Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez prefers to defer when coin is tossed

Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez’s interminable search for answers included something last week he’s rarely done as head coach - win the coin toss and elect to receive.

“It was a situation where we wanted to go ahead and see if we could establish some rhythm offensively,” Rodriguez said. “The weather was nice at the time, I didn’t know how the weather was going to turn. And also it wasn’t as loud because their students hadn’t woke up yet.”

Rich Rodriguez

With a late-arriving student section not yet filling the stands, Michigan took the ball first against Wisconsin, went three-and-out, then watched the Badgers march down the field for a touchdown. It marked the fourth straight game Michigan’s sieve of a defense had given up an opening-possession score (no doubt another reason Rodriguez wanted the ball to start).

Wisconsin scored on its opening drive of the second half, too. Michigan answered, but never stopped the Badgers again in a 45-24 loss.

In the first 10 games of the season, the Wolverines won the coin toss seven times and elected to defer each time.

Rodriguez, who said he's chosen to receive just a handful of times in 17 years as a coach, explained his philosophy Wednesday in a short press conference as Michigan prepares to play Ohio State on Saturday (noon, ABC-TV).

“Normally because your defense is fired up, particularly if you’re at home your crowd’s into the game,” he said. “You want to get out there and try to get a quick stop. Plus, at halftime, normally offensively you got to make a few adjustments because you don’t know how teams are going to defend you.

“I don’t know if there’s a stat that shows one way or another which is best in the end.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.