My long time buddy Phil, over at The Nittany Lion has been nice enough to take time out of his busy schedule and sit down with me and have a little chat.
He asked me about my opinions on a multitude of topics to do with Michigan, and I did the same for him on topics covering Penn State. Here was my side of the interview, for the other half of it go check out his site, TheNittanyLion.com.
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TNL: Coach Rodriguez has already made a lot of noise in the Big Ten with the Michigan recruiting season, do you think that he will be able to enjoy the same success that he has had over the past few years now that he's with Michigan?
M&BS: Over time, absolutely. In the next year or two, he'll be doing his best to stock the cupboards with players who are more fit to run the spread, most significantly a great dual-threat QB. Once he has most positions filled with players that were brought to Ann Arbor to run the spread, however, we will absolutely be a National Title contender.
TNL: Lets say Terrelle Pryor doesn't choose Michigan, how much of a concern is that? And do you think the spread offense will be a success with a different quarterback? And who would that be?
M&BS: Well it's pretty much accepted in the Michigan community that Terrelle Pryor is headed elsewhere in 2008. It's a decent-sized inconvenience, but not a huge, season-ruining event. We've got a few quarterbacks that we can go with next season. Justin Feagin, a three star recruit that we picked up this year, is a better passer than Pryor, but isn't as elusive. Steven Threet has had a year of experience on the sidelines, and while he isn't really a runner, we saw in the Capital One Bowl that even a pocket passer can flourish in the spread offense. So to answer your question, we would absolutely be better off if Pryor decided to don the Maize and Blue next season, but we can still be successful with the players already on the roster.
TNL: What is your opinion of the criticism Rich Rodriguez has gotten over the past few months, and do you think that it could hurt Michigan's reputation for honorable coaches?
M&BS: If you want my blatantly honest opinion, I think it's reflects much worse on the West Virginia organization and fan base. Clearly they were hurt by his departure after everything he's done for their program, and especially after he said he would be at WVU for a long time, but the fact that they're drudging this on for so long reflects more negatively on them than it does on us. For them to be threatening him and his family MONTHS after he left, that's just ridiculous. The shredding incident is utter stupidity, and the whole "he called recruits from his West Virginia call phone" is a last swipe at a coach that, many West Virginians think, has betrayed his home state. In the end, do you blame him for leaving a WVU program that was nothing before he came along for Michigan? I don't at all.
TNL: Alright, one final question. What are your expectations for the coming season?
M&BS: High. Probably too high. It's a bad habit of most Michigan fans to expect the most and be disappointed when they do what they finish with a season that is just 'good'. In terms of specifics, anything worse than a #2 finish in the big ten is a bitter disappointment, we had better finish in the top 25, and a BCS Bowl win would be phenomenal. However, we could go 1-11, and as long as we beat Ohio State I still wouldn't be too upset.
Thanks for your time, Phil. Always a pleasure.
And I strongly recommend everyone, Penn State fan or not, to go take a look at The Nittany Lion. It's a great blog, and Phil's a great writer with some interesting posts.
Goodnight, and look out tomorrow for Dan's weekend hockey preview.
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