SI Lead Story: Rich Rodriguez thriving at Arizona (writer talks some about Michigan)
Nothing new but thought others might find it of interest on a Thursday afternoon.
"Seemed like what was a Rodriguez problem in 2010 was actually a Michigan problem"
Quote by Rodriguez on Michigan "It's not like I dwell on it, but when people ask me about it, I say, yeah, it sitll bothres me. It still frustrates me because we'd like to hav eseen what we could do with another year or two."
Talks about how Arizona AD Greg Bryne who hired Dan Mullen at Mississippi State thought hiring Rich Rodriguez to Arizona was a no brainer.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
it worked with Grover Cleveland.
/s, but not really. No really, /s see, I'm still so conflicted about the Rich Rod era at Michigan
October 30th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
He's earned the right to do that. That's for sure.
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October 31st, 2014 at 8:24 AM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
Who could have foreseen how this all turned out? After 2011, everything went wrong for Michigan, and *everything* went right for our rivals and our fired coach. Amazing.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:44 PM ^
Back when we hired a guy with .485 winning percentage as a head coach, I expected it to go worse, to be honest.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
Yeah, basically how I felt when he left. I'm more frustrated with the state of the fans and how they act/react. There is zero patience (now it's more understandable than it was in 2008-2010). So many fans that lack true football knowledge. Creates a bad environment.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^
Hard to agree with "that it's a Michigan problem" when Bo, Mo and Lloyd all succeeded...then 2 failures (1 Michigan Man, 1 non-Michigan Man). People just don't want to do any research, they take the lazy way out and see RR succeed somewhere else and somehow 1+1=3 and therefore he should have succeeded at UM if not for UM's inherent failings at all things head football coach hiring. God I hate the mainstream media more and more everyday.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
Seriously nobody is saying that Michigan basketball is the problem because Tommy Amaker is having success again at Harvard. Just because a coach succeeds somewhere else doesn't mean the issue is with the place that he failed. Michigans issue is that they hired brady hoke after rich rod, not that they fired rich rod.
October 31st, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
Amaker was not great coach but it was widely accepted he didn't have all the tools he needed because Michigan was still gun shy about BBall after getting hit so hard by NCAA. Not to mention facilities were bad and there was not much love for BBall around campus. Belein, who also happens to be a much better coach than Amaker, has had it much easier because the program made serious upgrades to facilities and finally threw more support behind BBall.
Amaker had a real tough job to do here and I think he did well given circumstances. There was no reason to be surprised he would do well once he left Michigan and some of the issues that handcuffed him here.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:27 PM ^
It's a Michigan Athletic Department problem, but more specifically a DB problem.
DB won't increase RR's DC budget and he's stuck with GERG for 2010.
DB fires a known good coach and replaces him with Hoke.
DB had two opportunities to enhance the tragectory of the football team (allowing RR to hire a real DC and not hiring Hoke -- or not firing RR) and he failed on both opportunities.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^
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October 30th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
Not to mention that people are making it look like Coach Rod's options were GERG or no DC. What the hell is that?
Should he have been given more money for coordinators? Yes! But that fact is, he hired Schafer only to undermine him and fire him after a year. He then hired GERG and forced him to run a defense he wasn't comfortable with.
We've been asking w/r/t Brandon, "What coach worth his salt will work for him?" Well, what DC worth his salt would work for Coach Rod, what with the staff mutiny and the forced philosophy? In short, the answer to, "Was it a Coach Rod problem or a Michigan problem?" is, "Neither. It was a Jeff Casteel problem."
Coach Rod has had 3 DCs, and only one of them has been successful.
Coach Rod was always going to be successful at Arizona: low expectations, time to build his team, no traditions that would get in the way of his building, lower academic standards, etc. I am happy for him, and I am not surprised in the least. But the man failed here. It's not a crime. Prince Fielder failed in Detroit. Kurt Warner failed in New York. Pete Carroll failed in New York. Nick Saban failed in Miami. Some situations work, others don't. Wishing doesn't change the fact.
October 30th, 2014 at 5:28 PM ^
Except no one here is saying that Warner, Carroll and Saban suck like they are with Rich Rod. Those guys proved to be excellent at their field but not during the time of their careers you specifically point out.....are we blaming them or the places they went to? There is a huge faction of people here who want to believe RR failing was simply because he sucked, not because he was set up to fail.
If everyone even agreed that it was a mix of the two I would drop it but most anit RR people can't even agree to that much. What I see as the main cause of our problems is Michigan arrogance......the same arrogance that led to firing a guy after 3 short years and then handing the reigns to the chosen Michigan Man who has proven himself to be a bumblinhg idiot. It's maddening that people try to defend running RR out of town before his 1st QB was even a JR. I remember when ND did that we LAUGHED at them....and then we did it ourselves. Total amatuer hour move and everything that has followed since then only enforces that we still have amatuer hour people in charge. Until that changes, I can't let it go.
October 30th, 2014 at 9:02 PM ^
No one is saying that they suck because no one is trying to convince any one that they didn't suck.
October 31st, 2014 at 12:22 AM ^
October 31st, 2014 at 12:02 AM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 3:36 PM ^
WHAT WERE WE THINKING firing someone who went 15-22.
I'm glad he's doing well, however the case for firing him has nothing to do with how lousy of a head coach Brady Hoke is, so hopefully no one tries to strawman this yet again.
RRod had:
A) Lousy admin support yes, but he also had:
B) No defense. None.
C) Offenses that were consistently and completely shut down in the 2nd half by competent coaches
D) ONE win over a ranked B1G opponent in 3 seasons
E) 0-6 vs. MSU/OSU
F) His top-rated recruit not even qualify for admission
G) Absolutely crap luck
H) Worst W/L record in M football history
I) A stunningly improbable string of injuries
J) The poor judgment to try and shoehorn a 3-3-5 into B1G play by DCs who preferred other schemes (erroneously anointing the particular scheme as being primarily responsible for Casteel's success)
K) A spate of PR nightmares from the #1 jersey, to players involved in illegal activity, to Josh Groban, all of which were exacerabated by the presence of a hack local journalist out for blood and doing everything in his power to make a name for himself.
And yeah, we might just go 3-9 this year, but this has nothing to do with RRod's lack of success on the field. Let's not pretend that this whole thing was "just a Michigan problem" or "just a RRod problem."
Rather than being "screwed by Michigan", RRod was overwhelmingly screwed by circumstances, both in and out of his control.
It was really a perfect storm of events from day one that turned into one of the ugliest tenures for a fantastic football coach at a storied program, unfortunately.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:38 PM ^
Well said. I am one of the biggest RR supporters on the board and definitely yearn for the missing 4th year of his tenure provided we brought Casteel over like they did in Arizona BUT I think you've done a good job of summarizing why he was fired here.
Upvoted for logic.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:45 PM ^
I, like many, would change the entire narrative at the drop of a hat if I could. I would love nothing more than seeing M run a viciously successful offense paired with a strong Casteel defense to galvanize what could've been a phenomenal M football presence on the field.
I know people are looking for a smoking gun, but it just wasn't that simple a situation to have only one. Those 3 seasons are littered with bits and pieces of numerous smoking guns.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
"F) His top-rated recruit not even qualify for admission" there were other players that didn't make it in, or flunked out (Tate)... lets not forget the kids with the character issues and decided that it was easier to transfer or get kicked off of the team (JT Turner and Austin White are the 1st 2 i think of) instead of putting in the time...
October 30th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
I always wonder how different things would have been it Casteel came with him from West Virginia. I liked Shafer a lot but him and Rich Rod didn't mesh for some reason. It doesn't matter now, but his offenses were a lot of fun to watch. Those defenses were a crime against humanity though.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
Oh, well, he won't be at Arizona much longer. So we will no longer have to hear about how successful he has been in the PAC 12. Unfortunately, he will likely end up at Florida, and then we will have to hear about how successful he is in the SEC.... sigh
October 30th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
It certainly is Michigan's fault, at least in part.
We didn't want to pay enough for Casteel, a defensive coordinator who he had worked with for many years, assigned him someone who he didn't know, then required he replace that someone in pretty rough circumstances. The local coaches did not exactly tell players great things about him. I'm not saying it would have worked out, but he never pretended to be a defensive coach.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
Hope he gets the Florida job.
That would be awesome.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^
I might be crazy for thinking this, but part of me believes he wouldn't take the job right now. He's in a very good situation at Arizona and his family apparently loves it there.
There's an alum who offered stock options that are currently worth $8 million+ if he stays through 2022, I believe. Arizona will certainly be giving him an extension and a raise whenever, as well. He has all of the pieces in place for Arizona to only get better over the next 2-3 years, and his kid will be in the 2017 class after being a four-year starter at QB at Catalina Foothills, just in time to take over for Anu Solomon. He's 51, so he could see this through at Arizona and still have plenty left in the tank if he wanted to move later.
Of course, it would be pretty damned hard to turn away Florida, though.
October 30th, 2014 at 5:10 PM ^
He still misses out on a ton of talent at AZ.
I follow him at Arizona and he has missed out on in-state kids to all sorts of places from Oregon to USC.
At Florida I think he would get exactly who he wanted in recruiting, kind of like he did at Michigan... for the two years he was allowed an actual recruiting class...
Yea.
October 30th, 2014 at 5:48 PM ^
I know he does. I understand that Arizona is not Florida. That is why I said I might be crazy for thinking he wouldn't take the job.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
“I’ve never felt since I’ve been at Arizona that this was going to be a job that you could [use to] vindicate yourself,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve always felt this was going to be a great job to build a program and enjoy doing it.”
The strange thing is, even given how things went here for him, I never thought for a moment that Rodriguez took the Arizona job because he felt like he needed a shot at redemption. It always seemed more like he felt at home coaching and wanted to do it in a place where he could just pick up and run with it essentially. The problems during his tenure here were dynamic in nature and the sources were multiple - I'll put it diplomatically.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
October 31st, 2014 at 12:11 AM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 4:51 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^
He's a good coach who didn't get full support here. I exepected him to land on his feet and be successful wherever he ended up. I'd love to go back and give him another year with the proper support but the time machine is broken.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:26 PM ^
I really don't understand why people say Rich Rod is thriving at Arizona.
Mike Stoops last two full years: 15-11
RR's first two full years: 16-10
That doesn't strike me as some miracle turnaround. Yeah, his team looks decent this year, but they still have three ranked teams and a bowl game to play. I'd be surprised if they finish with fewer than 4 losses.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
"He sucks, he can't coach, yadda yadda yadda" Clearly that's not the case.
I think some national writers are making articles specifically designed to call attention to the complete lack of success at Michigan regardless of coach and that if a coach can do well elsewhere, then what the hell is actually wrong with Michigan. Also, they write these articles knowing damn well that Michigan has a huge fan base and love to click on this shit.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
It's rather curious that you're writing off all of Arizona's last few games when they've already shown that they can take on and beat teams worth a shit.
October 30th, 2014 at 3:33 PM ^
Last few games? He beat a terrible WSU team, lost to unranked USC, and yes, beat a very good Oregon team. Can we at least wait until he finishes at seasons with fewer than 5 losses before we say he's "thriving"?
October 30th, 2014 at 6:28 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 3:51 PM ^
So you've got him losing three more games. Here's the balance of their schedule - show me the three losses you project
@UCLA
Colorado
Washington
@Utah
Arizona State
PAC12 Championship Game
Bowl Game
I think they'll lose this weekend but they wont play in the Championship Game if they do so curious where you have three more loses. I've got them going to go 11-2.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^
@ Ucla, washington, and arizona state are all possible losses and Utah isn't exactly a pushhover but losing dres anderson is a big blow and the bowl game (obviously a complete up in the air guess, who know who they play and predicting a loss or a win is stupid).
October 30th, 2014 at 4:25 PM ^
@ UCLA
@ Utah
Arizona State
Bowl Game
October 30th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
Wow five losses. You really think the wheels are just about to come off the wagon.
You've got them almost (but not quite) as shitty as us.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^
RR's full record at Arizona is 23 - 11 at Arizona and Stoops' last three years was 16-16 and would've been a lot worse had he not gotten fired half way through the season. The Pac-12 is also much more difficult now than the three years Stoops was there, and Rodriguez had to clean up the Stoops mess by having to start 5 walk-ons his first couple years.
October 30th, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 4:41 PM ^
I'm not going to give coaches credit either way for half-seasons. Stoops' losses to start the 2011 season were 3 top ten teams, at USC, and at Oregon State.
Who knows how he would have finished the season given that his schedule was about to get much easier? Who knows how Rich Rod will finish this one given that his schedule is about to get much harder?
8 weeks ago, Dan Mullen was a mediocre coach, Kevin Sumlin was God, Miles was finished at LSU, and Frank Beamer was a hero. Remember how Rich Rod started 2010 and 2011? Let's get a little more data is all I'm saying.
October 30th, 2014 at 5:56 PM ^
October 30th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^
I do think he is a good coach.
October 30th, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^
In an era where thirty percent of all FBS teams win a bowl game each year, winning a bowl game is no longer a valid measure of one's coaching acumen -- especially when those victories were accrued in the New Mexico Bowl and AdvoCare V100 Bowl.