All I can say is that he better land Terrelle Pryor if he wants to be able to duplicate the success he had here.
...well, no, that's not all I can say.
But Rod's run-first spread offense is dependent on that dual threat quarterback, and while they found Pat White as a diamond in the rough, it's hard to see them pulling another three star out of no where and making him one of the top dual QBs in the nation.
To my knowledge Michigan doesn't even have a single QB commit right now, and freshman QB Ryan Mallet is transferring. Who does that leave them? David Cone, Lee Mondol, and Nick Sheridan? Not sure I see the answer there. Rod is also losing seniors Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Jake Long, and junior receivers Adrian Arrington and Mario Manningham. He has a lot of talent to replace, how much of it is already there?
Running back commit Sam McGuffie could do well in that scheme, but they're going to need to find a QB to run it. I don't know too much about the Michigan offensive linemen that are there right now, but I question if they're athletic enough to run the spread system. He may have some adjustments to make there.
I think it's going to take him a year or two before he really gets the components he needs for his philosophy, which he's shown a stubbornness to adapt in the past. Even then, will it be enough to beat Ohio State and be in the title picture every year? Personally I have my doubts, not because I don't think he's a good coach but because it's his way or the highway and when push comes to shove he doesn't make the best in-game adjustments. He's the kind of coach that thinks his system will work against anyone, which isn't a bad thing because I think with the right players this system can compete with anyone. But when it doesn't work in a game, he has a tendency to just keep running it because he figures it'll start working sometime.
He also no longer has the advantage of surprise behind him. As you pointed out, Illinois runs a similar system in the Big Ten so teams have already been preparing ways to stop the spread attack. If I had to make a prediction, I'd be surprised if he makes it to his sixth season as head coach. He's not a Michigan guy so the tolerance will be lower I think.
Linear Mode
