When it became clear that Rich Rodriguez was likely on his way out of Michigan as head coach, one of the most asked questions about the team's future involved what would happen to Denard Robinson. Robinson came to Michigan to play in Rodriguez's spread offense, which he is a perfect fit for, as evidenced by his record 2010 season. Although he showed signs of improvement as a passer, would he want to stick around at Michigan and play in a more pro-style offense under new head coach Brady Hoke?
↵The answer, thankfully for Michigan and its fans, is yes. Hoke was asked about Robinson during a radio interview on Thursday and broke the news that Shoelace plans to stay at Michigan.
↵↵↵"We've had really positive and great conversations. The one thing I can tell you, he wants to have a Michigan degree when he's done here. He wants to be a guy who's part of a great football team and the great tradition at Michigan."
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New offensive coordinator Al Borges has already made it clear that Michigan's offense will be built around Robinson. While it won't be a spread offense like we've seen the past three years, spread concepts will be thrown into the mix. It's not expected that Robinson will run nearly as much as he did this past season, but considering the beating he took, that's probably a good thing. Either way, it's nice to see that unlike the offense under Rodriguez in year one (with Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan trying to run the spread), Borges' offense will be adapted to the players on the team.
↵It's great news for the Michigan offense that Robinson will be back next season, and the defense got some great news as well this week. Defensive tackle Mike Martin, arguably the most talented player on defense, announced that he is coming back for his senior season. He looked into declaring for the 2011 NFL Draft, but in the end staying at Michigan made more sense for Martin, which is why he's not going anywhere.