November 22nd, 2008 at 3:04 PM ^
if he knew how little talent we would have at qb he definitely would have been gone. But you know what? When he turns this around he will have left one hell of a legacy behind.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:08 PM ^
He said in the pre-game interview something to the effect of: I thought since we were Michigan we could line up and compete with anyone. I believe, with all the negatives surrounding this season, in foresight he would have stayed at WV. This makes me appreciate the Carr era a little more. Also saying, he has been in this position before and he may be just a darkness before the dawn type of guy. Either way, we should focus on the future.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:12 PM ^
Yeah, he's made some fairly odd comments like that before. When I say odd, I mean that its odd that he would be so candid with his feelings about what he had expected. In retrospect, he walked into a hornet's nest in AA with much of the alumni, fanbase and former players pissed off that Les Miles isn't here and with all of the problems at quarterback.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:24 PM ^
I understand what you are saying, Jay. Like many fans, I knew it would be a tough year. I think his comments echo what I felt that, "It would be a tough year but the tradition would somehow carry us." This year just shows how hard it is to win football games in the Big Ten. RR will get us to the promised land, this loss just eats at me like OSU fans at a Country Buffet.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:11 PM ^
RR went 1-7-1 in his first year at Glenville State. He went 3-8 in his first year at WVU. Is there a reason why this particular losing season would bother him more than those?
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:13 PM ^
he didn't think he would be rebuilding at Michigan. That was what he was getting at with his pregame comments.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:23 PM ^
I think it has to hurt a little more because now he's an established coach and he had a good team. At WVU and Glenville, he wasn't used to winning like he did later on at WVU. Plus, he's so much more in the spotlight now than he ever could've been starting at west virginia ~10 years ago.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 PM ^
he had a national title contender at WV. Granted he will have a better legacy if he can turn this around at Michigan, but he was pretty much at the top at Wvu.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 PM ^
He could have taken the Alabama job a year earlier. He was fed up with WVU
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:21 PM ^
Jay, this is wrong. He said he was wrong to assume that we already had the talent in the team. He didn't look at our depth chart when taking the job which says a lot about him wanting it. That wasn't meant as 'umm, I wish that I wasn't here anymore and back in WV'.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 PM ^
I understood what he meant by his comments, Turbo Cool. With that being said, I still don't think he would've taken this job had he known what it was going to be like. I really wonder if we just happened to walk into the middle of a pissing match between Rich Rod and the WVU heirarchy and RR was so upset with WVU that he jumped at the chance to take the UM job without ever really taking a close look at the situation. On the other side, Bill Martin had been turned down by two candidates already, (3 if you count Miles) and jumped at the chance to hire a big name coach like Rich Rod without thinking about the ramifications of what it would really mean for the program in terms of the amount change that would happen with bringing in Rich Rod as the head coach.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:22 PM ^
The important question is if Bill Martin could do it over would he get off his fucking sailboat to call Les Miles.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:27 PM ^
Know what? Miles wouldn't have turned Sheridan/Threet into stud QBs either. He wouldn't have caused Mallett, Manningham and Arrington to stay. He would have gone through a season every bit as ugly. And given his track record of behavior, I'm not so sure he would have gone through this agonizing season with as much dignity as RR has.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:34 PM ^
that Boren, Mallet and Arrington would've been back had Schiano or Miles taken the job. I think Arrington even said as much when he decided to enter the NFL draft that he didn't want to stay to learn a completely different offense.
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 PM ^
Boren? Maybe. Mallett and Arrington? No. It was an open secret that those two were looking to move on. They just used the coaching change as an excuse.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:23 PM ^
compare stats from Pat White and Nick Sheridan on the day they were probably pretty close.....right?
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:56 PM ^
I think Jay should be obliged to post a link to a bigger version of his profile picture.
why? well, then at least something good would happen this bleak day.
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 PM ^
I would love to, Coach. Unfortunately, there seems to be a limitation that the message board puts on the amount of space that it gives you for avatars.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 PM ^
I'm not sure what his answer is, but I wondered this same thing during the week. He will forever have his name linked to the worst record ever at Michigan.....
That has to sting down deep somewhere.
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 PM ^
This is not the worst season ever. We've had a few seasons with worse winning percentages. It's just the year with the most losses, because the last time we were bad, the regular season was only nine or ten games long.
But anyway, RR can find solace in what his colleague, Beilein, is doing. Beilein, too, recorded the most losses in program history (though again, not the worst winning percentage) in his first year. This year? We just upset a top-5 UCLA team.
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 PM ^
Not in a million years. Michigan is an awesome place to work, it's the bar others are measured by. Guys would kill to coach here.
WVU is a stepping stone, coaches don't aspire to be there.
Rodriguez's regrets are probably having a relationship with some of the a-holes at WVU, and saying "get a life" to some idiot fans. (non-fans rather)
They did some amazing stuff today considering you have a bunch of just-out-of-high school kids on the team.
He will do wonders here, just be patient.
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:31 PM ^
This situation mirrors Michigan basketball. Coach from WVU comes over with some crazy schemes. The team he takes over is basically devoid of players that can run his scheme. Painful, horrific season occurs, players transfer out/leave. The next year, after more opportunities to adjust and recruit, the team doesn't look half-bad anymore.
Does RRod occasionally have second thoughts? Probably. Would he have turned this job down because we would have been assured of 1 losing season? Probably not.
November 22nd, 2008 at 6:53 PM ^
Based on how Les Miles' year this year, he might be wishing he came to AA. I think he would have had just as bad of a year, perhaps an extra win or two just based on style familiarity, but his season at LSU is looking quite mediocre, and he may be thinking rebuilding Michigan is better than struggling for a few years at a middling LSU. Something I've been wondering.
November 22nd, 2008 at 6:56 PM ^
His national championship ring and fat new contract probably tell him that he made the right choice to stay at LSU. *Sigh.*