Mlive article on RichRod: Had Bo been there...

I probably wouldn't have had to deal with some off-field issues..." 100% correct. The Carr faction would not have dared to try and fuck things up as bad as they did for him. I admit I had had enough of the defensive lapses by his poorly-funded staff and was glad to see him go, but the man knows how to coach and plan an offense. sigh...

Read somewhere that BO thought that RR was an up and coming coach... sure BO talked to his old assistant Nehlen about him... and you are right about Carr and his boys, they would not have pulled all that shit had BO been around... however RR had no idea of defensive football lol

BOLEACH7 wrote:

Read somewhere that BO thought that RR was an up and coming coach... sure BO talked to his old assistant Nehlen about him... and you are right about Carr and his boys, they would not have pulled all that shit had BO been around... however RR had no idea of defensive football lol

Bo- it is odd about RR since he played defensive back in college. He has focused on the offensive side of the ball as a coach though. It becomes critical for him that he have the right DC. When we wouldn't ante up to bring Casteel over he scrambled and picked Shafer whom he had no history with and who apparently did not mesh well with the defensive assistants already there.

After 3-9 RR was under immense pressure to change something and IMO Shafer was unfairly scapegoated. Then he compounds the problem by hiring Greg Robinson when it was suggested to RR by someone that Greg was more Lloyd-like personality-wise and that he would play better with with Michigan insiders and balance out RR's personality which some didn't like.

It's a damn shame because I think he's an excellent coach and could have been highly successful here.

'shoes

agree shoes .... he is definitely a much better coach than Hoke ... but the combination of no defense and the pressures from within was a no win situation ... never a big fan of the spread but 10 win seasons would have eased those worries lol

Bo would have been running a spread had he been born 25 years later.

Lol he, or should I say Rick Leach ran the triple option very well with Gordie Bell, Rob Lytle, Harlan Huckleby, Russell Davis and Rosy Smith.... if BO had had any faith in letting Leach pass in the Rose Bowl we easily should have won three straight

Was there a divide between Lloyd's former players and Bo's former players in regards to RR? It seems like the former players causing trouble for RR were mainly Lloyd's guys. Bo's guys like Rick Leach and you can even count Gary Moeller were vocally supportive of RR.

God bless Lloyd for the NC and the big games he won, but a lot of the baggage with the "michigan man" stuff and other pettiness really developed because of his ego.

blueest wrote:

Was there a divide between Lloyd's former players and Bo's former players in regards to RR? It seems like the former players causing trouble for RR were mainly Lloyd's guys. Bo's guys like Rick Leach and you can even count Gary Moeller were vocally supportive of RR.

God bless Lloyd for the NC and the big games he won, but a lot of the baggage with the "michigan man" stuff and other pettiness really developed because of his ego.

There was definitely a divide between Lloyd guys and older Bo guys. I know one former player who told me directly that Lloyd told him you can support RR or be loyal to me, not both, and this was at a time when he was seeking a personal recommendation for a job he was seeking.

hey shoes .... why did Lloyd become so bitter .... wonder if maybe he thought " hey I won us a NC and all I hear still is BO is Michigan " .... was there a resentment that he was not given as much praise ?

BOLEACH7 wrote:

hey shoes .... why did Lloyd become so bitter .... wonder if maybe he thought " hey I won us a NC and all I hear still is BO is Michigan " .... was there a resentment that he was not given as much praise ?

lloyd did not leave on his own terms... after the app st and oregon losses he was basically shown the door but was told he could save face and leave after the season.

the fan base was sick of boring lloyd ball and sick of it being the reason Tressel was beating us year in and year out.

IMO that is why he was bitter.

him becoming assistant AD (in a very limited role albeit) was what allowed him to make the mess he did when RichRod was in town.

Not sure I'm with you there eggo.

I heard HE wanted to leave a year earlier and they basically "begged" him to stay one more year.

sandyeggo_blue wrote:

BOLEACH7 wrote:

hey shoes .... why did Lloyd become so bitter .... wonder if maybe he thought " hey I won us a NC and all I hear still is BO is Michigan " .... was there a resentment that he was not given as much praise ?

lloyd did not leave on his own terms... after the app st and oregon losses he was basically shown the door but was told he could save face and leave after the season.

the fan base was sick of boring lloyd ball and sick of it being the reason Tressel was beating us year in and year out.

IMO that is why he was bitter.

him becoming assistant AD (in a very limited role albeit) was what allowed him to make the mess he did when RichRod was in town.

I would modify that slightly. Lloyd expressed interest in retiring after 2006, but Martin persuaded him to coach one more year-2007. Then 2007 was definitely going to be his last year, he was not in any way forced out. BUT- Lloyd assumed he would pass off to his choice of Debord or English, and then he would hang around as beloved Coach Emeritus. After App St and Oregon, he lost that decision, it was out of his hands, and would not go to a guy on staff. Then it looked like Miles and Lloyd did all he could to block that ironically including suggesting RR as a Miles alternative. As the end drew near he began to resent the rumblings that we were finally going to move ahead to modern football and he resented what that said about him. He finally opens things up in the Citrus Bowl as kind of an F-U see what I could do, as RR watches from the sidelines,

Then he does everything he can to sabotage RR (I would not be shocked if he was the source of putting the Free Press onto stretch-gate (no proof here).)

He basically wanted to be Bo in retirement and get that kind of acclaim but he didn't act anything like Bo. RR asked him to speak to the team at least twice but he rebuffed that.

'shoes

As far as I know Lloyd was majorly upset that Martin would not allow him to name his replacement. There is some speculation that he wanted Ron English to follow him but look at the dumpster fire English created at Eastern. LOL...English was fired last year and the new coach put in grey astroturf (symbolism that his players were so tough they could play on concrete), the new nickname of Rynearson Stadium is "The Factory" (which symbolizes the blue-collar nature of the team), and then this is the toppoer: