Is RR still in Michigan?
In a non-stalker sense I'm curious what a fired coach does. His family must have made friends there over the last 3 years, and his kid(s) are in school so what does a coach do? I would think that going back to WV isn't an option since the people there loathed him and I think there would be more bitter whackos than in AA.
Just curious, does anyone know?
January 14th, 2011 at 2:02 PM ^
Their parents are Wal-Mart Wolverines, only here by school of choice.
January 14th, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^
Please understand that there are many people out there, like myself, who value the concept of "The Michigan Man" and who would unabatedly agree with your sentiments towards these bullies and their parents.
Unfortunately, many people out there believe "Michigan Man" simply means that being somehow involved with the University of Michigan gives a person higher status, when in reality (at least, my reality) it is about holding yourself to a higher standard to be a better person in the classroom and in society and use that influence to spread good - and that is not a terrible concept, in my humble opinion.
Anyone with those traits, in my opinion, should be able to call themselves a Michigan Man upon the moment they set foot in Ann Arbor or don a Block M, regardless of whether they have any historical affiliation with the University.
We should not try to decry the "Michigan Man" concept, as it is a noble endeavor, and to lose it would be to lose a part of our standards which makes our University great. We should rather be trying to spread the noble aspects of the concept to teach those who do not fully understand what it means, like these bullies and their parents, and to discourage the ugly misrepresentations of it.
January 14th, 2011 at 1:55 PM ^
I would love to meet the parents of those bullies . . . A few punches to the neck ought to set them straight and help teach them how to properly parent their children.
January 14th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
I've wondered why people in Saline seem to hate him so much. I know quite a few people from the town, and they're the only people I know who have basically declared open season on the guy. I know a lot of people who were/are anti-RR, but it only seemed like the people from Saline would say things like "Fuck you, dickrod" in casual conversation.
Given this, it doesn't surprise me that the adult hatred has trickled down to the kids.
January 14th, 2011 at 2:44 PM ^
both the state and the school. Not "leaders" not the "best" and certainly not Champions of the West. Results come with process, and process takes time and a lot of people won't accept this...to their ultimate demise.
I have to say I am impressed with Ford... of late...
January 14th, 2011 at 3:09 PM ^
Michigan has thoroughly, completely disgraced itself with the treatment of Rich Rodriguez, his staff and his family. We treat visiting fans from Penn State better. This should hurt for a very, very long time. I'm confident that it won't hurt us nearly long enough.
And yeah, Ford's been doing a good job lately! Not sure exactly how that fits, but I think I get it and I agree.
January 14th, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^
It's not surprising you'd be pumping up Ford. The only person who ever supported a guy doing a bad job as much as you do is William Clay Ford.
I guess we should have given RR a five year extension.
January 14th, 2011 at 4:05 PM ^
We didn't honor the full term of the contract. We exercised the buyout clause, to be sure. And will pay Rodriguez the money he is rightly owed. I wish there were some way that the buyout could have been made even more difficult. But the transition on the football field may be more than difficult enough.
It will be "fans" like you that will make it very hard for me to support this program going forward.
January 15th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^
But I thought you were a Michigan fan? You sound much more like a Rodriguez fan.
I mean, "I wish there [was] some way that the buyout could have been made even more difficult." Really? Why would you even care if Michigan had to pay him $2.5 million (which, by the way, is $166,666.67 per victory, in addition to his salary.) or more?
January 14th, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^
for a while. They made the right decisions with Union retirements and insurance before the others. They also don't have 37,000,000 product lines and 17,000 different R&D and Marketing divisions. Anyways, sorry for the tangent.
January 14th, 2011 at 3:04 PM ^
from the kids, not that the parents are telling them to do it, but the vitriole and negativity is definitely coming from the parents.
a segment of the M fan base and Ann Arbor has taken a huuuuuuge hit in how I regard them, from day one of RR's tenure and all their classist/cultural snideness to hearing this. You should all be very proud.
January 14th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^
And he will be here for a long time because he bought a house that is now only worth half the mortgage and he doesn't want to take a loss on it by selling in a down market. Poor guy, sometimes you just can't win.
January 14th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^
I wish RR the best, unlike most of the Lion coaches who get out of town on the first bus and disappear into retirement you never hear from them again. RR bashers know they didn't give him a fair shake and almost all of them say I don't have anything against the guy and I am sure he'll end up coaching somewhere.
January 14th, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^
My son is looking at potential careers. Coaching is high on his list. So is professional athlete and rock star when you are 13.
I think a lot of people don't realize that before these coaches get the BIG paydays they are stuck somewhere as an assistant or low level coach making enough for beans & rice. As part of his assignment, we looked up the coaching salaries of HS coaches in PA. IT was between $3k and $4k on average. Certainly not enough for it to be a solo income in most cases.
I think the coaching profession is largely backloaded compared to most professions. Contrast it to a normal college degree that starts around $30K last I heard. That puts these guys in the hole a very long time until they get paid or washout.
Think of it, $2.5M after 20 years of being at the top of your game isn't really that much after making less than $25K for most of that time.
January 14th, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^
which is entirely possible, no matter how good you may be, as a lot of it is cirumstantial and being in the right place at the right time AND making all the right decisions.
January 14th, 2011 at 3:00 PM ^
I heard he bought that tamale cart on that corner of South U and East U but the info it came from a unnamed source.
January 14th, 2011 at 3:13 PM ^
to anybody come up in the kidz's face.
January 14th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
but then he met Barwis, and his...um....two actual wolves....and then there they were, four wolves in the desert looking for strippers and cocaine....
January 14th, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^
Honestly hope for the best for coach Rod. You do not bring kids into this. Breaks my heart...
January 14th, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^
January 14th, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^
RR is still in AA, he just did the clothes donation, right? I don't look for RR to head out west. Big East, MAC, ACC best bests. I've heard from more than one good source if WVU knew what was going down that Holgorsen would have been looked over. 99% of the state swore RR was the anti-christ after coming up to UM, but after a couple years living with "ah shucks" goymer pyle for a coach there was more than one who wanted RR back in morgantown.
January 14th, 2011 at 5:48 PM ^
January 15th, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^
One of my guitar students the other day told me that he played RR's son in a basketball tournament in Saline this past weekend, and that RR was there. Maybe not the most up-to-date information, but he was at least in town for the past weekend.