“The winningest program in college football” has some serious soul-searching to do as living in the past and clinging to the myth of the mighty “Michigan Man” has blown up in the faces of Michigan Wolverine nation.
With their 42-28 loss at the Horseshoe to the hated arch rival Ohio State, the Wolverines limped off the field with a final record of 5-7 and out of the running for even a minor bowl bid. Head coach Brady Hoke is expected to be fired while former athletic director Dave Brandon has already resigned amid heavy pressure last month. The probable and necessary end of the Hoke era leads to many questions but also the opportunity to embrace the reality of today’s college football.
Prehistoric Program
Michigan has indeed won more games than any other program in college football history and has the second best winning percentage behind only Notre Dame. But a closer look reveals that the Wolverines built on much of that success in prehistoric times. Out of Michigan’s 11 national championships, only one has come since 1948 and that was a split title with Nebraska in 1997. Eight out of Michigan’s 11 national titles came between 1901 and 1933. Michigan won their last Big Ten title in 2004. The Maize and Blue have posted double digit win seasons in just two out of the last 11 years. And yet to this day the Michigan program has a culture of entitlement and arrogance that is out of touch with the reality of today.
The Michigan Man Myth
With Michigan Stadium, AKA “The Big House,” a streak of 100,000 plus crowds that goes back four decades, the winged helmet, “The Victors” fight song, and a tradition of winning, Michigan is indeed a premier college football program. But Michigan is yet to fully adjust to the current era of college football. The program is being suffocated by the Michigan Man myth.
Much of the Michigan Man myth is based on the Bo Schembechler glory years of 1969 through 1989. Near the end of his tenure Schembechler also served as athletic director and he fired basketball coach Bill Frieder for taking the head coaching job at Arizona State before the NCAA Tournament. Schembechler stated that “only a Michigan Man will coach Michigan.” From there the Michigan Man myth has grown into a ridiculous caricature of itself.
After Schembechler retired, two Michigan Men, former assistants Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, coached the team from 1990 through 2006. The program grew stale at the end under Carr and the same people who are now screaming for an alum were then saying that the program needed to be modernized.
In 2007, Michigan hired an outsider and one of the founding fathers of the spread offense, Rich Rodriguez, as head coach. Rich Rod was celebrated as the man who would bring Michigan into the 21st century and replace Carr’s bland offensive attack. But Rodriguez was never accepted as a true Michigan Man by insiders within the program and was run off after three years for Hoke, who previously served as a line coach at Michigan and was seen as the consummate Michigan Man.
Hoke knew the Michigan culture and sang from the Maize and Blue hymnal to perfection. The fans gulped the Kool aid with great enthusiasm. It also helped the Hoke won 11 games in his first season as Michigan’s head coach with a roster stocked with Rodriguez’s players. But as Hoke’s recruits started to replace Rodriguez’s on the roster the losses mounted at an increasingly rapid rate. As a result of less wins and much higher ticket prices apathy began to take hold of the fan base and students with an increase in empty seats at the Big House.
Meanwhile Rodriguez has since moved on to Arizona where he went 10-2 this year and will lead his team into the Pac 12 Championship game, where the Wildcats will try to beat No. 2 Oregon for the second time this season. If only Rich Rod was a Michigan Man like Hoke.
Soft and Entitled Blue Blood Culture
When Hoke arrived he promised hard-nosed power football. He had a simple answer to everything: “This is Michigan!” What Hoke meant is that the Michigan Wolverines program would recruit itself and its tradition would spark a return to glory. Unfortunately the reality of today’s college football is light years away from the Schembechler era.
Today’s Reality
The late great Schembechler deserves admiration and respect. But the reality of his era was that the Big Ten Conference was derided as “The Big Two and Little Eight.” It was Michigan, Ohio State, and then eight lightweight losers. Back then Michigan’s season basically came down to “The Game” against Ohio State. “Neanderball” was the accepted style of play in which Ohio State and Michigan would run continuous off tackle plays against each other in low scoring slug fests.
Today the Big Ten has such programs as Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa who have been or will be contenders for the league crown. The days of the two team Big Ten and running 60 off tackle plays per game in Schembechler’s era are thankfully long gone.
Ann Arbor Arrogance
Michigan has long refused to pay top dollar for coaches believing that it was a privilege to coach in Ann Arbor at a discount rate. Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio warned against such hubris in 2007 when he stated that “Pride comes before the fall.” How prophetic. Mighty Michigan is now pathetic and home for the holidays.
Looking for a Savior
Michigan fans now pine for former Schembechler era QB Jim Harbaugh, who is currently the head man with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. LSU head coach Les Miles, a Schembechler player and assistant, is also mentioned as a potential savior.
Once again fans want a “Michigan Man” to ride in on a white horse and save the day. Harbaugh would seem to be a long shot and could be tied up through February with the NFL post season. Miles is a possibility whose time may finally be right. In 2007 and 2011 Miles was tied up with BCS Bowl runs when Michigan was hiring but he has no such issues now.
Michigan must “back up the truck” for a top shelf coach with instant national credibility. Screaming “This is Michigan” no longer connects with five star recruits or wins games.
