Michigan wrapped up their 2010/2011 football season with a horrible loss to a middle of the pack SEC team. They gave up 52 points to Mississippi St. Never in my life have I been so embarrassed to be a Michigan fan. Not after Appy St., not after Toledo, not after the Buckeyes steam rolled us in RICH RODRIGUEZ’S 3rd year. I love Rich Rodriguez. I am not at all ashamed to admit this. I love the young men he’s brought to Ann Arbor to play football. I love the way he’s continued to stand tall, even after taking shot after shot from national and local media, and from former Michigan players.

The whole Rich Rod era of Michigan football has changed me in a lot of ways. For so many years as I was growing up and learning how to be a man, Michigan Football was bigger then life. They were the team that you could always count on to go out and give you a decent performance, no they wouldn’t win every game they played, but they would be competitive. I viewed all the athletes on the field and the coaches on the sidelines as super heroes. Sometimes growing up isn’t as much fun as you think.

Fast forward to the end of 2007, Bill Martin had just announced that Rich Rodriguez would being taking over Michigan’s coach the following season. Rodriguez was the hottest coach in college football, he had guided WVU to a 33-5 mark including 2 BCS bowl wins over the previous 3 years (I’m to lazy to look these numbers up, I think they are correct but if they’re not, please don’t shoot me). Most of us including yours truly, were ecstatic that a “modern offense” was coming to Ann Arbor. We all thought with the level that Michigan recruits at, all the talent on the roster now, there is nothing that will stop us from winning 10 straight national championships. Holy shit, looking back at that now, I feel like a complete moron.

After 3-9, 5-7, and now a 7-6 season, Michigan is once again facing a time of change. This time it isn’t that our fearless leader is stepping down, but that our fearless leader is being kicked out on his ass. I have been the most unwavering supporter of Rich Rodriguez this side of the blogosphere, but I have reached  the end of the road. I am so fucking sick and tired of getting stomped by the likes of MSU, OSU, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Mississippi St. I am sick of it. All I want is to be competitive again, I don’t care how we get there, as long as we get there. We don’t need to win 35 Big Ten titles in a row, or win 14 National Championships in a row. Just go out there and play OSU really hard for 60 minutes and don’t get beat by 30. Is that asking too much? Apparently right now it is.

Rich Rod, I loved you from the moment you steeped foot in Ann Arbor, and I will root for you no matter where you end up next,  but the time has come to head in a different direction. Whether that direction brings Jim Harbaugh, Brady Hoke, or Pat Fitzgerald to us has yet to be seen. Some things are meant to be, and unfortunately for us this wasn’t one of them. Good luck in your next endeavor Coach Rod, you will always have the support of Dark Blue.

This pretty much sums up the last 3 years.