RR's Connection to WVU Allegations, Why is This a Big Deal?

On motownsports an MSU fan was using the allegations at WVU to somehow vindicate how now, more than ever, we know RR is a cheater and a bad guy. I just aksed, regardless of your conclusion on whether it was an honest mistake or knowingly cheating why are you treating it as new news. We were already aware this happened at Michigan so wouldnt it stand to reason that if this was the system he had in place he did it at WVU as well. Seemed like a no brainer to me.

way people in the MSM in detroit are going to use this to pile onto richrod... just be thankful that valenti is on vacation this week...

Hey guys, this is no different than a potential story that says " Rich Rod doesn't beat his wife since moving to Michigan" It doesn't mean that he beat her before, it is just fodder. There are 29 days left until the season. Practice starts Monday, there are so many other things to talk about that haven't been hashed to death. For this collection of bloggers this is not news.

It's not that big a deal. Keep in mind the radio guys need something to talk about, and for some (we all know who I mean), they'll take any reason to bash RichRod.

These new allegations are not proof that he's dirty, because, you're right, it's just as easy to conclude that it was an honest mistake and he just carried on the same practices.

What really upsets me is this just adds life to this story. With the hearings coming up in Seattle, I was hoping it would put all of this behind us. Now it just keeps the story going.

Why be thankful Valenti is on vacation? Who the hell cares what he would have to say.  There is ZERO reason for any true UM fan to be listening to that self-serving blowhard. Let him pile on to his Spartan bretheren who managed a stellar 6-7 record last year, woo-hoo!!

Valenti???  I don't even know what station he's on.

...a tempest in a teapot. Nominally excessive practice hours are no big deal to me at all -- especially when it's common knowledge that damn near every program in the country is guilty of the same thing. I believe every D1 coach is breathing a sigh of relief that RR is the scapegoat getting all the attention.

I have a video of a dude singing that looks like your avatar..lemme see if I can post it her for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavMtUWDBTM

I would guess the WV compliance department gave the OK similar to ours.  If this practice had stopped as soon as RR left I would be concerned as it would show prior intent.

The following things are going to happen:

1. Haters Gonna Hate

2. The ignorant and mostly disinterested will listen to whoever talks the loudest.

3. The NCAA will act professionally and not be swayed by either side.

4. You will lie back and take it like a man.

it's perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the NCAA for the head coach to yank a scholarship from a guy who has already moved into his dorm room. Yup, RR's the bad guy all right.

Maize and Blue...is right. This is an issue for the compliance department. It is the compliance department that interprets the rules that are handed down from the NCAA. If there is a question regarding the rules since since some of them are not entirely clear, it is up to the compliance department to tell the coach to keep doing what they are doing or to change what they are doing until they can get an interpretation from the NCAA.

The fact that RR apparently did similar things at WVU and UM is not surprising. The fact that two different compliance departments didn't do anything about it tells me that there are difficulties in interpreting the rule. I'm sure this will be made much clearer by the NCAA on the 14th. However, a new coach, as RR was at U of M, is not above the University's compliance department and it was up to them to say that things couldn't be run that way.

I really don't get the witch-hunt here.  I know the NCAA is "protecting" the student athlete and protecting the "integrity" of the game (wink, wink), but this should have all been taken care of in one fell swoop.  At this point they are just dragging it out for the media.  They asked for this information back when they launched the investigation at Michigan, and they are just now getting around to announcing the violations.  Do they have the Freep running this darn thing.  The confusing part is how they are treating a coach and school who were very transparent and completely compliant on all fronts, when other coaches who hide and run during one of these investigations gets away very little media.  There are a number of coaches in the NCAA who get a program in trouble and run to a new job, get that one in trouble and then head off for another job all the while they dodge the NCAA at every front.  These guys are repeat offenders who are never held culpable.  Yet they are continuing a witch-hunt on a coach and school who comply.

It's a big deal to the MSM because they can milk it for clicks, views, phone calls, and Neilsen ratings.  It's a big deal for MSU fans because it helps deflect focus on their eleven or so scholly players who now have documented adult criminal records.  It's a big deal for OSU fans because it makes their stupendous "lead" in self-reported minor violations "disappear" for awhile.

Most of all, it's a big deal to WVU, their admins, and fans, becuase they can use it to "justify" their hatred and "psycho-ex" behavior toward RR and turn "mea culpa" into "see, we knew RR was 'dirty' all along."  Eventually, they will have themselves convinced that RR leaving was good for their program.   

I still haven't figured out what the NCAA "gains" by all of this piling on.  It was they who changed their own interpretation of their own rules and decided to hold coaches "responsible" for resulting "violations" in the first place.  All they really needed here was a clarification to take effect starting last year. 

They have already caused a coach whose "violations" are exactly what everyone else was doing a lot of suffering that he doesn't deserve.  They have already caused Michigan players, coaches, admins, and fans a lot of suffering that they don't deserve.  If they really want to look "tough," all they have to do is void Lane Kiffin's contract with USC on the grounds that it was his dishonesty that helped provide the environment of non-compilaince at USC.  It would be a lot more high-profile than what they are doing now.

I want the season to get here ASAP, so the focus can be on football and winning, and we can forget about this crap.  If RR and Michigan win, the media will start "forgetting" about it, too.   But it will only happen when the wins are enough to provide more clicks and views to the MSM.  Until then, we are probably stuck with it.

I think the issue more pertains to the future restrictions placed on Coach Rod himself. Here's an excerpt from Rothstein at AA.com.

• What might change is Michigan’s approach to next week’s NCAA meeting, at least according to Michael Buckner, a Florida attorney who frequently represents universities in NCAA cases.

  “For the Michigan hearing, the West Virginia Notice of Allegations will not have a direct impact on the actual proceedings of the hearing because they are separate and distinct cases,” Buckner said. “However, it’s going to be the silent entity in the hearing room. Everyone’s going to know about it but no one’s going to talk about it.

  “And if I was Michigan and if I was coach Rodriguez, the West Virginia case would impact my hearing strategy.”

  The reasoning behind this, Buckner said, is because the NCAA can place a “show cause” order on Rodriguez out of the Michigan hearings, which the school would then have to monitor.

  And when West Virginia goes in front of the committee, if Rodriguez is found guilty there, the punishment on Rodriguez could escalate in the number of years the order is in place, the number of days he can be on the field coaching or the number of days Rodriguez can recruit off-campus. Plus, he can be found as a repeat violator during the West Virginia hearings if he has a show-cause order attached during the Michigan hearings, Buckner said.

So this makes it sound like he could be potentially limited in his time on the field at Michigan and when recruiting. Seems utterly ridiculous that our program suffers twice. I think a personal fine would be more appropriate in the WVU case. Either way, while I do agree that this is just more off-season space-filler, it is mildly concerning because anytime you lose your coach on the field it's never a great situation. In the end I'm faithful that a winning season will at the very least shut the media up.

Rich Rod is the man. I think it was an honest mistake. If you listen to his interviews and read what recruits and players are saying about him, he seems like a honest and great Michigan Man. As long as recruits and our players and most people within the program think it, I'm perfectly happy with him being the head coach of Michigan.

Like every other coach in the country, RR likes to be around football, he likes to be around his players getting better, and he likes to coach.  Like every other coach in the country, RR knew and knows that there are rules in place as to coaching involvement by himself and staff just like a driver knows there is a speed limit on the express way.  Like every other coach in the country, RR figured that pretty much everybody does 75 in a 70 and the policeman on the side of the road doesn't give a shit.  So, like every other coach in the country, he paid attention to his "speed" to the extent that he knew he could not go 85,  but he looked at the road most of the time instead of having his eyes constantly focused on the spedometer and set the cruise at 75 as he had come to believe it was a safe and implicitly compliant speed. 

The Freep Press article reported RR's practices like they were the brutal torture of defenseless baby animals and forced the NCAA's hand into invesstigating the situation and finding what they already knew they would find, and invetiably lead to an investigation of WVU, where again, the NCAA found out that RR had been going 75 in a 70 for a long time.  As such, Michigan and WVU are going to both get traffic tickets, and both are going to have to pay a little closer attention to their spedometers for a couple of years, and will result in hightened compliance from the rest of the country because they don't want a ticket.

For those that see what the want to see and hear what they want to hear, this argument DOES NOT attempt to excuse the conduct, he should have been doing the speed limit, but you should have too on the way into work this morning.  There are rules and then there are RULES.  You should not break either, but a rule is not a RULE, and breaking a rule while still adhering to the spirit of the rule is not the same as taking a shit on RULE because you want to win games, period.   By comparison, USC drank a fifth of vodka, stole car, drove the wrong way down the express way and T-Boned a family of four.  For the RR haters, all the RR supporters are asking for is a little perspective, that is all, just a little.  Nobody is excusing the conduct, but a little perspective is necessary to form a balanced opinion of this man and his practices.

This changes nothing, RR has to win this year. 8-4 and this shit dies a natural death.  4-8 and he will be fired, not for the speeding ticket, but for simply not winning.

On the surface, it's hard not to recognize a pattern here.   But the fact that it continued on 2 years POST Rodriquez strengthens the argument that the rules are vague/ambiguous.  If the rules against using this personnel are so crystal clear, why did WVa's coaches and adminstration continue to do it after Coach Rod left campus?

This is a big deal because part of the allegations concern the conduct and the attitude of Rodriguez himself.  Up until now, the Michigan violations have been blamed on a combination of Athletic Department idiocy and one overzealous assistant who got fired.  It's a lot harder to make either one of those arguments now.