Dave Dye
FOX Sports Detroit
Ann Arbor -- Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez laughed at rumors he's shaking up his defensive coaching staff this week.
One of the rumors included stripping Greg Robinson of his coordinator duties.
"I don't know how these rumors get started," Rodriguez said Monday during his weekly news conference. "Everybody's frustrated on defense. Our staff is frustrated. We're trying to fix that."
Although he indicated there's no shake-up on the coaching staff, Rodriguez said he does plan to start spending more time on the defensive side. In the past, he has been more hands-on with the offense and special teams.
Another dismal performance by the defense in Saturday's 41-31 loss at Penn State forced Rodriguez to reconsider his priorities.
"Maybe just to help create a sense of urgency," he said of the move. "I don't have any grand, magic wands to wave."
Rodriguez said he spent three hours Monday morning in meetings with the defensive staff.
"I'll probably spend a little bit more time on defense now than I'm accustomed to, this week and the next couple weeks," Rodriguez said. "Just because I probably should do that because we've got more inexperienced players playing over there."
Rodriguez reiterated that many of the defensive issues aren't going to be solved short term.
"We have a lot of inexperienced players playing defensively," Rodriguez said. "I don't know how much improvement you're going to get during the season.
"We've got to get faster and more athletic defensively. That was painfully obvious to me after watching film (from the Penn State game).
"We're just not as fast or as athletic in certain spots as we need to be to have success. That's development, that's recruiting."
Extra points
Nose tackle Mike Martin, who has missed much of the last two games because of an ankle injury, was expected to be available for practice Monday or Tuesday, Rodriguez said.
... Michigan's game Nov. 13 at Purdue will be televised by the Big Ten Network beginning at noon, the conference announced.
Nov. 1, 2010
