ESPN article on Rich Rodriguez and the juxtaposition between Michigan and Arizona Football
Ladies and Gentlemen of MGoBlog, I present to you the following article by ESPN. Link:
This should be good….
October 8th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
I wanted RR to have another year but understood that after the bowl game it wasn't going to happen. For me he had always been a coach I loved to watc, and the fact that we had him and let him go left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought he was badly mistreated and felt sorry for him when his time to leave ultimately came.
I felt bad when the timing of the firing left he and his staff little to no chance to find a job for the upcoming year. This is just another reason I hate DB. His process didn;t just screw UM (which I think we deserved given everything that happened) but it screwed that coaching staff out of employment.
The final staw for me was when whichever station he worked for thought it would be a good idea to get an interview with BH and have RR conduct that interview. That was a disgrace IMHE and one I won't forget. I think BH and RR both conducted themselves with class during that interview, but whoever was responsible for setting that up should have got a kick to the nads.
The culmination of all these things has made it easy for me to have a soft spot for RR following his departure from UM and honestly, I look much more forward to watching his Arizona team play nowdays than I do my favorite Wolverines. Hopefully the next hire will bring some excitment back to UM football.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^
One of the reasons Rich is doing well at Arizona (though it's way too early to make final judgments) is that he learned from his experience at Michigan. He might not have been treated well by various factions in A2, but he also bears some blame for the way he rolled into town with a my-shit-does-not-stink attitude. Tis a two-way street; and 3-9 doesn't make for a smooth ride.
Folks can complain about the "not a Michigan man" stuff, but that doesn't really explain how he alientated the high school coaching community as well. My guess is that Rich learned (or was humbled) and hopefully isn't making so many enemies in AZ.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^
To quote my children's favorite song of the past xx months:
Let it go, Let it go,
Can't hold you back anymore
Let it go, Let it go,
Turn my back and slam the door
of course ESPN is twisting the dagger for dramatic effect, what else would you expect.
Don't worry about the past live in the future with "THE KNOWLEGE" where this entire arguement is rendered moot!
October 8th, 2014 at 1:07 PM ^
"Had Bo Schembechler been there, I probably wouldn't have had to deal with some of it."
Fergodsakes, he nailed it.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^
"I certainly wouldn't have been hired for this job in the first place."
October 8th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
RR ran an offense very similar to Bo's option and was tough on his players and worked them hard, not to mention he was directly connected to Bo through his mentor Don Nehlen.
So would likely have been hired sooner and Carr would have been put in his place and not allowed to eff with him.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:20 PM ^
if you read Bo's Lasting Lesson (or was it a different book)? Bo was quoted that he liked Rich Rod a lot because of the way he runs at WVU and his offense is similar to what he ran in his early days at Michigan. Bo would have absolutely hire Rich Rod and put a 100% support behind him.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^
He ended up being the rebound girl. He filled a void for a short time and then the prograsm decided to go in another direction. I think if Hoke would have come first and failed like he is now and THEN RR could have brought in the DC he wanted. The results would be very different. RR is a brilliant coach, the problem is UM is a very old-school tradition blinded program that has not wanted to let go of the past. To be fair, RichRod made many mistakes of his own, but his plan works everywhere, but here. What does that say about "here"?
October 8th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
The Rich Rod loyalists are out in force. Hey, I liked the guy. I thought hiring him was exactly what all of us complaining about Mike DeBord's predictable (if talented) offense wanted to see. I wanted him to succeed, and he clearly has done so before and after Michigan, but scoreboard please.
He was an epic failure at Michigan by every imaginable measure. The defense was historically atrocious (and regardless of scheme or coordinator, fixing that is on the head coach, especially at a program with such lavish resources available to fix issues). The offense was exciting in September, but unable to move the ball inside the 25 or against competent FBS teams in November. Geez, just look at the scores for his last three games, when everyone thought he was coaching for his job: vs. Wisconsin 28-48, at Ohio State 7-37, vs Miss State at Gator Bowl 14-52. All three teams pulled their first string by the end of the third quarter, or those scores would have been worse. Even more telling, he landed the Michigan football program on probation with the NCAA for the ONLY TIME EVER! Attrition in his program was so bad that the graduation rate landed Michigan on probation with the NCAA for a second reason, and if you look at the players he tried to recruit to Michigan who didn't make it, you can see why. (Yes, I know he also recruited the quitessential Michigan Man and the guy every father wants his daughter to bring home for a family dinner, Devin Gardner. He's only one guy.) Back to W&Ls, even with Brady Hoke's troubles, Rich Rod is still the only guy EVER to be the head coach of Michigan football for more than one season, and have a career losing record.
As I've said, I like Rich Rod; he's been a winner everywhere else he's gone, and I wish him every success at Arizona. But, PLEASE. Dude got fired for a reason.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:51 PM ^
Completely on point. I don't care if all the "other BS stuff" that RR is pointing to is or was true, the last season was a debacle. That Gator Bowl loss, where it looked like the players basically gave up on him, was cause enough to fire the guy. The dude dug his own grave, even if the ground was pre-softened by Lloyd loyalists.
I like him. Met him once and I thought he was a very nice man. He will do well in Arizona and maybe get one more shot at an elite program (imagine what he could do at Oregon). I will root for him every step of the way (except when he plays us).
But the man shat the bed during his time here. Just like another very nice, very good man named Brady Hoke is doing now. The results will be the same.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:59 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
The only comparison I'm making between the two is that "fired by Michigan" will be on both their career records. Oh...and that they are both decent guys who may deserve better.
I agree that their backgrounds (and win-loss records) prior to coming to U of M are pretty different. As will be their post-Michigan trajectories. Hoke is going to be an excellent mid-tier level coach in a couple of years. RR probably has one more "big time" stop ahead of him.
You raise a damn good point, though. Given our resources (and the economic dependence that Athletic Department places on football), you would think that they would have had some level of success. Football is the engine that finances and populates our top-five Athletic Department. We HAVE to have a successful football program to keep up our other sports. So we fund the hell out of it, have the nation's largest football stadium, etc., etc. Given all that, why haven't guys like RR (or Hoke) succeeded here? Is the well that poisoned? I know it's kind of a broad question, but it seems to me that given our resources and emphasis, you almost have to TRY to fail at Michigan (and I can't accuse any coach - RR or anyone else - of doing that).
SMH, as the kids say...
October 8th, 2014 at 2:15 PM ^
That's the million dollar question I can't figure out either....
October 8th, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 8:18 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 11:56 PM ^
Hard to see another explanation other than it is definitely us....and some on him as well for sure.....but mostly us.
October 8th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
I'll make it through the "Michigan Civil War"
October 8th, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
Having watched the entire Oregon Zona game, what stood out is the dominance of the 2 lines for Zona. Now Oregon does have injuries on their OL but Zona's DL was a beast and Zona's OL could run block very well (had some challenges on pass blocking). Oregon had better skill players but when your QB is under pressure all the time it doesn't matter much.
I don't know what happened here in terms of evaluations and development (well I know to a degree because Martin did not give him the budget) but we never had lines like RR showcased in that game.
I am rooting for RR there, but it is moot to do a compare and contrast. There were factions against him from day 1, he was not given the appropriate budget, and his identification of players on the OL/DL IMO were too hit or miss (he did have some hits). That team we saw versus Oregon was not similar to anything we had here.
I also think RR has mellowed out a lot since he left here, so good for him. His interview at halftime was concise, well paced, normal - whereas here he always sounded defensive and panicked. Further his offense has changed quite a bit from here - it is a lot more pass oriented. In fact it looks more like the Oregon offense, or A&M or Arizona State's then what he had here which was almost a mirror of West virginia. Maybe he learned getting your QB rocked 20-25x a game doesn't work in the long run. QB still runs but nowhere near as much as when he was at Michigan.
So he may have just been forced to reevaluate post Michigan as it was his first failure and in the end I think it was the best for him. The team had quit on him vs Miss State and the atmosphere was toxic at that point similar to what we have now.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:12 PM ^
Oregon's OLine had 4 2nd stringers playing because of injury. Their combined starts were worse than ours. Think how we've made Dlines look lately.
October 8th, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^
But that does not account for AZ's ability to put up far more points than MSU, having a defender strip the ball from Mariotta while the pressure to perform was on or the fact they lost another potential 7 pts just before half-time due to a mix-up at the mesh point between Solomon and the RB. Get over the hatred.
For a program that's been on top as long as OR's, blaming lack of depth seems rather strange. If you'll recall after Bama won their last NC, they sent the entire OL to the NFL and somehow managed to roll again the very next year with a complete new OL. And you must admit they gashed the hell out of OR's DL, again something MSU couldn't do through virtually the entire game. He hasn't said a bad word about UM since leaving. But leave it to the media to try to get something going. Hell, we had a Michigan Man prior to Bo who had as many losing records as winning and he lasted a decade. One of those seasons produced a 2-7 record. I imagine he could have hit 9 losses given the opportunity to play more games. Bad fit for UM but he's beaten OR two years in a row, along with USC and playing Stanford to w/in three, something even Carr couldn't do. And we don't even have to wonder how Brady would have done.October 8th, 2014 at 6:30 PM ^
MSU put up 27 points, AZ 31 points, FWIW
October 8th, 2014 at 1:42 PM ^
RR at Michigan was just tainted from the start...and it wasnt really his fault that things got off so poorly. Remember the ridiculous WVU lawsuit, and the outcry from their asshat fans? Then came 3-9 and the ridiculous Freep investigation. RR was pretty much toast at that point, there was too much perceived negativity around the program for it to be turned around. By the end of year one, there were more ridiculous articles in local papers about RR's financial situation, his real estate dealings, connection to a shady booster from another program etc. It was all pretty silly in retrospect.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
like it was contrived...like someone or some people were working against him.
no wait....?
October 8th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^
It's interesting that Arizona is 5-0 without their QB having scored a single offensive TD yet.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
I love this. It reminds me that everything I said during the firing and subsequent coaching search was true.
Fire David Brandon.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^
As probably the most vocal supporter of Coach Rod both while he was here and especially since he's left, I couldn't be happier for him. I joke that I will probably get my Michigan Football season tickets revoked one day for supporting Coach so enthusiastically. I just feel like his success is scriptural, almost--it feels like a table is being prepared for him in front of his enemies and I couldn't be happier for him.
I know I've shared this story before, but a few years ago when I was in Arizona for work I was able to visit him on the Thursday before the Oklahoma State game. Huge, important game, right? I thought I would be able to maybe shake his hand and that's it. I would've been so grateful for just that opportunity. The warmth with which Coach received me was just incredible--he said, "Wanna chat for a bit? Let's have a seat." And so we sat for 15 or 20 minutes and chatted away. We even called my best friend Aimee who has supported Coach through thick and thin just as I have. He chatted her up for a few minutes, too. "Hi Aimee, this is Coach Rod!" (I'll never, ever forget those words.) The first thing I did when I met Coach was apologize on behalf of the program, the university and the entire state of Michigan. Also, I immediately started crying. (I told Coach this was like other people meeting Leonardo DiCaprio lolol). But when I told him how sorry I am for how our fanbase treated him, he replied, "Oh, that's alright Jenny. That's long gone. Things are much better now. I really like it here in Arizona and they're giving me plenty of time."
I love Coach because he always wears his heart on his sleeve. I don't think he would know how to operate in coach-speak if his life depended on it. He's just REAL. Everything about him. And that resonates deeply with me because I'm the same way--super passionate yet widely misunderstood.
I get a lot of flack (especially on Twitter) about being disloyal to Michigan for supporting Arizona, but I guess I don't understand how the two are mutually exclusive. I quote Brian's Rich Rod farwell column title ALL the time and occasionally shout it to Brian when I see him at games. ("I THOUGHT REAL FRIENDS WOULD HAVE STAYED!" Sorry, Brian.) After Coach's Oregon win last week, Michigan fans were STILL angry, still tweeting out mean things about Coach and about how Oregon "really isn't that good anyway", calling Coach supporters "history revisionists". I guess I don't understand why Michigan fans feel the need to go out of their way to convince themselves and others that Coach Rod is an awful coach and worse, an awful person. You wanted a new coach and you got one. Leave Coach Rod alone. I don't understand the need to actively root against someone that shouldn't matter to you.
I guess my point is this--I hope Coach balls all the way out. If he ends up at a great bowl game this season, I'll probably go. When (not if) he makes the Rose Bowl, I will be there, in my Arizona gear, despite my Michigan degree and block M tattoo, because that's how strongly I feel about supporting Coach. I supported him at 3-9 and when it appeared that every other Michigan fan (besides Aimee and me!) had walked out, and I'll support him at Arizona and wherever else he may go. Bear Down and Go Blue.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:34 PM ^
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October 8th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^
You have a true heart. And of course you can be a Michigan fan and wish RichRod well at AZ too. In fact that's what we all should do.
Thanks for an inspiring post and.... GO BLUE!
October 9th, 2014 at 8:14 AM ^
MGoJen,
Very nice story, I remember it from the original posting. I have a maize "IN ROD WE TRUST" t-shirt and a blue one, too. He signed the maize one, always a classy guy in every encounter my son and I have had with him.
Ignore the lame attempts at snark, and just be the fan you are.
October 8th, 2014 at 6:21 PM ^
Had Bo Schembechler been there, I probably wouldn't have had to deal with some of it.
Fuckin' A, Bubba. That statement has caused me to sigh harder than anything related to Michigan athletics in a long, long time. I can also tell you that if Bo were here, it's likely Rodriguez never becomes coach. It would've been possible, but as soon as Martin started to screw up the search, Bo would've chewed Martin out, then told him to step aside as he personally conducted the search.
I wish I could say it more diplomatically, but those who sabotaged the program while Rodriguez was here behaved like a bunch of spoiled, bratty, entitled, suburbanite, daddies' girls.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^
So it stands to reason that armed with hindsight, Rod would have worked out if given more time.
Do we follow that the next time around or continue to act with urgency?
It also might stand to reason, again armed with hindsight that Brandon should have stuck with his coach rather than be swayed by public opinion to Fire Rich Rod.
So should he listen to public opinion this time or go his own way?
These are difficult questions depending on whether you believe history should be repeated or history should not follow what didn't work last time.
October 8th, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^
This article doesnt make me want to punch anyone in the face with the exception of the people who believe richrod should have kept his job. They now have another reason to bitch and moan.
I was pumped when richrod was first hired and I was also happy to see him go. It has nothing to do with MANBALL which is so overstated. RichRod was a disaster. Not on hoke's level but a disaster nonetheless.
PS I didnt read the article because why the extra aggravation
October 8th, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^
The artilce on Rich Rod is pretty accurate it think. We've always know that Lloyd Carr did not like the hire and did everything he could to make him fail. And the worse part of all of it there still are a lot of people that think LC is some kind of God instead of a nasty old man who ruined the program
October 8th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
October 8th, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^
Absolutely, thjey have to get out of the stonage with the Michigan Man shit. Even Harbaugh doesn't play that.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
Kick Carr (twice), Punch Brandon all the way out the door and then Slap Rodriguez for bringing Greg Robinson as defensive coordinator for the opposition when we had the ball.
October 8th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
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October 8th, 2014 at 7:30 PM ^
You do realize that his first two seasons were both 8-5 with bowl wins?
It's amazing that he's hit his ceiling so consistently, and the cupboard was pretty damn bare at Arizona where he got there. Let me add that the PAC12 has been dominating the B1G lately (much to my dismay).
October 8th, 2014 at 8:22 PM ^
Also, kind of hard to recruit effectively with former coaches/players actively undermining you. Not very hard for other coaches to recruit against that
October 8th, 2014 at 5:37 PM ^
Sorry!
October 8th, 2014 at 5:36 PM ^
Whatever we think of how Rich Rod worked out here, he isn't here any more, so there's no point in beating a dead horse.
Obviously Brandon was wrong about replacing him with Hoke. Whether a better choice was out there, we'll never know given the context of every school presenting different problems and different opportunities for a given coach.
The thing to do is discuss the future. I think there are two problems that will stall change:
1. So far I'm hearing that Brandon hasn't lost the money guys. Unless that changes, he's staying. The new president isn't going to have the balls to tell someone like Ross to go pound sand if he doesn't like what's going on.
2. Brandon's trying to come off as personally butthurt, but he's not the kind of guy who stays butthurt for long. He's the kind of guy who says F.U., and I think he'd keep Hoke another year just to be a dick.
You can hear him in interviews saying he's not tone deaf, but he says it in the context of the criticism of him personally, and not the criticism of his obnoxious decisions.
I think he's the kind of guy who'd leave scorched earth behind, and never give his perceived "enemies" what he perceives as his resources so they can go on to greater success.
I hope I'm wrong, I hope I am dead freaking wrong. But I believe I'm not.
October 8th, 2014 at 5:40 PM ^
Its now the main picture/article on ESPN.com.
Funny thing, is the other article attached to it is 'Rising Coaching Candidates'. First name on the list is Rich Rodriguez.
October 8th, 2014 at 6:13 PM ^
and RR's willingness to stretch that out in the courts as opposed to allowing Michigan to pay much of the buyout was also a factor in much of the ill will that was created from jump.
Personally, I'm happy for Rod and think that he's a good coach (albeit a bit of a one trick pony...but it's a damn good trick) but I also don't think that he would have suceeded at Michigan.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:42 PM ^
uhhh..... his players went 11-2 and won a BCS bowl game the year after he was fired. and that was with brady freaking hoke, al borges, and greg mattison coaching. i have no doubt that Rich Rod wouldve had UM in the national title discussion by year 4. i mean, imagine a junior/senior denard in rich rod's offense. or imagine gardner with 5 years in the offense. wow
October 9th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
Greg Mattison's defense got UM that 11-2 season and that Sugar Bowl win...no way RR sniffs a BCS bowl...
October 8th, 2014 at 7:02 PM ^
Is there any doubt that the Wildcats would come in here and ABSOLUTELY SMOKE us, if we played them this year?
October 8th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^
good for RR, bad for us AGAIN.
Good lord I want this football season done now.
October 8th, 2014 at 8:35 PM ^
fucking fuck
October 8th, 2014 at 11:08 PM ^