How do you know your football team is not a legitimate marquee program? When your alumnus head coach has a 60-26 record, brought the school to two BCS games and still peaces for another program. That’s right. Rich Rodriguez has left the “great” state of West Virginia for the University of Michigan. This isn’t the first coach The Wolverines have pilfered the Mountaineers either. Rodriguez joins former West Virginia basketball coach John Beilein at Michigan.
I personally don’t understand why Rodriguez left. I always thought as an alumnus your dream job would be to coach your school, turn them into a winning program and compete for National Championships. Maybe that’s just my goal as “Virginia Tech Coach” in NCAA ‘08. Whatever the reason I am just going to go ahead and speculate on how bad its going to be for WVU over the next couple of years.
- You are going to replace Rodriguez with a guy who isn’t fit to hold his clipboard.
- Oklahoma is going to thump you. Hard.
- You will no longer be top dog in the Big East.
- Forget signing Noel Devine like recruits.
- Say hello to the Meineke Car Care Bowl
Country Roads. Haha. False!
1ramosa on Dec 16, 2007 at 7:08 pm:
i completely disagree with your rationale. let’s tranfer your logic to professorship. per your logic, a UM grad would prefer to be a professor at UM than harvard? while that may be the case for some academic fields, it would not be the case generally … afterall, while UM is a top 25 university in terms of academics, harvard is at–or near–the top.
2cgb on Dec 16, 2007 at 7:34 pm:
No ramosa let’s not. Your comparing apples to oranges. Rodriguez is basically trading in his past as a WVU alumn and former player to be apart of Michigan’s history and tradition.
3wiscwood on Dec 16, 2007 at 8:46 pm:
I can’t say I empathize with you but I do sympatize with you. I’m writing to state why I think Coach Rodriguez left WVU. True, he is an alumni of the school. I think he feels he can’t win a NC there. If WVU had beaten Pitt we would not be having this discourse. I watched the Pitt game hoping WVU would win (I hate OSU and didn’t want them to go to the NC game). I also route for WVU too. At the end of the game I saw RR’s disappointment. It was as if he couldn’t assemble what it took to win. He almost couldn’t believe what was happening. It was very strange to me. He really wanted it badly for his players and himself. I don’t know how his demeanor generally is, but that loss really crushed him badly.
Just as Coach Beilein thought being the Michigan coach would open up more doors for him, Coach Rod probably feels that he can accomplish more if he had a block ‘M’ as his banner instead of a school that has never really ascended to the top. He thought, I feel, this was the year to show the nation what WVU could do. It was not be so. He used up his energy with his players did. There was nothing more to do. A new venue and school could do it. Michigan was available to him. I would coach a better school to enhance my professional career. Loyalty is one thing, money is another, unique opportunities are another.
For Michigan some of the reasoning behind hiring WV coaches has something to do with one of Michigan’s greatest coaches, Fielding Yost was from WV. He was so prolific that Michigan has not been the same. His teams were undefeated from 1901 to 1904. They lost one game in 1905. He made Michigan in to who they are now. The tradition, the respect, the expectation all Yost’s influence. Michigan wants that success again. I hope they get it. I hope Rich Rodriguez give to them.
Personally, I think Coach Rodriguez is a wonderful coach. Hiring him, for UM, is a great acquisition. I think WVU is going to be all right. Your school is very resilient. WVU is going to have to great a name that keeps their own coaches. A way to do that is to win NCs.
Best Wishes to your future!!!
Go Blue
4st3 on Dec 16, 2007 at 9:12 pm:
Cgb, the Meineke Car Care Bowl is legit. International Bowl reference would of been better. But go ahead, hate hate hate all over Uconn. Homo.
5cgb on Dec 16, 2007 at 10:11 pm:
I understand the gist of what your saying. Basically RR went to Michigan because its arguably the job to have as a college football head coach. They have better facilities, reload every year and have great alumni. However, I just think he’s a quitter for not staying at WVU until he got the job done there.
6Shaun on Dec 17, 2007 at 12:19 pm:
Rich Rodriguez sold out on wvu and sold out hard. The Harvard example doesn’t work because you’re not a leader of a university as a professor, you’re just a member of a staff.. being a head football coach means being the face of that university… rodriguez was a home grown product that put WVU football on the map, and he sold out, plain and simple. College football is all about legacy.. he wont be remembered in michigan if he wins a title as much as he would have been idolized in WV for generations to come had he won a title there.
7cgb on Dec 17, 2007 at 12:30 pm:
Yeah Shaun has summed up my entire point in a more concise \ direct manner.
8DICK ROD SUCKS on Dec 20, 2007 at 1:36 pm:
CAN’T SPELL TRAITOR WITHOUT RR
9DICK ROD SUCKS on Dec 20, 2007 at 1:40 pm:
CAN’T SPELL TRAITOR WITHOUT RR AND A BIG HEAD FOR A BIG HOUSE
10DICK ROD SUCKS on Dec 20, 2007 at 1:43 pm:
Rodriguez DID NOT FINISH THE JOB he supposedly set out to do– bring a national championship to West Virginia. What good is a job unfinished? Don’t say he “left it in better shape than before he came”. HE and his pocketbook LEFT IN BETTER SHAPE, than before he came. What good is a great incision for surgery when the surgery is cancelled? Leave an open wound is all! Which is what Rodriguez did to the state of West Virginia.
And as far as the “expert analysts” at ESPN- questioning the positon of a governor in such a matter. They say “where is the governor when a coach gets fired”. I say “WHERE IS THE COACH YOU PAID MILLIONS TO HIRE?”. He should be preparing for a BCS game, but he is out recruiting players for another program. In your narrow minded eyes- ESPN it is also a business when a drug addict breaks into your home for money for drugs– is it not. To the drug addict- it is a business. So it all depends on what side you are looking from!
WE OWE RICH RODRIGUEZ NOTHING– but a PERSONALIZED EXIT SIGN THAT READS “CAN’T SPELL TRAITOR WITHOUT R R.”
And as far as Ken Kendrick and his lame excuse about Fraud’s departure; I say this:
“ask not what your university can do for you– but rather ask what you can do for your university’
WE DON’T NEED YOUR BRIBE MONEY— A MOUNTAINEER YOU NEVER WERE AND NEVER WILL BE! YOU AEE A SPOILED BRAT LIKE THE OTHER TRAITOR. A surgeon does not not cut off a whole leg for a flesh wound—- and that is what you have done! Don’t come back either!!!
11DICK ROD SUCKS on Dec 20, 2007 at 1:51 pm:
Memo to Rich Rodriguez: Make a Choice, Coach
by RG Yoho (Scribe) 16 comments
Filed Under: College Football, Big East Football, West Virginia Football
Like a lot of West Virginia fans, I’m greatly concerned about the coaching situation in Morgantown.
Coach Rich Rodriguez’s statements about the Michigan job (or lack of them) certainly don’t contradict any of the statements he’s made in the past—he’s told us before that he would hear other offers, and didn’t care to talk about them.
I understand that position, and at one level, I respect it. That said, I’m more than a little disgusted with Rodriguez’s arrogance in handling the situation with the press.
Richie is supposed to be a “big boy” now—so he must know something about the media.
“It may be disappointing to you, but I’m not going to talk about any rumors or innuendoes or jobs or whatever else is floating out there,” Rodriguez told reporters. “I’m not talking about anything other than this year’s team, this season, and this year’s bowl preparations.”
When pressed, Rodriguez told reporters, “You all have not understood what I just said. One more question and unfortunately this conference will end.”
Get serious, Rich.
This is not a story because the media made it a story. This is not a story because the people of West Virginia made it a story. This is a story because Rich Rodriguez chose to make it a story.
Moreover, it’s a story that could be ended with two simple words:
“I’m staying.”
When he signed his contract last year, Rodriguez said he wanted to be the coach at West Virginia as long they wanted him on board. Well, I’ve missed only one game in Morgantown this year, and I’ve yet to see any fans holding signs calling for Rich’s dismissal.
During coach Don Nehlen’s final years, someone flew a banner over the stadium that implied a need for his removal or replacement. Nothing like that has happened to Coach Rod.
Sure, maybe there was an occasional “boo” hurled his way over some questionable or conservative playcalling, but it wasn’t completely unwarranted.
As I recall, when my season ticket order came in the mail, I had to pony up extra money to keep the coach in Morgantown. Although it was something of a hardship, I realized that such was the price of success—and I was grudgingly willing to pay it.
That financial sacrifice ought to entitle every Mountaineer fan to express his approval or displeasure at the games in the way he sees fit.
And if Rodriguez insists on making these employment questions a yearly occurrence, the booing from the fans is going to get worse, not better.
I certainly don’t know what’s going on here—and the one guy who does isn’t talking.
In fact, he’s becoming outright belligerent with those whose jobs require them to get the information to a public who definitely has the right to know.
I’m trying to do the right thing by keeping my powder dry and waiting for Rich to give us a definite answer. But my patience is wearing mighty thin.
The fans at West Virginia University certainly deserve better than what they’re getting. They were good enough not to call for Rich’s head when he went 3-8 in his first season—even after Coach Nehlen had led the squad to a rare bowl victory the previous year.
Compare that to the vehement reaction Steve Kragthorpe got from Louisville fans during a tumultuous first year.
The Mountaineer faithful were hopeful and patient, and more than willing to give Rich the benefit of the doubt. That loyalty should be returned.
And this isn’t how you do it.
Rodriguez is a fool if he thinks a 3-8 season for the Maize and Blue would be met with the same patience he found in the Old Gold and Blue. Moreover, an upset loss to his arch rival in Ann Arbor would leave Michigan fans calling for his scalp—and I can only imagine what the reaction would be if he went into the game a 28-point favorite with a BCS Championship Game berth on the line.
Booing would be the least of his worries!
I believe the West Virginia Mountaineers are standing on the precipice of greatness. I believe a long-awaited National Championship is just around the corner. I believe we’re just a couple of recruits short of winning it all.
All of that could change with Rich Rodriguez’s decision.
The time for games is over, Rich. A state awaits your answer.
If we wanted this behavior on an annual basis, we could go out and hire Bobby Petrino.
If you choose to leave, do it soon. Pack your bags and follow that other ex-WVU vagabond. Let us finally get a coach who loves the people and the state—and whose loyalty doesn’t waver.
But if you choose to go, then take your money and run. And don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
We can certainly understand your choice of Michigan, because you and John “Bawl-ein” deserve each other!
12vtbaz on Dec 20, 2007 at 3:23 pm:
lol @ ^
its almost painful how much you guys don’t get it
13Shaun on Dec 20, 2007 at 4:24 pm:
Know your role. You are Michigan’s farm system. Pwn3d.
14VTSux on Aug 1, 2008 at 4:20 pm:
Great bowl game prediction. I realize that VT fans wouldn’t know anything about getting coaches taken away because no one wants Beamer and the rest of your sports suck.