Report: Rich Rod to Arizona
Rich Rod is the leading candidate for the University of Arizona job according to multiple twitter sources. Nothing concrete but very interesting. There was talk that ASU would consider him if Erikson left.
EDIT: confirmed by Bruce Feldmen. Apparently they will be announcing within the next 48 hours.
EDIT: It's official. The University of Arizona has hired Rich Rod as their next head coach. Goodluck to him.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:30 PM ^
He knows how not to go about things this time around, that's for sure.
Love to see him re-establish himself as a premier coach.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
He took over a lousy team, won three games, then five, then seven. He said we were about to be really good this year with everybody coming back. Everyone said he was full of shit, that he had done a lousy job recruiting, that attrition was going to screw us over, that his players were too small to even compete in the Big Ten, that he didn't recruit defensive players, etc., etc.
Lo and behold here we are sitting at 9-2, could quite easily be 11-0, and people still act like he drove our program into the ground. And next year we still bring back our record setting QB, a 1,000 yard rusher, a versatile 3rd down back, a stud fullback, four starters on the offensive line, two starting wideouts (plus hopefully Stonum), and 8 starters on defense (plus guys like Campbell, Cam Gordon, Beyer, Hawthorne), all of whome (save for Stonum) committed and/or signed to play for Rich Rodriguez.
He built a fantastic team while everybody bitched and moaned, then told every one of them to stay even after the school and the fans treated him like shit. Maybe things would have gone differently this year if he'd stayed but the folks who assumed the worst about every other aspect of the job he did don't really have a leg to stand on at this point. The least we can do is say "Thank you" for where we're at today (in position to have our best season in over a decade with a win Saturday and another in early January).
November 21st, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
It's all hoke and Mattison. Not that the youngest defense in the country got a year older (and yes having a real dc allowed to work his one scheme is important). RRs biggest failing was firing Schafer and not allowing him to hire his own assistants)
November 21st, 2011 at 6:18 PM ^
Facts: Gary Moeller was the head coach at Illnois for three years in the late 1970's. During that time he posted a record of 6-24-3 (for a winning percentage of .181, far below the school's historical average of .522). He only won 3 Big Ten games. Each year he finished in 9th place in the Big Ten. He was promptly fired.
Ten years later he replaced Bo as the head coach at Michigan. In his first three seasons on the job he posted a record of 29-5-3 (for a winning percentage of .783, above the school's already high historical average of .735). He only lost 2 Big Ten games during that span. Each year he finished 1st in the Big Ten (though once he did share the conference title). He never finished a season as low as 9th...in the entire country. He went to two Rose Bowls and won one of them.
Question: Please explain how this is possible.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
Aren't we starting 3 freshmen and bringing in 2 or 3 others on a regular basis?
November 21st, 2011 at 6:46 PM ^
Blake Countess (a blue chip recruit who committed to play for RR a few weeks before he was fired) is starting because he beat out Courtney Avery (a starter at the end of last year), Talbott (contributed as a freshman), three other freshman DB's, presumably would have beaten out Cullen Christian, and is probably having a better year at the position than Woolfolk who has been moved to safety and/or nickle back. He is the only freshman who is a regular contributor in the secondary outside of garbage time and he didn't start to play regularly until the middle of the season.
Last year C. Gordon, T. Gordon, Vinopal, Johnson, Christian, Talbott, and Avery all logged meaningful minutes because there was literally no one else on the roster to play in the secondary. After Woolfolk's injury, James Rogers (who had never played before) was the only upperclassman on the team.
Desmond Morgan is splitting time with a junior (both have started five games and have virtually identical numbers) in a position that was manned by a 5th year senior in the season opener (Herron) who subsequently was injured. Jake Ryan was thrust into the lineup after arguably our biggest playmaker from a year ago (Cam Gordon) suffered an injury and it seems has been able to hold him off since his return to health (assuming Gordon is healthy since he contributes on special teams). In addition to beating out other freshman linebackers, those two are also playing ahead of guys like Mike Jones (RS sophomore, was scheduled to start going into last season before injury) and JB Fitzgerald (senior, former 4-star recruit).
There is a big difference between playing because you are the best man for the job and playing because there is nobody else available on the team.
November 21st, 2011 at 8:08 PM ^
You still have to coach those players in a coherent manner. That was the problem with last years tire fire. Credit where credits due, but to think this would be happening with Rodriguez coaching is a wild assumption.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^
how you feel. Is it necessary to rehash it in every thread with RR in the title?
Look at the fundamentals of the team compared to last year. How many freshman play significant time on the defense this year as well?
November 21st, 2011 at 6:23 PM ^
that he recruited here.
It's funny, I read an AP account of this RR to Arizona story, and they pointed out that while he had turbulent years here, now the same team he recruited is 9-2, indicating that he left the program is good shape. Funny that outside people have a balanced perspective that some M fans lack.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:32 PM ^
anybody said he recruited bad players. I believe the main issue was the lack of teaching.
If you look at this year, we have at least 4 freshman that get significant time on defense. The youth argument on defense (from last year) doesn't hold much water at this point looking at what's been done this season.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:55 PM ^
People bad mouthed Rodriguez's recruiting efforts on defense the entire time he was here. They viewed player attrition (even by guys who had no chance of seeing the field) as a sign of shitty coaching and a poor attitude. Brandon even mentioned these things in his evaluation list as if they were clearly damning to the job Rodriguez had done.
Chris Spielman last year said all our players only had the talent to be back-ups at Indiana, save Mike Martin. On Saturday he attributed the presence of Morgan, Ryan, and Countess to the recruiting efforts of our new staff, despite the fact that all three committed to play for Rodriguez (and Ryan did so over a year before Hoke was hired). He said we have "the same players" that he had criticized a year earlier, but never once felt the need to point out where a player's massive physical shortcomings were dooming the team to failure.
The fact that the people who bitched about this for three years have all now decided that Rodriguez did a damn fine job recruiting on defense but just happened to suck at coaching his awesome players is an argument of total convenience.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:52 PM ^
I doubt we'd be 9-2 if RR was still around this year, and I thought he deserved another year. With GERG at the helm, there's no way the D would be nearly as good as it is this year (although our O could possibly be putting up more points with RR callings the plays). Granted, the D would have been somewhat better with players maturing, learning, etc., but GMAT and co. are obviously better coaches/teachers than GERG and co., and it's showing on the field.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^
There is a reason Mattison is making 4 times the money GERG was. The fact is we've only played three games that were remotely competitive all year though. Our record is 1-2 in those games (and the one required two miracle comebacks). It is a little harsh in my mind to assume our record would be worse with Rodriguez and a substantial monetary investment in the defensive coaching staff from the powers that be at Michigan. But that isn't the point. What Rich Rodriguez's exact record would be this year is just a baseless mental exercise.
My frustration comes from listening to people who were wrong for three years about the talent level we were accumulating on both sides of the ball refusing to acknowledge their error, and instead viewing our improvement on one side of the ball as the result of magical coaching, after previously arguing that such improvement was impossible and that the defense faced a massive, multi-year rebuilding process after three years of subpar recruiting and massive player attrition.
The fact is we are way better off than when he took the job. We are also better off than we were in Lloyd Carr's last season (when we went 8-4 in the regular season and lost to a 1-AA team). With all the starters returning next year, we are potentially looking at the best two year stretch the program has seen in quite some time. You just don't go 9-2 and blow out 3/4 of your opponents if the guy in charge was screwing up for three years. The fact that people are now using the team's success this year to confirm that indeed he was screwing up is completely ridiculous.
November 21st, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^
I would upvote you if I had the privilege. Pretty much sums up my sentiments.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:58 PM ^
I'm with you on all of that.
I think we'd be standing very close record-wise to where we are right now, even if we still had GERG running the show. Give us a new DC (Randy Shannon in the ultimate prove-it year? Casteel? FCS DC X?) and maybe we're 11-0. But it didn't happen that way.
But you can't discount the defensive improvement under Hoke/Mattison. And you can't discount some of the losses under Rodriguez:
Toledo, Purdue 08'.
Illinois, Purdue 09'.
Penn State 10'.
Win those five games, and I think he's still the coach. Maybe with the momenteum we win a couple more. But he didn't do enough to solidify the position.
Regardless - and a lot of the negative posters on there, the same ones who said we would be lucky to be 7-5 this year because they hated Rodriguez and bought into all the media drivel and don't understand how the dynamic of a team works will disagree - he left the program better than he found it.
I think we would have been in good hands with Rodriguez and I think we're in good hands now with Hoke. The only part that grinds on me is the portion of the fanbase and Michigan footbal family who are celebrating the success of a team of Rodriguez guys after they abandoned the team during Rodriguez's tenure.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:10 PM ^
He also hired (thanks to some sweet financial backing) the best staff in college football as far as I'm concerned. The future is in great hands, but I agree with you, the present wouldn't be anywhere close to this good if Rich Rodriguez didn't do a great job rebuilding a team that was in pretty awful shape by the time he coached his first game in the Big House.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^
He deserves thanks for his service, but not the results. A guy can't take over a team, not be able to keep the really talented guys on the roster or at least interested, then claim he took over a lousy team. That's not true. He did a forced immolation of what he had. Hoke went about it the opposite way.
Down in Arizona, Rich can tear the program up to his hearts content and the fans will be patient. It's a way better fit than it ever was here.
Really that $1.5 million dollar buyout is all the thanks that is necessary. Beyond that, how much credit he deserves for this year is based on a lot more speculation than anything. When we are out-talented against the likes of Iowa, Illinois and State, it's hard to convince me he did that well for Michigan. That aspect of it showed no sign of improving; especially on defense.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
How are we out-talented by those three teams?
Such bold statements need to be explained.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:51 PM ^
Obviously he had recruited talented players. Unfortunately, not all of those players were being coached to their full potential.
I wish RR well, but hope he hires a solid staff around him.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:33 PM ^
Besta luck RR at Arizona. Would be fun to play them in a Rose Bowl in a couple years!
November 21st, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
Kind of the perfect fit - low expectations, freedom to do whatever he wants with the program, great access to all the California prospects and he gets to play Colorado every year (free win!).
Hope he does well. Best to RR!
November 21st, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
He is not a west coast recruiter, not that he can't be. Suppose Gibson shows up as well?
<br>
November 21st, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
I think he will be able to recruite offense no problem. When you have Pat White and Denard Robinson on your resume, HS dual threat quarterbacks should be knocking on his door.
Additionally, the hot Arizona sun should help wear down defenses when they run their spread attack. Wont have to run the spread in the cold weather much either.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:09 PM ^
For RR sake I hope not.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:37 PM ^
will never forget Rich Rodriguez.
If Rodriguez could get a pipeline of South Florida kids who had never seen snow before to play at Meeechigan, I have little doubt he'll be just fine with his Southeast recruiting while at AZ.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^
Ironic.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
No that's Arizona state, and I think threet hung up his cleats from multiple concussions.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:39 PM ^
He retired due to multiple concussions. He is still very involved with the program and acts as a mentor/coach. He works with them fulltime and travels with the team as well.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
Threet is at ASU. NOT uofa.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
Threet transferred to ASU but then "retired" from football midway through last season after several concussions.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^
Threat's at ASU
November 21st, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
Good for him. If he can get a good DC, he'll succeed. The PAC-12 is pretty weak outside Oregon. And don't say USC; the sanctions will really hurt them in the near future.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
best of luck to him. he's an honest and decent man.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
to root for the Wildcats. I hope this is true and that he has great success (just not in the Rose Bowl at Michigan's expense).
November 21st, 2011 at 6:18 PM ^
As a michigan fan living in Tucson, I'll instantly start following the WIldcats much closer if he is hired. Our group of UM fans in Tucson are very excited by this news, we're hoping it pans out!
November 21st, 2011 at 6:54 PM ^
+1 for Tyrone Biggums!
November 21st, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
Calling it now: 4 years from now Michigan defeats Alabama for the national championship, while RichRod triumps over Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
Mmmmm how delicious would it be to see him beat OSU or MSU in a Rose Bowl? That would provide trash talk fodder for a good year or so.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:09 PM ^
It would be an awesome New Years afternoon for sure...but more than a little bittersweet I'd expect.
November 21st, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^
RichRod tearing OSU and causing Urban to hook up with a few more grad assts out of sheer rage... awesome.
November 21st, 2011 at 9:23 PM ^
This would be enjoyable! I would +1 you if I could
November 21st, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
Good news. I'll be pulling for him. Tough place to build a powerhouse, but right now the Pac-12 South ain't much to speak of except for USC, so there's opportunity.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^
Maybe now we can quit fighting about him and turn our attention to hating Ohio.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
Out of the open jobs (UCLA, Arizona, Tulane, Ole Miss, a few others) outside the Big 10, this is the best fit and the program with the highest ceiling. UCLA doesn't even have an on-campus facility (the Rose Bowl is like 30 minutes away) and doesn't seem to have admin support, while Arizona is expanding their stadium (including, apparently a huge video board) but not ridiculously so. Plus, they have a spread QB already on the roster (Matt Scott).
All that said, we'll see whom he hires as a Def Coordinator.
I think he'll do well, though if you look, it's not like the roster is currently littered with 4 stars and above. It will take a little time, but here's hoping it works out and we eventually beat him in the Rose Bowl.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^
30 minutes? Maybe at 3 in the morning. You can't get 10 miles from UCLA in 30 minutes when the sun's up. That's a solid hour drive, maybe more depending on what else is going on.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
I think he was talking about the team jet.
November 21st, 2011 at 8:41 PM ^
So the "LA" in WolvinLA2 doesn't stand for Louisiana?
November 21st, 2011 at 7:46 PM ^
isn't UNC going to be open at the end of the year?
November 21st, 2011 at 8:03 PM ^
Probably, if you like looking down the barrel of the sanctions gun.