Had an opportunity to speak with a couple of pretty well connected sources on all that has gone down, and here was the basic summary. Nothing groundbreaking, but here goes:
• The outcome at Michigan created a tremendous last-straw boiling over internally, especially with Chip Long sick and tired of becoming the scapegoat for the offense's woes, specifically the running game. The finger-pointing started where Long felt his hands were tied with his play-calling because he could not call any inside or off-tackle runs due to lost faith in the linemen, and therefore could not build other derivatives of the offense to its capacity.
• Ian Book was disappointed with the lack of creativity with the running attack, so Tommy Rees became more involved to try to take the load off Book, who loves Rees as a mentor.
• The conventional running attack, or lack of it, was a non-stop issue. Over the last six games (starting with Michigan), the running backs (not Book scrambles/zone reads, or receivers Lenzy/Keys on jet sweeps to compensate) totaled 371 yards on 109 carries, which comes out to 62 yards and 3.4 yards per carry.
• There was a significant wall between Long and Quinn and a divorce was imminent. It was basically the Bill Belichick modus operandi of "what is inevitable must become immediate."
• When I asked if Rees as offensive coordinator was a fait accompli, there was no committed answer, although that is a popular speculation. He would obviously have a major role, but there probably would be a collaborative effort for the bowl game.
• The outcome at Michigan created a tremendous last-straw boiling over internally, especially with Chip Long sick and tired of becoming the scapegoat for the offense's woes, specifically the running game. The finger-pointing started where Long felt his hands were tied with his play-calling because he could not call any inside or off-tackle runs due to lost faith in the linemen, and therefore could not build other derivatives of the offense to its capacity.
• Ian Book was disappointed with the lack of creativity with the running attack, so Tommy Rees became more involved to try to take the load off Book, who loves Rees as a mentor.
• The conventional running attack, or lack of it, was a non-stop issue. Over the last six games (starting with Michigan), the running backs (not Book scrambles/zone reads, or receivers Lenzy/Keys on jet sweeps to compensate) totaled 371 yards on 109 carries, which comes out to 62 yards and 3.4 yards per carry.
• There was a significant wall between Long and Quinn and a divorce was imminent. It was basically the Bill Belichick modus operandi of "what is inevitable must become immediate."
• When I asked if Rees as offensive coordinator was a fait accompli, there was no committed answer, although that is a popular speculation. He would obviously have a major role, but there probably would be a collaborative effort for the bowl game.
