As much as it may pain Michigan fans to fathom this opinion, I’m going to say it anyway. For all the problems there are on defense, defensive coordinator Greg Robinson isn’t the problem. I know a lot of Michigan fans will disagree with me and say get rid of him. If you ask me what the problem is, I’ll tell you it’s the ridiculous 3-3-5 scheme that Rich Rodriguez has bestowed upon him.
Robinson, a successful coordinator in the NFL and Texas, I bet has never run a 3-3-5 until he came to Ann Arbor. It hasn’t been successful before he got here and it won’t be if he is shown the door after this year. I believe talent may be some of the problem, but they still have some highly recruited players on that side of the ball, no matter what Chris Spielman says. They did have a lot of defensive players transfer. Either they didn’t want to be there or couldn’t play. No depth anywhere is gonna kill you no matter if the kid is a player or not. If you watched the game against Wisconsin, Spielman constantly questioned the scheme, saying that the 3-3-5 isn’t the defense for the Big Ten. Furthermore, in a 3-3-5, you put more of the weakest links on the field. Whom do I speak of? The DBs. I wouldn’t run a 3-3-5 in a video game, no less college football. I don’t like the idea of 5 DBs in a base defense. The only time you trot out 5 DBs are in a nickel or dime package (don’t get excited smokers). Rodriguez needs to go ahead and ride out with what he has. Take the extra practices for the bowl game and tweak the scheme. I’m sure he won’t unless he’s forced to switch coordinators again. I just don’t think this scheme is tailored to what Robinson likes to do. Look at what Syracuse has done this year with Robinson’s players. Sure it’s Syracuse and the Big East but it’s a conventional defense. Something Michigan needs to switch to. I’m sure they might be better off with it, because this 3-3-5 West Virginia bull just doesn’t cut it.
So before you run Robinson out of town, think about his track record and what scheme he’s been forced to work with. These strange bedfellows just aren’t made for each other.
