OT: Ole Miss to Fire Houston Nutt... Hire RR?
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7202990/mississippi-rebe…
After this season Houston Nutt will be "let go" as head coach of the Fighting Akbars... Rich Rodriguez might be a nice fit for them and I'm sure we'll hear discussions as much in the next month.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
has kinda failed to capitalize on its moment in that state, and U Miss and Oxford really have most of the long-term advantages. . . I'll bet that town would embrace him.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:00 PM ^
I agree. Rich would be a tremendous coach, especially with all of the local talent he could pick up.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:24 PM ^
As long as RR stays out of the B1G I will support him.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^
Why is it any time a coach is fired everyone questoins if RR is their next head coach??
November 7th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
Because he is a great coach who happens to be looking for work.
November 7th, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^
Not trying to cause conflict, however, when I hear RR is a "Great Coach," it makes me nauseated. Maybe it is my perception, but to make one great they have to be a winner whenever and where ever they are. RR was not a winner where ever he has coached. Yes RR will be very successful in the future, but his failures on his last stop limit the great status for me. I wish RR the best of luck where ever he goes.
November 7th, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^
RR will not be succesful at Ole Miss.
November 7th, 2011 at 5:25 PM ^
That job is a trap. Fans with unreasonably high expectations + annual games against Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Arkansas.
November 7th, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^
Exactly. I'm not sure what fans expected of Houston Nutt. He led to them to a top 5 ranking in a divison where 3 of the past 4 national champions (likely 4 out of 5) reside.
November 7th, 2011 at 8:09 PM ^
...but if they expected to at least be competitive with Kentucky and Vanderbilt, that seems reasonable. Getting whooped by Alabama and Auburn and LSU is understandable. 1-13 in conference over two seasons with those two schools on your schedule both years is, how shall we say it, probably unacceptable.
November 7th, 2011 at 8:13 PM ^
Ole Miss may have the most delusional fanbase in the country. They ran David Cutcliffe out of town when he had done as well as could have been expected. I think Arizona would be a better fit for RR. The fans there were patient with Mike Stoops at first, so the new coach will probably get at least 4 years. RR isn't from Arizona, which doesn't matter because only a small fraction of the people there are natives.
November 7th, 2011 at 4:47 PM ^
November 7th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
and rich rod is a great coach.
November 7th, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
.... Brady Hoke will never, ever be a great coach. His W/L record was positively mediocre prior to coming here. 5 losing seasons out of 8 and a sub-.500 record.
I disagree. I think Hoke has the potential to be thought of as a great coach by the time his career is done. A great tactician or innovator, probably not. But Bo was never either of those things.
November 7th, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^
So Bill Belichik, not a great coach then?
November 7th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
Coach Rodriguez inherited a smoking crater of a program and turned it around despite the backstabbing from the administration and alumni. He increased his wins every year and left with a winning record in his final season. He left behind a solid but young team and had an excellent recruiting class, even though Dave Brandon's actions caused RR to miss out on players such as Anthony Zettel.
RR is a great coach and I expect him to be successful at his next stop.
November 7th, 2011 at 11:13 PM ^
you have internalized the theme of Three and Out,
or
you think just like John Bacon.
November 8th, 2011 at 2:54 PM ^
except for the part about the administration screwing him. I didn't know about the press release outrages before I read the book.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:27 PM ^
Because he's a really good coach and will likely come up in the discussion at some point.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:27 PM ^
Because a lot of people on here are fans of Rich Rod and are very interested to see where he ends up. I for one can't wait until he starts coaching again and will cheer for him pretty much wherever he goes.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:29 PM ^
I have nothing but the utmost respect for RR. Class act.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^
Agreed and I hope he gets an elite job somewhere. I just find it odd that every job that opens up we have opinion if he's going to be they next hc. I could never see him in the sec. I would prefer him in the acc like a north Carolina or something like that.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:45 PM ^
I think it's natural. The last coach we fired and actually wanted another job in college ball was...George Little? It's weird seeing a former Michigan coach poised to take the reigns somewhere else.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:02 PM ^
Because when we hired him he was widely considered to be the best, brightest, most innovative upcoming coach in the country. He had turned down Alabama the previous year.
November 7th, 2011 at 8:11 PM ^
And then he lost to Toledo. If I was Ole Miss, I would go for Dungy.
November 7th, 2011 at 8:58 PM ^
Agreed. Also, after Lloyd lost to Appy State and Oregon told the press the team gave up against them the next game, we should have cut ties. We shouldn't have even let him finish. I mean, if losing to Toledo with a 3-9 team is a reason for RR not to get hired, what does losing to an FCS team with 5 NFL players on the offensive side of the ball alone while being ranked in the top 5 mean?
November 7th, 2011 at 2:51 PM ^
Like others have said he's a good coach and he's available. Not only that, there is a dearth of big name coaches who are free agents right now. Urban Meyer, Rich Rodriguez and who else?? After reading Three and Out, I have a lot of respect for Rodriguez. He was not the right coach for Michigan for various reasons--some his doing and some not his doing--but he has won everywhere else he's been.
November 7th, 2011 at 6:27 PM ^
For the last six or seven years, the spread offense has won every National Championship not won by teams that sign 125 or more players for 85 spots. Since RR created the offense that most of these coaches used or modified to win National Championships, it is natural that his name would be mentioned for any open position.
RR is the second-best coach available right now. The conseneus best, Urban Meyer, uses RR's offense. Why would his name not be mentioned whenever a job opens up? I hope he gets a better job than Ole Miss. It is an extremely tough place to get enough players to win in the SEC.
I think RR could find a coaching job where he has a serious chance of winning if he holds out for one. I still think UGA or Clemson would be the best bets for him, but Mark Richt has temporarily extracted himself from the hot seat, and Clemson is one of the bigger positive surprises of the year.
After RR's experience in Ann Arbor, I would imagine that he is going be very careful about the next job he takes. I am guessing he will have a list of things he needs and one of things he doesn't need. The Ole Miss fanbase turns on coaches too quickly, even considering that they have never won a true National Chamionship and that they haven't won the SEC since 1963. I can't see him taking this job.
Then again, nothing really surprises me anymore after a year like this one.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:28 PM ^
Eh, for a guy who seems so anti-SEC ethics, it's hard to picture him going to the most SECish team. I don't picture RR signing 50 member classes and cutting kids before they get onto campus, which is exactly what's going to be expected of the next Ole Miss coach.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:33 PM ^
I don't know if it is expected, or if it is accepted. It seems like the fans and administration turn a blind on to the obvious oversigning by Houston Nutt.
There are schools like Florida and Georgia that don't oversign. Maybe the next coach (maybe RR) will follow in that formula.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^
I was actually thinking he'd take the UCLA job, but then Rick Neuheisel forgot he's Rick Neuheisel and started winning a couple games. There's still a chance, I suppose.
At any rate, I'd love to see RR get a gig next year. I've still got 100 pages left of the book, but I've become a bigger fan of his. Good luck to him.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:39 PM ^
They like to hire people with heavy Pac-10(12) experience.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
As a Public School, they are part of the state and therefore can't drop big coin on a coach. That's why U$C can hire a big name underachieving crybaby.
November 7th, 2011 at 3:00 PM ^
November 7th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
I'd love to see Rich Rodriguez at UCLA. Just hope he can get his defense straightened out (read: keep his damn hands off it).
November 7th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^
I was kind of hoping for this too. Although, I wonder if UCLA can pay him enough to get his interest. Neuheisel is making half of what RR made at Michigan.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:37 PM ^
It still might happen. UCLA has proven it is nothing if not inconsistent and the win over ASU was all luck. Losses to Colorado and Utah are not inconceivable and a loss to USC is a foregone conclusion. If that happens even UCLA's AD might not be able to tune out the mobs of Pasadena torch and pitchfork(although he's pretty good at it). As good as I thionk RR would be at UCLA, I doubt he takes it, there's a lot about UCLA that mirrors Michigan and I doubt RR puts himself in a similar situation.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^
RR was fired.
No school is dying to pick up a recently fired coach.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^
RR won't get a look from any elite programs, but he's a very appealing option for bottom feeder BCS schools and almost all non-bcs schools.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
Um, GERG, Michigan, 2009.
November 7th, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^
MISTAKE!!!!
November 7th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
I understand people root for the guy, as do I. But is it really necessary to add the "RR speculation" to every single coaching position that opens up? We should just make an abbreviation, RRCBACFTP - Rich Rodriguez could be a candidate for this position.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:39 PM ^
I don't know... Maybe RR is a little gunshy of the ol' block M?
November 7th, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^
Sounds like Guz Malzahn is the first name on the tongue of Ole Miss fans.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:00 PM ^
He wants to dig at Nutt. I'm not sure that RR is the first person to go to Ole Miss. Malzhan, Kirby Smart, Larry Fedora at Southern Miss, John Chavis?, Anyone with current SEC ties.
November 7th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
Fedora would make sense about ten thousand times. That might be their ideal hire.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^
down south drying up the pipelines from Pahokee.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:42 PM ^
Lesseee, did I get that right?? I too am really interested in seeing where Coach Rod ends up.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:42 PM ^
to be a winner in the SEC you need to play defense. Rich does not come to mind when one thinks defense. WIll be interesting to see what happens here. I hope Rich gets a job and a chance to redeem himself.