ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Only a handful of games into his Michigan tenure, Rich Rodriguez knew the program had a steep mountain to climb.

The winged helmet wouldn't equal 10 wins. The Michigan brand, which he acknowledges is one of the greatest in sports, wouldn't equal instant success. Decades of winning wouldn't equal recruiting rewards. As he put it Saturday, "The last three or four Februaries have hurt us a little bit."

But where is Michigan on its ascent back to past heights? Are the Wolverines making progress, or are they still at the base of the mountain two years into the Rodriguez era?

One thing is certain.

"How much does a man got to get humbled?" Rodriguez said after Saturday's 21-10 loss to No. 10 Ohio State. "Got humbled last year. Been humbled before and will be humbled again. In this profession, there's enough humility to go around for everybody.

"I'm getting tired of being humbled."

It has been a humbling two years for the head coach, who now owns an 8-16 record at Michigan, 3-13 in Big Ten play. He'll spend another winter at home, as Michigan's loss eliminated the team from bowl contention.

Michigan finished last in the Big Ten for the first time since 1962. The Wolverines failed to beat an FBS team in October or November. They'll lose their best defensive player (end Brandon Graham) and possibly their second best (junior cornerback Donovan Warren), and the core of the team remains young. There's an ongoing NCAA investigation into allegations of time-limit violations by Rodriguez's program that could conclude with major violations, a first at Michigan.

But Rodriguez still believes the team's 2009 slogan -- "All In For Michigan" -- holds true.

"Maybe people will try to say, 'Oh, woe is Michigan,'" Rodriguez said. "Michigan's going to be just fine. Our fans are all in, the players are all in, the staff's all in, the university's all in. We're going through a growing process that we're not accustomed to here at the University of Michigan.

"I'm not accustomed to it, either, but I've been through it before, and we'll get it done."

Rodriguez's players have the same belief.

"We've got coach Rod and [the coaches are] going to get us ready for next year," wide receiver Roy Roundtree said. "I'm sure about that."

Rodriguez said he's not worried about his job security, and he'll likely be back in 2010. But he'll have a new boss -- a replacement for outgoing athletic director Bill Martin will in place -- and enormous pressure to succeed.

Another humbling season will almost certainly mark the end for Rodriguez.

"I know I'm judged on wins and losses," he said. "That's the way they judge head coaches. That's fine. Our time will come."

Many thought Michigan's time had come after a 4-0 start, which included dramatic wins against Notre Dame and Indiana. Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier made magic seemingly every week, and Rodriguez's offense showed flashes of the form that made it famous at West Virginia, Clemson and Tulane.

But the wins "hid a few of the warts that we still had," Rodriguez said, and things started to look ugly in league play. The defense hemorrhaged yards in losses to Iowa, Penn State, Illinois and Purdue.

And when the defense stepped up, like in Saturday's game, Forcier made critical mistakes. The freshman committed five turnovers in the loss, including a fumble in his own end zone and an interception in the Ohio State end zone.

"We beat ourselves every game," running back Vincent Smith said.

Forcier wasn't allowed to speak with reporters after the game, but in a text message to the Associated Press, he wrote, "I lost that game. This offseason, I'm gonna make sure myself and every single person on this team works the hardest we have ever worked. We're gonna come back a new team. I'm not going to let this happen again."

Rodriguez has faced challenges in his career, perhaps even greater than this one.

In his first head-coaching job at Glenville State, he took over a program that had 35 players, 10 of whom hadn't played high school football. The team had been shut out eight times the previous season.

"That was a bigger challenge to get them to believe in winning and doing all that," he said. "Here, it's a challenge. We've just got a lot of work to do. Just let us do our jobs. We'll be OK."



Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg talks to Michigan running back Vincent Smith after the loss to Ohio State.