U-M's 3-9 season is all on Rich Rodriguez

Jamie Samuelsen can be heard on the morning show on WRIF-FM (101.1) and blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

Rich Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Scott Shafer decided it was best for Shafer to leave. Is it too easy to make him the scapegoat for the 2008 season?

Way too easy. And I think Shafer is well aware of that. His quote, “I take full responsibility for the demise of the Michigan program” seemed awfully sarcastic to me. It sounds like a guy who knows he’s been tagged the scapegoat for the worst season in U-M history and wants to take a little shot on his way out. Who knows? Maybe Shafer is really that down on himself and the job that he did, but I doubt it.

Rich Rodriguez is far and away the number one reason for 3-9. It’s his program, his system, his coaching staff and his stubbornness. He’s the one who will run the spread, the players be damned. He’s the one who blew out the entire coaching staff, save Fred Jackson; a coaching staff which had done a pretty good job for a long time. And it was his system and his attitude (depending on who you listen to) that drove off a lot of talented players from the 2007 team.

Is Rodriguez wrong? Time will tell. I still say he wins here long-term. I knew, as we all did, that 2008 would be a little rough. But it was certainly a lot rougher than we imagined — rougher even than Rodriguez thought. But it’s on him. This is not to excuse Shafer or any one else, because they all did their part. The defense was far worse than anyone expected. It was supposed to carry the load while the offense improved. Neither really happened.

This is RichRod’s program now which makes some Old Blues throw up. So if he wants to make a coaching change, that’s his call. But nobody should be so simple-minded as to think that Shafer was the only problem last year and that all will be better without him. He was part of the problem, but not the biggest. That tag belongs with the head coach.