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 5:45 PM ^
He'll do well for three reasons. (1) Chip Kelly et al. are proof that his offense can be wildly successful in conference. (2) He's a gifted recruiter and he'll have no trouble convincing kids to come to Tucson. (3) I may be going out on a limb here, but I doubt that he'll be bringing gerg with him.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:59 PM ^
in your logic is that the RR offensive is => Chip Kelly spread offense. After watching the RR UofM spread offense for a couple of years and watching the Ducks play, Oregon seems to have a more evolved and diverse version of the spread, IMHO. I think the biggest thing that will be the key to success for RR will be if he can humble himself and take a hard and honest look at his performance here at UofM and change the things that really impacted his ability to succeed here (poor defense, poor position coaches/staff, his "anger" issues, media relations, etc.)
November 21st, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
on your Chip Kelly/RR comparison.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:47 PM ^
I think Ole Miss or another southern school would be better, but I'll root for him at AZ regardless.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
Ole Miss has great football tradition, but they simply can't keep up in the recruiting and facilities arms race of their SEC neighbors, and expectations are way higher there than AZ.
I think AZ is a much better fit for Rodriguez, as even sniffing at a BCS bowl or conference championship would be considered an amazing success rather than an expectation.
November 21st, 2011 at 8:43 PM ^
Maybe another southern school, but not Ole Miss. Why go to the SEC West?
November 21st, 2011 at 5:51 PM ^
Considering that the Pac-12 Doesn't play much defense, looks like a good fit for RR. I wish him the best, although I hope to stomp on them in the Rose Bowl sometime in the next few years.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
Recruiting in the west should be quite interesting for RR...
November 21st, 2011 at 5:58 PM ^
Yep, now I actually have a West Coast team to cheer for. It was getting boring cheering against all of them.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:58 PM ^
i cant wait to see Rich Rod v. Chip Kelly spread-off
November 21st, 2011 at 6:04 PM ^
If Chip Kelly can last long enough for RR to get a recruiting class or two in. That recruiting service stuff has the possibility to end Kelly's tenure up in Eugene.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
That game will feature the most plays ran in NCAA history fergodsakes.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^
More likely the quickest game in NCAA history.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:58 PM ^
At least someone to cheer for out in the Pac 10. Good luck to him, I wish him the best.
November 21st, 2011 at 5:59 PM ^
i'll be rooting for him. once in the family, always in the family.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:04 PM ^
Good for him! I wish nothing but the best for Rich in Arizona. If he can get a competent defensive coordinator we may be meeting up with him in the Rose Bowl soon.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^
I hope he builds a giant killer in AZ and destroys the "men of troy" and the Nike nitwits at Autzen Stadium. I really want to see Rich succeed against everyone, but us. I'd love it if knocked Mile s and Saban down a few pegs as well.
RR will do well there once he gets his guys and hopefully as good DC and lets him do his job. Hopefully he learned his experience here that he must hire a good DC and let HIM coach the defense.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^
I am very, very happy for Rich Rod. Zona will give him the opportunity to install his program, and watered down Pac Ten will give him the opportunity to succeed. Plus, this is about as far away from Ann Arbor as you can get him.
Bear down, Arizona! I'm rooting for you and Coach Rod.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
but upside high. Perfect situation, and I wish RR and Rita the best.
West Coast backyard recruiting and his Florida connections give him a great place to start from. Hell, I bet he could go after Demar Dorsey if he were so inclined. Great landing spot for him.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
Given the different types of targets Hoke and RR go after, maybe we can set up a nice little recruit trade to give him a Michigan pipeline that he never wanted and get ourselves some Southwest action. I'll give you a Bruce Lee and a Jackie Chan for an Arnold Schwarzenegger and an Andre the Giant.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
November 21st, 2011 at 6:09 PM ^
If Rich Rod goes to Arizona, how long will it take for Tate to transfer there? Wonder if Tate would have to sit out a year since he sat out this year.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:29 PM ^
the probability that Rodriguez pursues Tate is somewhere between 0 and Bolivian.
Tate spent 0 hours in the film room in 2009, and Rodriguez was apoplectic with his lack of preparation and off-script decisions on the field. No reunion in store for them, I would bet.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^
November 21st, 2011 at 6:16 PM ^
Have you read any of this thread so far?
Also, your friend sounds a lot smarter than you.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
not necessarily smarter just older. I think the poster is 8 and his friend is 11.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
Or a good coach at Michigan?
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<br>At Michigan no he wasn't but that doesn't mean that he's a bad coach. Because well he's a very good coach.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^
Oh man, I hadn't thought of the Arizona-Oregon match up. People who talk about basketball on grass ain't seen nothin' yet.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
Assuming this becomes official, does anyone know the last Michigan head coach to take another college job after leaving Michigan? I know Moeller coached in the NFL for a bit after leaving but I can't think of anyone coaching in college after leaving Michigan.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:52 PM ^
Michigan HC 1924, Wisconsin HC 1925-26.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
Wish him the absolute best
November 21st, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
sources say Urban Meyer is heading to OSU.
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November 21st, 2011 at 6:39 PM ^
If the Three and Out book did anything for me, it showed me that Rich Rod wasn't the bad guy he was built up to be and knows his stuff but was never helped to succeed. I still think Hoke is the right guy for the job, but I hope RR re-establishes himself and does well, whether it be Arizona or wherever. Get a D Co-ordinator and let him run it his way and he could very well turn a program around, espeially if he's got a decent running QB right off the bat. He won't need four years to turn it around.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:46 PM ^
I'll always be hoping he finds success at Arizona. Would have been great if he'd succeeded more quickly here, but best of luck to him at AZ.
Glad it isn't a usual opponent for us, because I know he'll be successful again, though I guess baggage in the Big East and Big 10 country would have probably been too much for a team to gamble on him (and still be worth the career risk to him given program quality) in those parts of the country.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:49 PM ^
Good luck to him. Hopefully the Arizona media treats him well and I hope he gets a good defensive coordinator.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:54 PM ^
putting up with the winters in A2, I imagine he'll have little trouble talking them into Tuscon. He'll get his athletes, his slot ninjas, and eventually his new Denard/Pat White. He'll be the new fun team to watch in the Pac-whatever by 2014. And a previous poster is right-- Oregon-Arizona games will be really be something to see.
Good luck Coach Rod. Hope you talk the Arizona AD into opening the wallet for a decent D coordinator this time. I'd frisk that sucker for a stuffed beaver at the interview if I was you.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:58 PM ^
AD / wallets / d coaches
Yeah I'm sure he's learned his lesson about that. He'll search high and low for the best D coaches he can get...
November 21st, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^
I like the guy and believe he is an incredible offensive mind, but I'm not sure how successful he can be. I think the ceiling at Arizona will be an occasional run at a Pac-12 South crown. Unless he can get a Denard/White level talent (these guys don't grow on trees), he'll have a tough time winning more than 6-8 games. It doesn't help, as people have said, that the west coast is not his recruiting area of expertise. Plus, Arizona is not a huge draw for coaching talent, so it'll be tough for him to get the defensive coordinator he needs to make some noise.
Arizona will likely have a rough transition year next year and, depending on the offensive talent, have a chance to be relevant in their weak division, but Rich has an uphill battle ahead. Best of luck... still happier with Hoke now though.
November 21st, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^
I think he'll find success there, and I'm happy he's landed in a place that's a good fit for him. I can't imagine he'll face the dysfunction that "Three and Out" mentioned in both Michigan and West Virginia, just because I'm pretty sure people care less about football at Arizona. Good luck, Rod - we'll see you in the Rose Bowl in a few.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:05 PM ^
Is gonna get a run for its money. I suspect bean dip grows on vines out there.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:13 PM ^
Thank you again for all your hard work here and good luck in the PAC 12. Maybe you can make it Oregon south?
November 21st, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^
November 21st, 2011 at 7:31 PM ^
What you're saying is, this will be the last RR thread EVER.
Sweet...
November 21st, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
Just wait til we play against RR in a bowl game. The SDSU game was a portent of things to come...
November 21st, 2011 at 7:34 PM ^
bologna.
And John Blake deserved credit for what Stoops did and Zook for what Meyer did and Paul Hackett for what Pete Carroll did and David Shula for Saban's success and on and on.
It doesn't work that way. Hoke and his staff and these players are the only ones who can claim credit. That's reality. If this was due to Rich's players, then why isn't Hoke recruiting 3 star defensive guys or combing Florida for undersized backs and receivers? It is way easier to find those guys. He isn't because he knows that's a recipe for a half dozen big ten wins in 3 seasons.
The truth is that this season Hoke has coached up the type of players he wouldn't have recruited if he were in charge and won't be recruiting in the future. He honored the Rich Rod verbals because he had to in the 2011 class, but I figure he would have not recruited those guys either.
Rich is a good coach in the right situation. He was a pretty lousy coach in a bad situation he mostly engineered up here. I think he'll do well in Arizona and the fans there will be much more patient than fans were here.
November 21st, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
In regards to transitions in "Bo's Lasting Lessons", Bo himself gives a lot of credit to his predecessor in regards to leaving him with talent...as well as stating that one of the most important things he did in his tenure was leave Gary Moeller with a high quality team.
And let's be serious here: Ryan, Beyer, Morgan and Countess are all RR freshmen and RS freshmen who are getting serious playing time this year...but you are saying Hoke wouldn't have recruited them because he wouldn't have found them talented enough. Yet, when Hoke arrived, he was busy poaching guys from Vanderbilt and Minnesota?
So I'm gonna side with Bo and facts and say you're wrong.
November 21st, 2011 at 8:08 PM ^
Look, I love our players and think that are playing awesome football, but let's not make it like RR left an overwhelming talent pool. The fact that our team is so awesome is purely on the coaching and on the effort that these players - some of whom looked lost in the field last year - put in.
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<br>Think about it - hoke has taken the same players that rr said that lombardi couldn't win with and turned them into a very good team.
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<br>We are still woefully thin at both lines, lacking a true top receiver (although hemmingway is really good) and until 3 weeks ago didn't have a running back capable making defenses pay for keying in on Denard. On defense, we returned a corned who couldn't find his way home with a gps (Floyd), a slow walkon safety, and a ragtag group of who dat underclassmen in the secondary. Thats what hoke inherited. And he turned the lost corner into a shut down stud. The slow walk on will be all big ten. And th who dat rest of the secondary is playing great football. Oh, and the defense - again largely the identical players as last year - has gone from one of the worst ever to one of the best in college football. Even the offense, which last year couldn't do anything against the better teams, just hung 45 on Nebraska, after dominating a very good illinois D.
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November 21st, 2011 at 7:46 PM ^
Well, I have a new second favorite team.
November 21st, 2011 at 8:12 PM ^
Damnit! I was hoping UCLA would get him, I was also hoping to root for him at whatever school he ended up at, but I HATE Arizona. Still if he can turn Kiffin into his bitch he'll be doing gods work.