I saw that Harbaugh is getting an extension at Stanford. I remember him being eliminated early in the coach search at Michigan. Was that because UM wanted a bigger name or did Harbaugh take himself out early? Harbaugh has burned every bridge possible with Michigan. I don't think he'd ever have a chance to coach at U of M. Rich Rod is still the guy, and I'm still excited for the future. The attrition that Michigan has gone through because of the switch in systems (and Lloyd Carr's lack of recruiting his last few years) is the biggest problem for Michigan right now. They only have 72 players on scholarship when you're allowed to have 85. They're playing 2, sometimes 3, walk-ons on defense. 70% of the team is either fresh/soph. 11 of the starters are either fresh/soph, including a freshman QB. It's young and lacking depth. They'll be fine in a few years. Scout's recruiting ranking for UM '03-'08: 8, 5, 2, 9, 10, 6. And that's with 20-23 guys each year. Unlike some schools in the South, this rankings aren't based on having 32-33 guys, knowing that 5-7 aren't going to make it. Carr left Dick Rod with some quality players, including the #2 overall QB in the '07 class. The players just didn't fit the spread offense. Defense is by far the biggest problem for U of M right now. If you look between 2005 and 2009, Michigan recruited 48 people on the defensive side of the ball. Only 28 still remain on the roster. That's almost a 50% attrition rate. Michigan has only 28 scholarship players on defense! That's insane. In contrast, Ohio State has 46 scholarship athletes on defense. Penn State has 40. Notre Dame has 36. Michigan has 0 fifth-year seniors, and only 50% of the 2006 class left, meaning the defense is loaded with unexperienced players, which is why they're forced to start 2 walk-on players. That #2 QB (Mallett) was planning on transferring no matter if Carr was staying or not because he was not getting along with his teammates. He was forced to start some of his freshman year by the way because there were no experience QB's between Henne and him. There was one scholarship QB on the roster last season in Threet (who has since transferred away) with 2 walk-ons behind him. You now have Forcier and Denard Robinson as the only scholarship QB's on the roster this season, both of whom are freshman. Still, the offense is leading the Big Ten in scoring, so the offense looks solid. Seriously with the Dick Rod?