Greg Robinson called last season “ancient history.”

For his sake - and the hopes of this current Michigan football coaching staff - he better hope so. The second-year Michigan defensive coordinator also needs something else.

He desperately needs some of the recruits the Wolverines signed to contribute immediately. Where they stand now, though, is tough to say.

See, the first Wednesday in February is supposed to be all about hope and rainbows and unicorns and the potential of a recruits who are supposed to be the saviors of a program. They are supposed to represent the new lifeblood, the reason why so many say a win in February is almost as important as victories in the fall.

This is when you replenish, even if most of the results won’t pan out for two seasons at least. It’s why head coach Rich Rodriguez, after seeing his defense fail time and time again last season, made 16 of his 27 signees defensive recruits.

Rare is the day you’ll hear anything negative about any player on national signing day - except from fans of schools spurned by recruits at the final moments. It’s only later the truth, whether or not a class is good or bad, productive or ineffective, comes out.

Nowhere is this more apparent than at Michigan, where the Wolverines need more than talent, they need physical bodies on defense next season. It’s why Rodriguez focused the majority of scholarships on the side of the ball he doesn’t claim as his baby.

And perhaps nowhere in the country does a school need the freshmen class to pan out fast more than Ann Arbor.

The defense was the problem in 2008, so Rodriguez fired Scott Shafer and hired Robinson. It didn’t improve much in 2009 and ended up starting walk-ons at linebacker and safety for games last season.

So he knew he needed an infusion of talent. The question is whether or not it’ll help early enough.

“These guys are young,” Rodriguez said. “Let’s not put too much on them too soon.”

Michigan, though, has to. Let’s face it, another year of Jordan Kovacs being outrun by running backs and wide receivers in the Big Ten won’t win a team games.

Speed will. It’s what won for Rodriguez at West Virginia and what will win for Rodriguez at Michigan if he turns things around.

The “if” is the biggest part, especially considering what the Wolverines lost off of their defense from last season.

Michigan has to figure out a way to replace its best defensive player in Brandon Graham, its most productive linebacker, Stevie Brown, and the sole consistent cornerback the Wolverines had in Donovan Warren.

The depth behind those players - and throughout Michigan’s team right now - is shallow.

Freshmen are still freshmen, and while Rodriguez lauded the speed of the class and that Michigan needs help “at every position,” this staff still can’t count on rookies to save his job.

Robinson, though, says he likes his chances with the recruits Michigan has signed, including four-star defensive linemen Jibreel Black and Richard Ash and defensive back Demar Dorsey, rated by ESPNU as the No. 12 player in the country.

So as much as Rodriguez may not want to put the freshmen he recruited in a position they have to be an integral part to Michigan’s 2010 success, they is no doubt they have to be.

“I’ve gotten to meet all these kids, I’ve gotten to watch all these kids, I’ve gotten to interact with them,” Robinson said. “I like our chances with what we’ve done. I like to use the term that I think we’re putting the odds in our favor.

“And that’s about all you can ask for.”

Wins would help, too.

Let’s face it, that’s what Michigan’s 2010 season is going to be about. It isn’t going to be about Michigan’s youth or depth or how many freshmen will play.

It’ll come down to wins and, specifically, how many of them Rodriguez will have at the end of the season.

And whether that will be enough for him to keep his job.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.