I hate the football offseason. So many questions were left unanswered after  last season, and now we have to wait until September to finally see them answered. Will this be Rich Rodriguez’s last year coaching the University of Michigan? is probably the most asked question in the universe these days. What will it take for him to keep his job? Who is going to be our starting running back? How many questions are too many questions? \

I am going to try to answer all but the running backs question, as Shredder dove into that topic a few days ago. What does Rich Rod have to do to remain the coach at Michigan? Well I think he has to do a couple of things. First lets make no mistake about it, he is on the hot seat. There is an awful lot of alumni who spend big bucks on the University of Michigan’s athletic programs, most notably football. These people demand success, and we haven’t seen much success from Rodriguez since he has been here. Now don’t label me as anti Rich Rodriguez because I am not. I fully support what he is trying to do, and I can see the forest for the trees. However if he is going to remain at the University he has to do a couple of things.

• Make a bowl game, this is the bottom line. If we go bowl-less again in 2010 there will be a regime change, there is no doubt in my mind about this.
• We must beat either Ohio State or Michigan State. He cannot afford to go 0-6 against Michigan’s top two rivals.
• He must do whatever he can to ensure that there is never again rumors of NCAA violations in his tenure at Michigan. I honestly feel that this is something we won’t have to worry about, as I think he has heard the message loud and clear.

Now I think every single one of these things is achievable. In fact I think winning 9 or 10 games and competing for a Big 10 title are not out of the question. We are going to have an offensive powerhouse next season. If we can find a little bit of improvement in our defense then we should have a successful season.