Through eight months of a rocky union between Michigan and Rich Rodriguez, the first-year coach remains steadfast in his commitment to overhauling the Wolverines' football program. Plenty of changes have been made, and plenty of voices have been heard.
"I think it's fair for everybody to question it," Rodriguez said. "They're going to question everything I do. I think they've questioned everything I've done since I've been here the last eight, nine months. There's nothing wrong with that. It's fair game. You can question everything you want."
There has been lots to question with Michigan's fan base.
Start in December, when Rodriguez and his former employer, West Virginia, acrimoniously split.
Rodriguez sent a resignation letter Dec. 16, four months after signing a contract extension to remain the Mountaineers' head coach, and dated it Jan. 3, one day after West Virginia played in the Fiesta Bowl.
Much legal procedures ensued after Rodriguez refused to pay the $4 million buyout.
A settlement was reached in July, with Michigan paying $2.5 million and Rodriguez spreading out $1.5 million over two years.
Other frayed feelings followed almost immediately after Rodriguez came onto the job.
Rodriguez hired his own staff, aside from a few holdovers from the Lloyd Carr era, and renovated the school's weight program for $1 million.
Then, during spring practice, one of Rodriguez's most public missteps occurred when he gave No. 1 to a defensive back.
No. 1 is traditionally given to Michigan's top wide receiver, and Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards has endowed a scholarship at his alma mater for the player who was chosen to wear the number.
Edwards phoned Rodriguez to express his disappointment, and Rodriguez went back to honoring the tradition.
Rodriguez also took heat from some alumni at media day in Chicago three months ago when he downplayed the significance of Michigan beating Ohio State. He has a "Beat Ohio State" button on his desk he received on the first day of his job but didn't entirely satisfy alumni.
"I hear fans say, 'Well, coach, if you just win one game, it's the Ohio State game, we'll be happy,' " Rodriguez said. "I don't believe that. I'm not going to be happy. I'll be happy with that one, but not the other ones."
The product on the football field hasn't been smooth for Rodriguez. Only four teams in the country have turned the ball over more than Michigan's 19 turnovers, the 18.8 points per game is 100th in the country and the total offense is 109th.
The capper came last weekend, when Toledo beat Michigan to become the first Mid-American Conference team to win against the Wolverines. Toledo was behind 18 Football Championship Subdivision teams in Jeff Sagarin's rankings.
Mark Dantonio, Michigan State's second-year coach, can relate to Rodriguez's transition from the Big East to the Big Ten. He coached at Cincinnati before joining the Spartans last year, and Michigan State finished 7-5. The program had its first bowl bid in four years.
Dantonio cited Northwestern's Rose Bowl bid in 1996 as an example of the top-to-bottom balance that makes the Big Ten a difficult conference.
"I think what he brings to the Big Ten is a great football awareness in terms of what he's been able to do," Dantonio said. "He's done outstanding things at West Virginia. He's taken a program at West Virginia and built it to a national contender. I think without question that will be his quest to do it at the University of Michigan now."
