Defensive Recruiting in the Coach Rodriquez Era
Coach Rodriquez has had three recruiting seasons to help build the defense at Michigan. In his first recruiting class, we already had commitments from the likes of Will Campbell, J.T. Floyd, Kenny Demens, Brandon Smith, Mike Martin, J.B. Fitzgerald and Boubacar Cissoko from Coach Carr and staff. Other current defensive players are holdovers from Coach Carr's staff: Obi Ezeh, Jonas Mouton, Brandon Graham, Donovan Warren, Stevie Brown, Troy Wolfolk, Ryan Van Bergen, etc. These players have tried to "fit in" to Coach Rod's system including a defensive scheme change from a 4-3-4 to the current 3-3-5 plus three defensive coordinators in three years. Two of his 2008 defensive recruits left the team: Taylor Hill and Marcus Witherspoon. The other 7 recruits were offensive commitments: Feagin, Odoms, Moore, Roundtree, Shaw, Barnum and Omameh. Off 22 new commitments in 2009, only 9 were defensive, two are playing, 6 will probably redshirt and one didn't make the grade. Adrian Witty re-committed for 2010, but couldn't make admissions so he went to Cincinnati. Teric Jones was recruited as an offensive player, pledged as an offensive player; however, he moved to defense in the August, 2009 camp. He moved back to offense in 2010 despite injury and "numbers" issues in the secondary. Here is an updated list of his 2009 recruits and their status of help to our 2009 and 2010 defense:
| Defensive Recruits(8) | Status | Notes |
| Lolata, Anthony | Redshirt | Quit to Transfer to Rutgers |
| Emilien, Vladimir | Redshirt | Quit to Transfer to Colorado |
| Turner, J.T. | Redshirt | Quit to Transfer to West Virginia |
| Roh, Craig | Starter Quick LB | 37 tackles, 7.5 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 pass break ups and 1 interception in 12 games in 2009; 39 tackles, 5.5 for loss, 0.5 sack, 1 pass break up in 11 games in 2010, changed position from Quick LB to DE in Bye Week |
| Jones, Mike | Backup OLB-SAM | 3 tackles in 6 games in 2009; 1 tackle in 2010, broke leg vs. Notre Dame |
| Gordon, Thomas | Redshirt | Backup OLB-SAM, started 4 games, 22 tackles, 4 for loss with 2 sacks |
| Hawthorne, Brandin | Redshirt | Special Teams, 1 tackle, 2 fumble recoveries |
| Bell, Isaiah | Redshirt | No action in 2010 after Redshirt Year in 2009 |
Here is a list of 2010 recruits on defensive and their contributions so far in 2010:
| 2010 Defensive Recruits(14) | Position | Notes |
| Talbott, Terry | DE | Redshirt |
| Wilkins, Kenny | DE | Redshirt |
| Kinard, Antonio | Quick LB | NCAA Clearinghouse Issues, Prep School, Enrolling January, 2011 |
| Robinson, Marvin | Bandit SS | Backup SS-Bandit, Shoulder Injury, 3 tackles, 1 on special teams, moved to ILB-WILL? |
| Paskorz, Jordan | Quick LB | Redshirt |
| Avery, Courtney | DB | Starter due to injury to Floyd, 21 tackles, a forced fumble and 4 pass break ups |
| Talbott, Terrence | DB | Backup DB moved to FS, 7 tackles, 1 pass break up |
| Johnson, Carvin | OLB-SAM/FS | Backup OLB-SAM, FS, Knee Injury, 10 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 1 sack and 1 pass break up |
| Christian, Cullen | DB | Backup, 6 tackles |
| Furman, Josh | OLB-SAM | Redshirt |
| Vinopal, Ray | FS | Started last 4 games replacing Cam Gordon, 26 tackles, 1 for loss 1 interception, 2 pass break ups |
| Ash, Richard | NT | Redshirt |
| Rogers, Davion | Quick LB | NCAA Clearinghouse Issues, re-enroll ??? |
| Ryan, Jake | ILB-WILL | Redshirt |
While our defense has ranked amongst the worst in NCAA Division I and Big Ten football for the past two years under his leadership, he continues to emphasize offensive recruiting. Of 19 pledges thus far, only 7 are defensive. According to the concept of building a solid football team according to Coach Rod, the mathematics are as follows: 32 offensive and 25 defensive players over the past three years. 56.14% of his scholarships are dedicated to offensive players; this would equate to 48 of 85 scholarships held to the offense and 37 to the defense. Of his 20 defensive recruits, 3 are not on the team to help us, 6 aren't yet ready to help the team and 14 more are coming next year. This only leaves two contributors in 2 years. As a result of the poor defensive recruiting in previous years and players leaving the team, 6 true freshman (Carvin Johnson, Ray Vinopal, Terrence Talbott, Cullen Christian, Courtney Avery and Marvin Robinson) were forced to be significant contributors in 2010.
| Year | Offensive | Defensive | Total |
| 2008 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 2009 | 13 | 9 | 22 |
| 2010 | 12 | 14 | 26 |
| 2011 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 yrs. | 39 | 31 | 70 |
Under Coach Rodriquez' leadership, the defense is poor, doesn't appear to be emphasized nor does the future of the defense look promising with the lack of commitment to defense on his part. All he seems to be interested in is building an offense, and particulary obsessed with a quick strike offensive juggernaut at the expense of a sound defense. How can we win a Big Ten or NCAA BCS Championship without a solid defense?
The New Michigan: Football Recruiting has Changed at Michigan
Former Ohio State All-American and NFL All-Pro Linebacker Chris Spielman on the Michigan Defense
2010: Lack of Michigan Defense
| Category | Defensive Rank | Big Ten Rank |
| Rushing | 92nd | 9th |
| Passing | 111th | 11th |
| Total | 112th | 11th |
| Scoring | 99th | 9th |
| Pass Efficiency | 92nd | 8th |
| Sacks | 94th | 7th |
Tackles for Loss Turnover Margin |
81st 101st |
7th 10th |
| First Downs | n/a | 11th |
| 3rd Down Conversions | n/a | 8th |
| Red Zone | n/a | 6th |
2008 versus 2009: Lack of Michigan Defense
| 2008 | Big Ten Rank | NCAA Defensive Category | 2009 | Big Ten Rank |
| 51st | 6th | Rushing | 91st | 10th |
| 87th | 9th | Passing | 67th | 7th |
| 66th | 9th | Total | 82nd | 9th |
| 90th | 10th | Scoring | 81st | 9th |
| 81st | 10th | Pass Efficiency | 74th | 7th |
| 107th | 11th | Turnover Margin | 112th | 11th |
| 35th | 6th | Sacks | 72nd | 10th |
If you were a good defensive player, would you want to come to Michigan to play defense under Coach Rod?
Observations on Coach Rod's Second Year
Observations on Coach Rod's first year