Austin White just committed to Michigan.

And you also have to consider where those comments are coming from. I would hope everybody knows by now not to listen to the majority of WVU fans when they talk about RR. PSU fans aren't much better because that nine game streak UM had on them completely scrambled their minds. And "State Penn" fans are in no position to cast another coach as a recruiter of "thugs".

Regardless, it's pretty obvious (to me, anyway) that that's not what's going to happen at Michigan. We're not going to field a team of criminals, no matter how much the people in East Lansing and Columbus want to believe that we will. It won't happen simply because it won't have to happen. Did RR walk the moral tightrope with guys like Henry, Pacman and Devine at West Virginia? Yeah, I'd say so. Would those types of people fly at Michigan? Absolutely not. But that won't be an issue, because the talent available for him to choose from as Michigan's coach is an ocean compared to West Virginia's puddle.

Michigan started to trail down an unsavory path in the latter Carr years with guys like Carson Butler, Johnny Sears, Chris Richards, Eugene Germany, and even Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington. And those guys were dealt with. Some were kicked to the curb, while others sat out a game against a weak MAC opponent...

Considering that Carson Butler was immediately doghoused by RR after the punch in the ND game, I'm not really concerned with discipline being a major problem going forward.

I don't recall WVU having a terrible record of athlete troubles while Rodriguez was there. Seems to me that he's mostly picking up somewhat undersized but terrifically gifted athletes that are so happy to have a big time offer that they'll work extra hard.

as will wins and losses. IMHO, the only reason RR would be let go before 3 full seasons are over would be if there are persistent and identifiable discipline/character/academic problems with his recruits. As someone who's completely outside the Michigan "family," I think RR has less latitude for that sort of stuff than Carr did, irrespective of whether that's fair or not.

You can compile a pretty long list of players under Moeller and Carr who were "character problems." Some were booted off the team for unspecified rules violations, and some ran afoul of the law and were booted off. Still others were, by many accounts, hardly boy scouts while they were on the team, yet were members in good standing. Guys like David Terrell, Manningham, and Arrington come to mind, yet Carr saw fit to keep them on the team and Carr's reputation as a guard of Michigan's integrity was never seriously in question. Would Rodriguez get a similar benefit of the doubt? Not at this point he won't

I know it's not what you're doing - but I think we should be careful about ANY comparison between Chris Henry, PacMan Jones, and Austin White. Henry and Jones were people with defined misbehaviors (in other words, they were involved in specific incidents) upon going to school. White is not. Issues surrounding Jones and Henry involve criminal behavior. No such rumor exists around White.

The rumor on White is that, basically, at least one person saw fit to write on a message board that they felt he was, essentially, an asshole. That is the personal opinion of someone who met him. But just as not everyone like you or me, not everyone is going to like White. The difference, of course, is that no one cares enough about me to read it if someone writes "Chitownblue is an asshole" on a message board.

So, to be clear: The (unsubstantiated, whisper-campaign-style) rumors on White are, essentially, that he has an ego. Not that he has behavioral problems that will sink the team in a mire of crimes and allegations.

I just hope we get more thugs with the same talents as David Cone and his homeboy ToneC.

Nothing wrong with that. Miami stayed fucking teams up...their "thugs" were just hungry crazy bastards that wanted to kill their opponents...I'll take half a dozen please.

I currently live in Winchester, VA (20 min outside West Virginia)...I work with a pharmacist who knows Pat White's mom and few of the WVU players...apparently RRod is a thug himself in the sense that he sleeps around, curses the hell out of his players etc. etc.....But who cares? RR knows what he's doing and is aware of the type of personalities he's bringing in. Brian already touched up on this...the mentality of players his staff gets includes a handful of crazy fuckers that will run all day in probably the hardest S&C program in the country....and come gameday they should be flying all over the place, hitting harder than normal, and just overall be playing out of their minds.