OT. Arizona and Rodriguez

We are being a bit full of ourseles here: 1. Hoke is a good coach, he recruited some good players at Michigan and reeled in Peppers. 2. Brian Kelly is only a few years removed from a championship. 3. Rodrigues... I just think he never evolved the spread offense he built his name on..

I liked Rodriguez when he was at Michigan and supported him until the end.  But man, there really is no excuse for the shitty defenses he allowed onto the field.  And the same thing seems to be happening at Arizona, though not to quite the same level of shittiness.  If he would wise up and take defense seriously then I think he'll be fine.  Otherwise he'll continue with near-.500 seasons which might be good enough for him to remain at Arizona for a while.  But he sure as heck won't sniff a higher profile job.

And to add to this post.  Look at what we now have with Harbaugh who places an emphasis on defense.  Good defense usually begets good offense because it tends to put your offense in favorable field positions.  So even mediocre offenses look better.  On the other hand, a good offense doesn't mask defensive flaws nearly as well.  It took me a few years to come around on this notion but I buy into it now hook, line and sinker.

But it could be worse... he could be the D.C. for the Oregon Ducks.

I think that "densive" should be a new word.

I find it hard to believe that RR has gone through 4 defensive coordinators during his time at Michigan and Arizona and not 1 year were they able to have a top 25 defense! Problem with these offenses is they run so many plays lots of wild stuff going on that it increases ur risk of TOs and puts more pressure on the defense by letting them stay on the field for most of the game. These offenses are fun to watch but u will never be able to win a national championship unless there is a defense that can stop the other team

Was an early adopter (and innovator) of the spread an up-tempo. So for a while, he had his own "schematic advantage" that worked. Against defenses not able to account for that faster tempo, or the extra man the spread QB represents, his teams were able to prevail.

But he was used to recuiting good athletes as an underdog- "diamonds in the rough", guys the biggest schools weren't going after. He was able to get some talented multi-threat QBs, and speedy slot receivers.and lighter linemen. Defense and other positions suffered. His defenses didn't face offenses utilizing TEs and FBs in practice.

But many of his schemes have been pretty simple; so simple, that with more familiarity, other teams can prepare for them and stop them.

With his early adopter advantage erased, his team's performance has fallen to the mean.

He never should have left West Virginia.

kthxbye

I HATE POSTS LIKE THIS - THEY WORKED THIER ASSES OFF FOR MICHIGAN - GIVE IT A BREAK.

OP DIDN'T DO EVEN 0.01% OF WHAT THEY DID FOR MICHIGAN FOOTBALL.

-RANT DONE

We know, by this point, what we get with RichRod.  He's a clever, innovative coach who's good, but not the best.  He'll put together some good teams and he'll put together some bad ones.  He'll have some great games and some not-so-great ones.  Good, but not elite.  Honestly, that's not a sin.  That's why I think Arizona's a good fit for him.  There isn't the guillotine hanging over his head like there is at a blue blood.

I'm pretty sure last I saw they were on the third string qb and half of his starting offense was hurt. It is hard for a lot of teams to win conference games with third string qbs.

Peter principle in action. Needs to go back to the American or Conference USA if he ever wants to be successful again.

...if he stays, and fine if he goes.  He's a good coach.  Not necessarily a great coach, but definitely a good one.  LIke others have pointed out, he's had some ridiculous personnel situations this season.  I don't think people have 'caught up' to his offense.  If that were the case, all powerballing teams with a fullback and multiple TE's (sound familiar?) would be obselete after all these years.  

It's curious how people seem to wish failure on him.  Seemed like a good guy; just wasn't a good fit for a variety of reasons.  

Arizona is not good this season, but there is zero chance RichRod is out after this season. That's a tough place to win games. Arizona broke .500 three times in the 13 years before RichRod arrived there, and he went 33-20 in his first four seasons, with winning records in all four seasons and three bowl wins.

Maybe he's just not as good of a coach as most people think.

The former Big East made RR a superstar; way over his head at the P5 level.

especially when punching above his weight

Okay dude.

Frankly I think a big part of the appeal of Arizona to Rich Rod was the fact that there were no expectations. The Fiesta Bowl season probably bought him another five years there. If he wins the Division again in that stretch, it will buy him another 5. It's a no-pressure job

from Arizona taking the "hot team of the week" Washington to overtime. 

 

Look his teams are average at best, he's an average coach at best, but the Pac12 is a free for all this year, let it play out and see where his team lands.  As I see it his crappy Arizona teams is capable of beating about half of the conference.  AZ has to win 4 of their remaining 6 to be bowl eligible which will be tough but not impossible.

USC, Stanford, WSU, Colorado, Oregon State, Az State.

 

But, he's also in that same place he was in 2009 where a full implosion could also happen.

 

Its not like Arizona wasn't warned.

Nobody's been very successful there. He's doing about as well as anybody has ever done there. If his Michigan time had any lasting effect on him, I guess it made him gun shy about taking another job with a new AD? Because last year seemed the time to cash out for a new gig, and he chose to stay at Arizona knowing this would be a rebuilding year. I've seen nothing that leads me to think he's not an excellent coach.

Aside from the obvious where Jim Harbaugh makes everything awesome now, Charlie Strong's issues at Texas have made the Rodriguez years even easier to understand. Hell Brian Kelly probably fits this too at Notre Dame. When you're talking about the bluest of blue blood jobs, sometimes being an awesome coach isn't enough. This isn't a video game where you can just hop from one job to another and recruiting just gets easier. All the blue bloods have their own hairy weirdness to them you've got to navigate.

And it makes you appreciate a guy like Harbaugh more.

 

quit drinking and go to bed

People make so many excuses for this guy. He's not a good coach. Maybe in 2006 but now his defenses suck and his offenses get stalled by good defenses. Injuries are part of the game.