistants with whom he has enjoyed a longer-term personal relationship, which I can respect. It would seem he will definitely not abandon the scheme, and will likely not make any change with Casteel. He wants to be in control of all personnel decisions under his domain, but will not be receptive to any personnel changes mandated by those above him.

I would rather see the 3-3-5 dropped than Casteel... I think the 3-3-5 is here to stay, and Casteel should be given one more year - with the understanding that marked improvement will be expected and must be achieved.

When i look back during his time at Michigan when he hired shafer and robinson as DC it was good choice by Michigan not by RR. Because you have to this as a prospected and say did Michigan force RR to hired Shafer and Robinson or Did Michigan wouldn't pony up the budget for RR to get actually quality DC or Did Michigan try to avoid not bringing in Casteel. By the third when i know that he was in depressed mood that insist of bring in 3-3-5 in which that put that nail in coffin for him If read the book it wouldn't explain what I said it explain in why casteel didn't go with him to Michigan.

Well you cant drop the 3-3-5 with Casteel, It would be you have to drop both. Even I would Casteel one more shot to improve the defense somewhere between 60 to 75 in defense of rank. Any thing higher of 80 to 100 in defense rank, he done.

I don't have problem with loyalty to his staff either but if they cant improve on certain area, Then he going to have to make a really tough decision. I mean Miami fan wanted Al golden to fire his DC that Golden was Loyal to him. I wouldn't say that cost him his job.

Subsequent to his one year stint in Ann Arbor, Shafer produced better defenses statistically than Casteel has in his career. Before going to UM, Shafer had solid one year stint under Harbaugh as DC at Stanford... So I do not buy the idea that Shafer was a bad DC.

Neither Shafer or Robinson were allowed to hire their own position coaches, and both were forced to run the 3-3-5. That's fine... RR is the man in charge and responsible for the whole team, but with that comes the responsibility for their results. Yes, I have heard that RR was not given the money/ freedom to hire the guy he wanted; he did the same things to the guy(s) beneath him, and showed little to no patience for their challenges despite the handcuffs he placed on them. In the end, he reaped what he sowed.

He got all his guys this time around, and the defensive results have been awful, this year monumentally so. What are the 2 constants in the sub-standard defenses that RR coached teams have delivered in 7 years of BCS conference play? The head coach and the scheme.

Rich Rod is a great offensive coach who should stick to that side of the ball. Scrap the 3-3-5 (we do not need any more data) and bring in an established DC who has his own scheme and give him free reign. Don't micro-manage; he doesn't like it being done to him, and any DC worth his salt won't like it either.

Let talk about that His staff in his first year at Michigan.

2008/2010
Rich Rodriguez - Head Coach-WV
Calvin Magee - Associate Head Coach / Offensive Coordinator-WV
Scott Shafer/Greg Robinson - Defensive Coordinator-Stanford/Syracuse
Tony Dews - Wide Receivers-WV
Greg Frey - Offensive Line-WV
Tony Gibson - Assistant Head Coach / Secondary-WV
Jay Hopson - Defensive Assistant/LB-USM
Fred Jackson - Running Backs-Michigan
Rod Smith - Quarterbacks-WV
Bruce Tall - Defensive Line-WV

I wouldn't even see how Shafer/Robinson wouldn't been able to hired their own assistant in that line up of Three season. unless Shafer was hired Dead last behind Tall, Hopson and Gibson. And Robinson had to work with what he had.

cordera89 wrote:Let talk about that His staff in his first year at Michigan.

2008/2010
Rich Rodriguez - Head Coach-WV
Calvin Magee - Associate Head Coach / Offensive Coordinator-WV
Scott Shafer/Greg Robinson - Defensive Coordinator-Stanford/Syracuse
Tony Dews - Wide Receivers-WV
Greg Frey - Offensive Line-WV
Tony Gibson - Assistant Head Coach / Secondary-WV
Jay Hopson - Defensive Assistant/LB-USM
Fred Jackson - Running Backs-Michigan
Rod Smith - Quarterbacks-WV
Bruce Tall - Defensive Line-WV

I wouldn't even see how Shafer/Robinson wouldn't been able to hired their own assistant in that line up of Three season. unless Shafer was hired Dead last behind Tall, Hopson and Gibson. And Robinson had to work with what he had.

Whether you see how or not, RR picked the defensive assistants at UM - not the DC. It is not a coincidence that much of that staff had been with RR at WVU.

Shame on Shafer & Robinson for ignoring a big red flag when they accepted the job... That is on them.

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

I'd start with recruiting and evaluating actual LBs to this team. Last class we recruited one and this class we have only one. We just moved our most prized LB recruit from two years ago to offense and the other prized LB recruit can't get playing time ahead of walk ons. Maybe start recruiting actual players (I don't want to hear this OKG bullshit either) to play the positions effectively enough to run your damn defensive system. That'd be a decision I'd get behind.

I pray for the day we can get pressure on the QB with just a 4 man front.

ChooChooCat wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

I'd start with recruiting and evaluating actual LBs to this team. Last class we recruited one and this class we have only one. We just moved our most prized LB recruit from two years ago to offense and the other prized LB recruit can't get playing time ahead of walk ons. Maybe start recruiting actual players (I don't want to hear this OKG bullshit either) to play the positions effectively enough to run your damn defensive system. That'd be a decision I'd get behind.

I count a total of 19 LB. 3 SR, 7 JR, 3 Soph, 6 FR. I don't think our LB core is a major, I know about the one and one LB from this class and last class. We Three Prized LB in Ware, Cobb and Smothers and One of those prize that you mention is playing FB instead of LB for god no what reason of why he need to recruit a FB in those situation. Smothers has been a disappointed since the Coaching staff don't trust him, Ware is deep in the depth chart. While the rest are just learning and waiting for turn.

ChooChooCat wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

I'd start with recruiting and evaluating actual LBs to this team. Last class we recruited one and this class we have only one. We just moved our most prized LB recruit from two years ago to offense and the other prized LB recruit can't get playing time ahead of walk ons. Maybe start recruiting actual players (I don't want to hear this OKG bullshit either) to play the positions effectively enough to run your damn defensive system. That'd be a decision I'd get behind.

^This.

cordera89 wrote:

ChooChooCat wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

I'd start with recruiting and evaluating actual LBs to this team. Last class we recruited one and this class we have only one. We just moved our most prized LB recruit from two years ago to offense and the other prized LB recruit can't get playing time ahead of walk ons. Maybe start recruiting actual players (I don't want to hear this OKG bullshit either) to play the positions effectively enough to run your damn defensive system. That'd be a decision I'd get behind.

I count a total of 19 LB. 3 SR, 7 JR, 3 Soph, 6 FR. I don't think our LB core is a major, I know about the one and one LB from this class and last class. We Three Prized LB in Ware, Cobb and Smothers and One of those prize that you mention is playing FB instead of LB for god no what reason of why he need to recruit a FB in those situation. Smothers has been a disappointed since the Coaching staff don't trust him, Ware is deep in the depth chart. While the rest are just learning and waiting for turn.

A total of 8 of those Linebackers were guys we offered scholarships out of HS or JUCO. The rest are walk ons (vast majority), are walk ons who now have scholarships (Sir T. Jackson, Jake Matthews), and two guys who couldn't get PT at their last schools (Kenny & Stagg) and one of them was switched to FB at his last school. Out of those original 8 I mentioned, only Scooby, Turituri, Ippolito, and Miller have amounted to anything. The future certainly looks bright at the position doesn't it?

ChooChooCat wrote:

cordera89 wrote:

Gladiator Cat wrote:

the head man in RR he needs to make the difficult decisions for the betterment of the UofA program if he intends to stay on.

.

The problem is we all think RR isn't willing or going to make any changes to either help or improve defense. When was last time had RR every made a major change that will benefit the best interest of the football program. What difficult decision is he going to make. Fired Casteel, Dump 3-3-5, Hired a completely new Defensive Staff, Or Leave for better job.

I'd start with recruiting and evaluating actual LBs to this team. Last class we recruited one and this class we have only one. We just moved our most prized LB recruit from two years ago to offense and the other prized LB recruit can't get playing time ahead of walk ons. Maybe start recruiting actual players (I don't want to hear this OKG bullshit either) to play the positions effectively enough to run your damn defensive system. That'd be a decision I'd get behind.

ChooChoo gets to the heart of the matter IMHO.

Injuries are a part of the game. Listen to the veteran fans on this, because they remember those games the program had to dig down deep in the depth chart for defense. I remember, being thrown into games as undersized freshmen, guys like Tedy Bruschi, Chuck Cecil, Ricky Elmore, Darryl Lewis, Antonio Pierce, Brooks Reed, and Scooby, of course.

And before you say that these guys were different because they were all expected to be great, not really--unless you believe hindsight and parent- or coachspeak over scouts and recruiting analysts. Coaches who not only developed them, but recruited them to their system, helped build them into legends.

And there just isn't this stable of studs out there just waiting to be tapped by RichRod for the 3-3-5. There really isn't. Feel free to look.

In basketball, you can get away with a gimmick defense (I see you Rick Majerus) to win a big game here or there, but to win consistently takes sound fundamentals like positioning, physicality and player awareness.

Without those, you're the football equivalent of LSU's Dale Brown, and I don't see any Shaqs riding into Tucson to save this coaching staff.

I don't know much about defensive alignments. I'm guessing it's 3 linemen 3 linebackers and 5 defensive backs?

Sounds like a "prevent" defense to me. Se we let them bust through the line and hope to slow them down with linebackers and safeties?

Se we run this because it's easier to get backs then linemen?