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Thought i would share - insider rumor quotes RR, says he is interested in the job at Miss.
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/features/rumors?date=20111112
Did mention one thing about Michigan:
"I think I have 10 to 15 years left in coaching and I'm hungrier than I've ever been. We didn't get a chance to see it through at Michigan for various reasons."
Kind of a jab, but doesn't give the full context, so I don't know.
He would be a great fit at Ole Miss
you don't need defense to win in the SEC...
/s
If I remembered correctly, RR's Offense got shutdown in the Gator Bowl by Mississippi State and Defense can barely stop anything given 3 weeks preparation.
Mississippi players for some reason stay in Mississippi. With that, that state is loaded with raw athletes, the ones that could really make the spread a very dangerous offense...At this time, I don't even want to comment on how that would look or if it would work due to previous sentiment
There is talent in Mississippi, but even more in surrounding states - which helps to explain why Ole Miss has historically been a second-tier SEC program.
Actually, per capita, the state of Mississippi produces more NFL players than any other state. Ole Miss's struggles are, in my mind, attributable to everything but a lack of talent.
Actually, I was wrong. Louisiana has now overtaken Mississippi in per-capita NFL players.
http://www.usafootball.com/news/press-box/st-thomas-aquinas-hs-fort-lauderdale-has-most-nfl-players
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_state_has_the_most_active_players_in_the_NFL
Per-capita doesn't matter. The state of Mississippi has a small population. The total number of D-I prospects coming out of Mississippi is lower than those for Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.
Freep and Memphis CommApl news mentioned this two days ago, and brought up under RR on Illini game and wanting to coach thread.
Rich Rod likes him some Ole Miss
Freep article has Rich Rod saying he's interested in Mississippi:
“Ole Miss seems to me like it’s always been a special place,” Rodriguez said. “… I’d certainly be interested in talking to Ole Miss.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal states would a good fit he'd be for the Mississippi job.
commercialappeal.com/news/2011/nov/08/ole-miss-list-should-start-with-leach-rodriguez/
He would be great @ OleMiss, close to the recruits in FLA, and would latch onto many that are slipping out to LSU/BAMA/GA
Alabama and LSU agree
The sky would be the limit for his offense with that kind of regional recruiting. Plus, he would finally be able to beat his rival MSU.
LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State. Nobody is ever going to win consistently at Ole Miss.
No thank you.
There have been a ton of great athletes to come through there in the last decade. i think the right coach could do really well there.
It has some of the better academics in the SEC and it is a nice college town. The right coach would out recruit Miss St for sure. Starkville is a horrible compared to Oxford.
both towns and the possibilities. Starkville is scary.
which is a nice town. And before you ask for my basis of comparison, I was raised in Northville and have lived in Ann Arbor and Athens, GA. In my ten years here, there has been a huge increase in the number of street festivals and civic activities. Mississippi State's enrollment has swelled from 12,000 to over 20,000 during that time and this has resulted in an increase in local restaurants and businesses. The steady growth of the university has kept this area recession proof. There has been no increase in unemployment or drop in housing prices here.
The people here are kind to my son with special medical needs. Where else could I live and take my family to the stadium gate on a golf cart and watch teams like LSU, Alabama, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Arkansas (to name a few visitors in the last few years) for a reasonable price.
As a resident of Mississippi, I have an active dislike of Ole Miss. The school's nickname is the name for a plantation owner's wife. Until recently, their mascot was a confederate general. Their band still plays "Dixie" which was the official Confederate song. Many U.S. Marshall were shot when the school was intergrated. Mississippi State was peacefully integrated. Starkville has a tradition of being more tolerant of social differences than Oxford.
I would hate to see RichRod in Oxford. It has a nice downtown, but negative tradtion. Starkville is a nice place. Leave my town alone!
I'm betting that you weren't surprised at Houston Nutt's comments on race and recruiting at Ole Miss. Maybe he was just upset since he had trouble filling out his annual 35 man recruiting classes. He's had success everywhere he's been, why would RR fare any better at Ole Miss? Hopefully he's learned that no matter how close you are to "turning the corner," "finishing the job," "finishing what we started," etc., etc., etc., you need good assistant coaches who can do more than follow orders.
may have a point. I don't believe the state's past is the problem, rather Ole Miss clinging to some questionable traditions may hurt recruiting. If I were an African-Anerican recruit, I don't think I would want to play for the glory of the Old South culture Ole Miss embodies.
I reread my other post and have to apogize for channeling my inner Chris Crocker.
I don't know about that. They talked Dexter McCluster out of his commitment to his local school, USF, after one visit. They must have done something to make him feel at home, and they must have wanted him pretty badly.
That assumes RR would be the right coach ... I'm not "all in" on that.
As true as that is I don't think you have to win consistently at Ole Miss to be worshipped there. Just stay above .500 90% of the time, challenge for the SEC title 1 out of 4 years and then have 1 or 2 seasons where you challenge for the Mythical NC.
David Cutcliffe did those things (except challenge for a national title, which no Ole Miss coach has done in decades) - and got canned.
Every SEC fanbase (except Vanderbilt) has lofty expectations, no matter how unreasonable.
Mullen isn't long for Starkville... he'll be a great consilation prize in the Urban Meyer sweepstakes. And did I mention he's from Pennsylvania?
SEC West, right now that is murderous.... 5 programs that are just good, with bama, lsu, arkansas, auburn and miss st......walking into that mess, wow, esp with oversigning rules taking effect in the sec......
That said, Rich likes a challenge, have at it.....just hope he knows the sec like the bigten is a defense first conference, if you can't play it you will not in in it.
Ole Miss looks like the Minnesota of that division - historically decent to good program, but bound to be buried with 3-4 autolosses each year given who is in their division.
Not only the division, but Ole Miss also plays Texas at home in the nonconference next year, as well as Florida. Throw that on top of the steaming pile of poo (attrition, crummy recruiting) that Houston Nutt has accumulated the past two years (Decimated Defense, The Grove Edition), and the absolute best he can hope for is 4-8 in year one.
I could see that. I think he would be a decent fit there as well.
"I think I have 10 to 15 years left in coaching and I'm hungrier than I've ever been. We didn't get a chance to see it through at Michigan for various reasons."
Welll one major reason was your teams stunk. His system may work at a place like ole miss. Hope he gets the chance.
comment, his system has worked everywhere--including here. So ya, it should work there as well.
We lost our league games handily. We got garbage stats at the end of blowouts. We barely beat Umass three years into his system. We were a joke. Did i eliminate enough subtext for you? You are delusional.
And I"m sure you're the type who supports punting on 4th and 1 from the opponents 45.
whether he does or doesn't fails to change the fact that he accurately described the reality of RR third season here
Meanwhile bloggers who have never coaches game mock them. Oh, the delicious absurdity that is the internet. It is where those who have never done know more than those who have done.
So it's possible to make stupid decisions and still win a football game. How illuminating.
Yeah, THIS argument again!
you are simply not knowledgeable. If you knew more and bothered to explore before you made your talk radio quality notions public you would understand that we lost because we had a defense that was the worst in school history, and terrible by any standards. A simply mediocre defense would have meant 9-3. That is just true.
And specific to the offense, it was good-by any measure, whether tradiontal stats or advanced. Look it up. You must be one of those "the spread doesn't work in the B!0," or other laughable notions. Call it into Valenti, he will agree with you.
We can all disagree legitmately about the merits (or nightmares) of the last three years. I'm quite happy with the staff we have now myself. But it actually is beyond legitimate argument that his offense worked. It is factual, not opinion based.
A football team is more than just an offense. The defenses got worse the longer he was here and the special teams weren't very special.
But ok. We weren't discussing RR and whether the was the right coach or not (and no, he was not). We were only discussing his "system" which is his offense. And the indisputable fact that his offense worked here and worked, yes, in the B10. Fact. It is beyond legitimate dispute, except to the guys that call into shows and post on the Freep and M live. But they don't have another opinion--they are simply wrong. To your point though-which is the same point I made to the first poster--it was his defense (special teams too but defense in the main) that sunk us. Not the offense. Not even a little.
a good Defensive Coordinator, it would be a great fit. He loves to recruit the south and everyone knows the great Mississippi players stay in Mississippi, so he would finally be able to land those guys as well.
Jay Hopson is available. If he was made DC he could probably get the whole gang back together again.
the guy he wanted all along but martin refused to open his wallet for.
Your recollection is also wrong, strictly speaking. The truth is somewhere between the two points of view you two have just espoused, per Three and Out. Although I guess different people will read the same text and come to different conclusions. I think it IS true that we didn't shell out, period, for assistants until DB came along, and that it IS true that we wouldn't guarantee Casteel a contract, but it is also true that we did probably overspend on Barwis's new weight room and that money could have gone to Casteel. So actually, perhaps you're both correct.
Lots of schools and HC's fail to land their first choice for a coordinator position. It happens. They hire somebody else and move on.
Why was it so critical in this particular case that failure to do so resulted in a smouldering crater of a defense?
(And yes, I know it didn't, immediately--in fact we did hire a second choice in Shafer and except for the Purdue game it wasn't entirely a disaster.)
Rich is a good man. If ends up in the SEC, I wonder if he'll feel the necessity of turning to the dark side with oversigning and phantom medical hardships to compete with those who use them so well (cough-Saban-cough). I like to think not. Regardless, I hope he has a new chance soon. Best of luck to him.
That's an interesting question and I wonder the same thing. Especially given his Real Sports commentary where he talked about recruiting. Part of me thinks he wouldn't, but at the same time, part of me thinks you have to at least somewhat in order to succeed down there.
Georgia and Florida don't oversign. Historically, they seem to have done quite well in the SEC.
Wasn't RR one of the few coaches that wasn't afraid to speak out against the SEC recruitment practices? I thought I remember him saying he would stop recruiting players that were also being recruited by "certain SEC schools" because he had no shot with the type of recruiting practices they had. But...I could see him coaching at Ole Miss. Houston Nutt does have a similar style offense, so RR would have some decent players in there that would immediately fit his system. Not to mention the philosophical change at Florida would give him a good shot at those smaller shifty Florida recruits now that Muschamp and Charlie are going more Pro Style. I could see this working.
I think RR would take a couple more academic risks than he got away with at UM, but otherwise he seems above the fray. Plus, his whole system is designed to work with good athletes that other schools passed over, and Ole Miss has more than enough talent even on down years to be solid. The only issue he will have is on the defensive side of the field, and that all comes down to a DC. I've always said, the next place he goes he will turn into a good program; it didn't work out at UM but he's still a great coach.
I hope he gets the job and lands on his feet and does well.
No hard feelings, I think he worked hard, never got a fair chance with the media. However, I am happier with Hoke so it might work out best for both parties.
Co-sign.
I think the ACC would be a better fit for him. I really don't need or want a reason to watch more SEC football.
Rich Rod needs to stick to the Big East and ACC until he decides defense is at least as important offense...
just can't micro manage the D like he did here, and let the D-coord do his thing...
It's not just about RR not micro-managing the defense. Many of the issues stem from his blind loyalty towards his assistants, namely Gibson (who this season has shown is just worthless).
Every problem he had in the Big 10 would be magnified at Ole Miss. Even harder to recruit, etc.
Though, I think they would give him all the support he needed unlike here.
I think he would be better off in a lesser conference, like the ACC. But I hope he gets a job soon...he is a good coach, deserves another chance to clean his name.
I'd be curious to see how he'd handle that situation. I'd like to think that he wouldn't oversign.
Yeah, no SEC fan base has ever turned on its coach. Just ask Bill Curry, who was 10-1 when he got a brick through the window.
I'm not sure where people get the idea that SEC fans are somehow more reasonable in their expectation levels than we are. It's the opposite if anything. College football is the only game in town in Mississippi, so if the team struggles, there's nothing else to divert fans' attention. Ole Miss has had 36 coaches in 115 seasons. That's not a long average tenure. (For comparative purposes, we've had 19 coaches in 132 seasons - and 12 in the past 111.)
Completely co-sign. I lived in Louisiana and Tennessee for awhile, and met many fans of all SEC schools. The irrationality of, say, the Ole Miss fan or Arkansas or Tennessee or Mississippi State or even Auburn fan is....surprising. The thing is though, most SEC schools have had some time in the sun, and it's like their fans all think that it is "normal" when they're winning, and anything less than that is unacceptable, at most of these schools. But then you think: in the last 15 years, all of the following have been top-10 teams: Georgia, Bama, Auburn, Miss. State (close) Kentucky (for like a week a few years ago, right? They were like 7-1, I think?) Tennessee, Ole Miss (not ever top 10, but they had Eli Manning and Cutcliffe did pretty damn well and their fanbase was stoked) Florida (duh), Arkansas (2 years ago, plus now), LSU (obv), so...everyone but Vandy? Who was decent around the time Kentucky was decent, weren't they? With Cutler and Earl Bennett? Their fans are bat-shit insane in their expectations, generally. But you can sort of see why: the SEC owns college football, for better or (mostly, in my mind) worse.
I have to disagree with most people here--I don't think RR's system would succeed in the SEC. His typically smaller, quicker personnel would get brutalized going up against SEC defenses week after week....especially in the West division.
SEC players are big AND fast. Look at the DL sized LB's at Alabama or just about any player on the LSU defense. But, it would be interesting to watch.
LSU size and speed did a job on smaller fast Oregon, winning 40-27. RR would struggle w/o a good defense.
you do realize that the 27 put up by oregon is the highest point total they've given up right? next is WVa's 21. hmmm, both spread teams. next is Fla and Aub at 11 and 10, respectively.
I partially disagree. That's how Urban Meyer won so many championships at Florida. He always recruited the smaller quicker guys, but the BIGGEST difference was he had a GREAT defense (coached by none other than Mattison) that had big fast guys. Winning the SEC is accomplished by having the best defense. So with that, yes RR would not do well unless he found a good D-Coordinator. Offensively I think RR could do very well with Florida's offensive style change, he already has good relationships with FL high schools, being at Ole Miss would give him the "You still get to play in the SEC" pitch to those kids. He could recruit an incredibly dangerous offense in No time at Ole Miss.
The question mark is on the defensive side.
I seem to remember Florida not having much of a running game outside of Tebow, who was built like a fullback rather than the lithe types RR prefers. Also, Tebow miraculously never got hurt--he goes out and it's a completely different team (as witnessed by the offense last season under Brantley).
Remember they won their first National Championship with Chris Leak, not Tebow. And if you don't remember, they had a guy named Percy Harvin who was pretty solid. Small, Fast guy that was utilized in a spread type offense. And I think Rainey and Demps might argue with you as well about the running game. Take a look at their YPC average. Also look at the 2008-09 season stats where they won, 4 guys that had nearly the exact same yards rushing.
| Tim Tebow | 176 | 673 | 3.8 | 26 (TD) | 12 |
| Percy Harvin | 70 | 659 | 9.4 | 80 (TD) | 10 |
| Chris Rainey | 84 | 652 | 7.8 | 75 (TD) | 4 |
| Jeff Demps | 78 | 605 | 7.8 | 62 (TD) |
7 |
My point was Meyer's offense was very similar to RR in utilizing speed with a running quarterback that succeeded very well in the SEC, but they really won the championships on Defense.
Wtf?
Well since Ole Miss has already been run into the ground, he should do well.
Seriously?
Yup
If I remembered correctly, RR's Offense got shutdown in the Gator Bowl and Defense can barely stop anything.
Arizona is the perfect place for him ! He will be given four years to succeed in a conference that emphasizes offense
Yeah Arizona is definitely the better option I think. His style of play would work well I think in the PAC-12. Once the sanctions kick in USC will be down for a few years and the rest of the PAC-12 south shouldn't scare anyone so there's definitely an opening there for Arizona.
I also saw somewhere that RichRod might be a candidate for UCF if that opens up at the end of the season. That would be the absolute perfect fit I think, Big East and Florida.
In any case wherever he goes, the school needs to pay whatever they need to get a real defensive coordinator.
I love RR but I am tired of his weekly "we were so close" quotes.
Agreed. We are supposed to let it go, and he should too.
We're 8-2 right now and it wouldn't have taken much more to have this team sitting at 10-0 right now. Hard to knock the guy for thinking the team was going to be a lot better this year when it then actually happens. It's also a little irritating to hear people complain that he ignored the defense when the guys he recruited (only RVB and Woolfolk didn't sign or commit to play for RR) are now the #5 scoring defense in the country.
At a minimum, Rodriguez did a fantastic job recruiting and rebuilding this program. The least people could do is say thank you as that fact becomes so blindingly apparent this season.
Yeah he may have recruited a lot of those guys but got nothing out of them, and never would have with his forcing the 3-3-5. I bet if you asked any D player this season if they'd run through a wall for Mattison every one of them would say yes. Then ask RR's guys the same thing and I think they'd say "oh you mean the guy who threw us under the bus every week and said a dead NFL legend couldn't even coach us?'
You realize that 99% of the defense this year are RichRod's guys, so, in asking every D player this season if they would run through a wall and asking RR's guys the same thing, you would get the same answer because they are one in the same. Sometimes this board gets un-readable when talking about RichRod.
Gerg's resume as a DC couldn't have been much better. The guy had two freaking super bowls.
Couldn't have been much better? I guess his Syracuse years were just a bad dream. Cuse fans even warned us he'd ruin our D, but numerous folks on this site pointed to those two rings. Guess I now know who was right.
And the debacle that was the Kansas City defense.
I'm wondering if Ole Miss will splurge for a good set of coordinators. Maybe not Kirby Smart level (though that would be a coup), but getting Jeff Casteel or someone comparable would be essential to compete in the SEC West.
RichRod could work with Ole Miss because he can take a bunch of three star athletes and make a prolific offense out of them. He recruits two different types of player on offense: the slot ninja / scat back / smallish option QB, and undersized quick OL. Those are two talent pools that are overflowing. His overbearing offensive coaching style even means he can recruit track stars rather than football players and make slot receivers with little business playing QB into dangerous weapons.
Now, of course he tried to do the same thing with a 3-3-5 defense at Michigan and overloaded the team with a bunch of tweeners that nobody new how to use.
If RichRod gets over himself, brings in a spread coordinator to help and lets a capable d coordinator do his job, he would be a great success at Ole Miss.
Of course, from the quote you posted, I don't think he has done that yet, so let me point out a couple of numbers to him: 261-366 / 11.7 . Thats pf-pa and average margin of defeat for the Big 10 season and the bowl game against a second tier SEC team.
You forgot:
"Be the subject of countless threads and flame wars on this board for years."
First off, Ellerbe was an awful coach. Second, if he was such a great man, one would think you might learn how to spell his name correctly.
Dude. Just...no. I like/liked Ellerbe as a person and am glad he's finally been coaching again, but just...no, man. Talk about having talent on a team and not doing much with it...yeah. After that B10 tourney run, all downhill.
Having a winning record in basketball is the exact same as having a winning record in football. Good point.
He has a shot at going 8-4. But that is Ole Miss' ceiling. Their division plus their cross divisional games make anything more unlikely.
Rich seems like a good guy and I wish him he best. I just wish he recognize his part in the failure that was his program here.
Their protected cross divisional rivalry is Vandy. That's the least of their problems. A bigger problem is a fanbase with outsider expectations, given the difficulties of their division.
If he takes the Ole Miss job, all that it shows is either:
a) He really didn't learn much here. Clearly, the situation you put yourself in is a HUGE consideration. At Michigan, it was not a great situation for a lot of reasons (the roster, alumni expectations, outsiders not welcome, etc.). At Ole Miss, it would be a bad situation for other reasons (SEC competition is murder being a primary one).
OR
b) He is somewhat desperate to coach, and doesn't want to step down into a lower tier position such as Tulane. This might be a reality given his tenure here.
Either way, if I were an advisor to RR, I would tell him to wait for the exact right opportunity, where (1) they'd be desperate to have you and (2) it is OK not to win right away. The earlier comment about something in the ACC makes perfect sense along these lines...
He could take the Vanderbilt job for all I care, but the dude got paid here and will probably get paid there...in the end, it's a job. If he fails, he takes his multi-million dollar career earnings and does color commentary...
This is Franklin's first year at Vandy and he is doing a great job. Where did this Vandy thing come from?
I figured he would never make it there. His offense would never survive the SEC West. Rich could make a go of it. If they give him the time. As he quoted so often in Three and Out, the Bobby Bowden theory of coach: First you lose big, then you lose close, then you win some close and then in year four to five you win big. The key for RR's system, the adeministration and the fans have to have the patience for him to get the players he needs and the right staff. If he gets Ole Miss or even Kansas, he could do some amazing things. The key for him is obviously the QB, just like everyone else.
Never have. Never will. Their defense is horrendous and their offense disappears versus the elite teams.
I don't understand why people keep saying that he won't be able to succeed because of defense. GERG was more of a problem with the defense than RichRod--by far... So long as he picks up a decent coordinator, I think he'll be fine.
Why do you assume that? It wasn't GERG's call to run the 3-3-5, or have Tony Gibson as his DB coach. Scott Shafer, considered an emerging name in the coaching field, didn't have much more success in 2008 when he was here.
GERG was the assistant, RR was the HC. Ultimately, it all falls on his shoulders.
I always liked RR and he never had the total support of the Michigan family, so I would love to see him get another shot. It will be interesting to see what RR learned about building a better staff. His defensive staff here was pathetic.
It's a trap!
UM was the only place RR did not succeed. I see no reason why he can't do it at Ole Miss. The SEC west is tough, but who knows what's going to happen 5 years down the road. Saban and Petrino take another shot at the NFL a la Carrol; Miles goes back to his 8-9 win ways; Auburn stays OK, but can't get back to elite without Cam; MSU already hurts without Diaz. Plus there are a lot of raw athletes in Miss, and RR has a ton of recruiting ties in the south. Just get a DC and a QB, and he can win.
That would make his success rate 50%.
He would benefit from lower expectatlons, but he would have to adapt his spread to the SEC.
Les Miles has averaged over 10 wins a year at LSU. Nice try.
Les Miles also was on the hot seat (yes, the hot seat probably shouldn't have been considering his NC) when he won 8 and 9 games in 08 and 09? He's also lost at least two games each season he's been a head coach. This is shaping up to be his best season ever. He makes silly decisions enough that he will not keep a vice grip on that division.
Losing 2 games a year as a head coach at LSU still means he is winning 11.
He's not leaving that job until he retires, and his "silly" decisions normally work. I much prefer watching his "silly" decisions than watching Ferentz and Zook play percentages and bore me to sleep.
zook and ferentz think they are making the good % play, when in fact, they are not.
The SEC (and the west in particular) is a defense first league. That is why Petrino will continue to lose the big games as long as he has a second rate D. RR could do well, but he would have to learn that the D is simply more important. At least most of his cronies are else where now, that is a plus.
I had a frightening thought...
What would happen if Illinois hires RR afterb firing Zook? RR can keep the current defensive staff and overhaul the offense. That could be a very bad news for rest of B1G.
Oh, wait, they have. The Big Ten would not be scared of a guy who flamed out at one of its premier programs.
and former coaches won't act like little babies and actually support him. If he kept that defensive staff intact and recruited Chicago hard, that would be much improved program.
Yeah that offense won't work in the NCAA. Oregon didn't really kick the living crap out if Stanford last night either. Spreads don't work in the big ten.
Right, Oregon ran right over Nick Fairley and a bunch of scrubs to win the title game last year. Oh, wait a minute . . .
Illinois defense is pretty damn good. If they can just keep that and update the offense with RR system, that would be a pretty killer combo.
You would think RR would have learned from Michigan experience to let DC's keep their ow staff...
...to the tune of 67 points last year.
If you read Three and Out, you'd know the first thing Rich would do is fire Zook's entire staff except for his most able recruiter, and he would then install Tony Gibson as defensive coordinator. I'm not sure why that would frighten you.
But Jay Hopson's looking for a job.
I suspect he would want nothing more to do with the big ten, it'll be south or southeast.
make sure to bring a defensive coordinator with you
Rich Rod, don't do it to yourself!
Rich Rod needs to go to UCF, point blank, PERIOD. A school like that.
Rich Rod at Central Florida, South Florida, Memphis would be a great fit.
As a current UCF student I'm not sure about that. King George pulls winning seasons out of nowhere to keep job security. To be honest with you if he couldn't win at UM he won't be in great shape here. The offense resembles a poor mans version of what Borges is trying to do.
Rodriguez the head coach is utterly unemployable at the high-major level. Not entirely because of anything he has done, also because of the perception of what he has done.
The perception, right or wrong, was that with Michigan's brand and tradition, it was a job that nobody could screw up. Then he won three, and five, and seven games, setting records for defensive incompetence as he went along. Then you add in the smear campaign by the local media. Was it fair? Nope. Does that really matter in the court of public opinion? Not so much.
Then you add in the media miscues...The whole Lombardi thing...the staunchest Rodriguez supporter has to admit that made him look pretty stupid at the time. Even more so now. Then you look at those 17 year old kids he'd be going after. Their buddies are going to be crooning Grobin on signing day.
"Three and Out" itself. Embedding a reporter could be the single stupidest media decision he made. Even the book's goal--to paint Rodriguez as a victim--it makes him look better as a human being, but playing the role of tearful victim is hardly flattering for a head football coach. Having a journalist witness everything--the tantrums, cussing out players, crying to Bacon afterward...There is a reason no journalist had been given access like this before. I doubt opposing coaches have ever been gifted this sheer volume of negative recruiting material in the history of college football.
The thing is, Rodrigues is so GOOD at coaching and recruiting offense. I dont really see why he would be set on being a head coach, any more than I could understand Jordan Morgan wanting to become a 3pt specialist. It just makes so much more sense to stick with what you're good at. Why not take a coordinator spot somewhere? Let someone else take the hits for a while? It just seems like it would be so much better, so much EASIER for Rodriguez and his family.
What the fuck is your problem?
Your assessment is so offbase it's laughable.
Please see, "Bringing up Coastal Blue" volume 2, paying extra attention to the "attacking without providing justification" segment.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/against-good-defenses-argument#comment-1328008
The perception, right or wrong, was that with Michigan's brand and tradition, it was a job that nobody could screw up.
That is the perception among many Michigan fans. The perception from much of the rest of college football world is that he never had a prayer at Michigan.
I have to admit that I'm curious at exactly who "much of the rest of college football world " might refer to.
The media seemed pretty optimistic about the hire as I recall, as was I. I'm just curious as to who you are referring to? Even Bacon thought he had a chance, referring to multiple "match point" opportunities where if Rodriguez just could have caught a break he would have captured our hearts and minds.
But if you have a line to much of the college football world I guess I stand corrected. I had no idea you had such wide and varied connections.
Didn't work out here, but I appreciate his efforts and wish him the best.
...and although I know RR loves to recruit Florida, I think he'd be a perfect fit at ASU. Dennis Erickson is absolutely TOAST at the end of this season. Expectations are always low at ASU, their facilities are lacking, and there's almost a total absence of anything that could be construed as media pressure. However, getting talent to ASU is usually not a problem, especially with such close proximity to Los Angeles. The academic standards (at least from an undergrad standpoint) are low. And the Pac-12 South Division (USC and then a bunch of nobodies) is extremely manageable. I think RR would be a big coup for them and they'd be really happy to have him. His recruiting ties aside, ASU should be a far more attractive option than Ole Miss to RR.
RR could be dominating the SEC in no time
Really? Of all the things that went wrong in the RR era, your first thought is David Brandon?
How about:
- Bill Martin
- Freep
- Inability to hire a defensive coordinator
Just to name a few that come well before David Brandon
Are you basing this all on hiring Brady Hoke? Because to be honest, that's not working out so bad...if you hadn't noticed.
he's just so smarmy.
They would love Ms. Rita's down home charm in Oxford. She could bring that famous nacho dip to the grove.
gets the job. Just don't hire friends who simply aren't fundamently/defensively sound would be my advice...
to me how he can possibly say that he "didnt have a chance to see it through." He had enough time to instill an offense that was good enough to win. Even with this, we were barely winning blood baths with inferior teams and getting crushed by equal / better teams. He hired the worst assistant coaches in the history of college sports. Therefore, he really needs to stop pretending that someone pulled the rug out from under him as he was about to start crushing (despite getting obliterated in our final 3 games) and instead blame himself and his incompetence in management.
So, there's this book that came out a few weeks ago...
There is a reason why very few coaches get fired after 3 years. The fact that you didn't get to coach the first class you recruited as true juniors is a pretty sad statement
maybe they will let him practice a little longer in the SEC. 23hrs a day should satisfy Rich.
here at Ole Miss. He'll inherit a pipe line JuCo system one of the best in the nation. Great Athletes Mississippi is probably second or third in NFL talent per capita. Every SEC team covets MS talent. RRs slight southern accent will not get the natives all bent out shape here. Besides He will have little problem getting select Floridians to travel to Mississippi.
Agree on most of the points about Ole Miss, but keep in mind that with Texas A&M and Missouri set to join the conference, realigment would most likely move Alabama to the East.
In any event, as uncomfortable as it may be, has anyone thought of who Illinois might hire now that the Zooker is on his last breath? They have a pretty good defense and some athletes on offense.
They already announced that Mizzou's going to the east. Doesn't make sense, but doesn't split up auburn and alabama
Ole Miss hasn't won the SEC since 1963, and had one division title under David Cutcliffe in 2004, for their first sniff at a title in over 40 years. So, what was Cutcliffe's "reward?" He was fired the next year for going 4-7.
Houston Nutt got them to #15 in both polls in his first season, 2008. He donated 100k to the school in 2009. So, what was his "reward?" He was encouraged to resign.
Ole Miss usually sucks, but keeps firing coaches when they have a bad year. Whoever is hired will be the fourth coach since 2003, counting Cutcliffe's last year. It is a difficult place to win, but coaches aren't appreciated when they do. There are too many tough teams in the SEC for anyone else in the conference to develop much of a winning tradition.
There will be some great jobs opening in the next year or two. Ole Miss isn't one of them. I hope RR doesn't go there.
I have a friend who used to work with Rich Rod when he was at Tulane. My friend now works for Southern Miss., whose game Rich Rod did the color commentary for on Saturday. When I heard the Ole Miss rumor I e-mailed my friend, and this was his reply:
"I talked to him yesterday. Said that he was looking forward to things picking up for him in a couple weeks. I think he will take inventory of what is open, then make a decision."
But personally I think Oxford is a snakepit and he's best off avoiding it. I think Rich Rod will do best staying in the Southeast but not in some weird antebellum nightmare. I know he doesn't like being on the sidelines but a job will open up sooner-or-later for him, no need to settle for Ole Miss.
Regardless of where RR lands, I'm intrigued with who he'll hire for assistants and coordinators. Will all his "boys" flee their current gigs to get the band back together?
Well he didn't get it here and I feel bad for that but I do wish the man the best
