RichRod speaks at length; takes a jab at DB
Rich Rod spoke in depth with Dennis Dodd of CBS. (Link: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/14640415/rich-rod-we-thought-it-was-just-getting-ready-to-take-off?ttag=gen10_on_all_fb_na_txt_0001)
Most of the things are stuff we've heard him say before..."we were almost there; lots of drama; took longer than I expected." Something new that I hadn't heard him say was a critique of Dave Brandon and his position to make the decision that he made:
"Were you treated fairly by Dave Brandon?
Rodriguez:"To say publicly how I was treated would be self-serving. Everybody says three years is enough time. If you don't know all the factors maybe you make that conclusion. If you're here in the middle of this for three years fighting all the battles. ... We'd like to be able to finish the job. I can't sit here a month later and say this and that should have happened.
"What I am going to do to make sure the next job I get, we win the national championship and everybody is pulling in the right direction. Dave's been on the job -- what? -- nine months? He knows the business world. I did the best I could to tell him or show him what was going on in the football program. I tried to show him as best I could. He wasn't involved in athletics [before getting to Michigan]. I've been a head coach in Division I for 10 years and coaching for 25. I know college football."
(Note: Brandon played defensive end under Bo Schembechler at Michigan. He is also a former Michigan regent. Brandon came to the school after serving as Domino's Pizza CEO.)
That's an interesting place to needle Brandon on. I don't think it's fair to say he "wasn't involved in athletics." As Dodd points out in his note, he did play for Michigan and as a Regent from 1998-2006 he undoubtedly was involved in athletics at least little bit. Seems like sour grapes to me.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had a boss with a sign on his door that read "Results not Excuses". In the course of my working life I have come to realize how much truth goes along with that message.
February 4th, 2011 at 2:48 PM ^
February 4th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
It won't die because it's the truth. Are you suggesting that something other than going 15-22 and 6-18 in conference play got RR fired? And you may want to remember that Ball State doesn't have exactly the same institutional advantages than Michigan does.
February 4th, 2011 at 4:18 PM ^
February 4th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
Rich is right -- Brandon is very inexperienced when it comes to being an AD or working at any level as an adult within a collegiate athletic department. He's going to make mistakes and he should be criticized for them -- if he's thin-skinned about it, that's just another mistake he'll have to learn from. He's used to operating behind a wall of corporate security/secrecy. It's going to take him a while to adjust to the new environment.
However, Rich made a series of poor decisions with regard to the defense over the course of his three years at Michigan, and the results got him fired. Brandon certainly could have done a better job at the helm, but in the end Rich has to admit that there was no certainty at all that the defense would improve significantly in 2011. He may believe that the improvement was going to be "exponential," but anyone who watched the last three games of the season knows what I mean. Nobody other than the defensive line seemed to know what they hell they should be doing.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:35 PM ^
I actually agree with RR on that count. There is a large amount of literature that shows private business success does not translate into public service success. I would include being an AD with public service.
IMHO, if the day after the OSU game DB would have fired GERG himself and told RR to find a new coordinator while including DB in the search much of this could have been avoided. IF RR was not OK with that he could have also resigned and we wouldn't have had the excruciating wait to see if we had a coach or not.
Just that small bit of bloodshed would have bought RR, and by extension DB, more time to get things straightened out.
I don't think 3 years was enough, but I also don't think RR was ready to be a HC in a major conference. A big part of being a leader is putting the right people in the right position to be successful. RR didn't do that and NONE of his defensive staff did that.
I'm 100% on board with Hoke and ready to put all of this behind us. No more just being thankful to be bowl eligible...it's time to f*ng dominate!
Edit: put wrong game.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^
Oh boy...
C'mon Rich...If you have so much football knowledge, how come you didn't see that it would take more than 3 years to even become competitive with the top half of your new conference? Did you think that you could go 0-6 against MSU and OSU and still keep the job? Have you ever seen a coach keep his job when he has proven utterly unable to compete with winning team in-conference? And you rip Brandon as, basically, a greenhorn with no knowledge of football and a short tenure in A2...yet he's the same guy who took the blame for the NCAA violations off of your shoulders and put them on his own...BEFORE he even started the job. Don't forget, Rich, Brandon could have said, shortly after taking the job, "These NCAA violations, whether truly terrible or just embarrassing are a stain upon Michigan and a direct violation of RR's contract. You are hereby terminated with cause." DB never threw mud at you.
I don't love the timing of the firing (I think it should have happened immediately after the OSU game), but imagine the complaint if he were fired after OSU - "We would have turned it around in the bowl game...You can't fire a coach before the bowl game!!!". He's like a deadbeat tenant who was "just about to send the rent".
For a guy who made so many mistakes during his tenure in A2, it takes a large measure of balls and complete failure of responsibility to rip someone else's job performance. He just looks worse every time he opens his mouth. Move on, Rich.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
Rich had a lot of issues with his personality. A lot of coaches and the media said he was pretty arrogant. If he knows so much about college football then why didn't he uh... win? Instead our D got sucked into a black hole of doom and our O folded when we played halfway decent teams. I liked him but I'm so glad he is gone. Firing him for Hoke will prove to be a great decision. It is definitely an upgrade.
February 4th, 2011 at 3:48 PM ^
+1000 dahblue. Bravo
February 4th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^
First off Rich isn't throwing anybody under a bus. Saying Brandon stuck up and took blame for RR is utterly laughable. That is basically admitting the Free Press was right and that we were major violators instead of the targets of a smear job.
Of course DB or any other AD with a brain is going to stick up for their employee for bullshit like that. If you admit that Rich was blatantly disregarding NCAA rules then you are letting a bunch of assholes win at an unfair and overblown war of bullshit. DB did the right thing and nothing special. And now that Rich says a few things regarding his opinion and its called mud slinging? What a bunch of shit.
Considering all the ridiculous crap that Rich went through since before he ever coached an actual game I would say he is well within the limits of reason and pretty classy. The way DB fired RR was flat out wrong anyway you wanna paint it.
February 4th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
No one is saying that the violations were the worst thing ever or that "the Freep was right". The allegations of the Freep differ from the violations we were eventually hit with. Minimal even though termed "major"? Yes. But that doesn't mean they didn't exist or that peering into reality means embracing the paper's reporting.
In any event, you skimmed over the point. You said that DB did "the right thing" and "nothing special" in "sticking up for his employee" when he publicly accepted responsibility for the sanctions. Ok. Fair point. You feel that a leader should step up on behalf of his employee. What about a coach and his players? Should a coach publicly insult his talent ("even Lombardi couldn't win with these guys")? Should a coach complain about the coach who came before him? Should a former emplopyee publicly insult his old employer (as he looks for work in the same indsutry)? No. What RR is doing is unprofessional, childish and in poor taste.
But if you want to dig back into the sanctions...and talk about how DB could have done RR wrong...He had every right to fire him the second the sanctions came down. RR would not have received a penny otherwise due on his contract. So, enough of the woe is the millionaire talk. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way he was fired.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
he could have said something a lot worse, I don't think his comments were that inflammatory, however, he would have been better served to keep hush hush about it. Bottom line is, he didn't do a great job here and that is the reason everyone wanted him dismissed.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
Rich has to be looking at this and be saying to himself "Jesus Hoke is going to look like a genius with my players compared to how I looked with the last of the Lloyd era" and that has GOT to lead to bitterness.
Any AD looking at hiring Rich Rodriguez next year needs to know that they need to be willing to pay a top-notch DC. From there, god damn it, success will probably follow.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
is everyone SO certain that RR would have suceeded with a good DC? I mean, he was seemingly the one who forced GERG into the 3-3-5 platoon.
On the other side of the ball, he didn't do great either. In all of our games against stout competition, the offense faultered, hard. And I'm sorry, the inexperience excuse on that side doesn't work (don't bring up Denard being a first year starter because he was simply the best one of the offensive side of the ball and you're disproving your point). We had a stable of experienced backs, very experienced WRs and an experienced OL.
February 4th, 2011 at 3:00 PM ^
Not to mention that he had a good DC in 2008 (Shafer) and promptly handcuffed him. If RR is going to succeed again as a head coach, he's going to have seriously reexamine the way he handles defense. Based on his comments in the OP, I'm not sure he fully understands what he did wrong there.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
Not much of a jab, especially compared to the way he was treated here. Hopefully this will be the end of any back and forth.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
One of my biggest problems with RR, and this definitely hurt him from a PR standpoint, was that he never really took responsibility for the bad things that happened. Even if something isn't your fault, as the head coach of a major program, you kind of have to take the fall. One example I remember was a little thing but it always bothered me. When Zoltan went for it on 4th and 1 at MSU 2 years ago, RR said "Zoltan made the incorrect read". Well, as the HC, you gave him the option to make that read! If you told him to punt, he would've punted.
I know, that's a small, insignificant example, but its worth mentioning. And this interview shows that RR still has a problem taking responsibility for what happened.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
A guilty conscience needs no accuser. The RR-Hoke interview is the perfect example. The look on RR's face when Hoke said "no excuses" tells the tale. Hoke wasn't insulting RR (or even referring to him), but RR sure took it that way. Of course, not even Vince Lombardi could have won with our team...
February 4th, 2011 at 1:54 PM ^
The quote you're referring to was about the defense and that even Lombardi needs some guys with experience/talent. And, frankly, I don't think Lombardi could've made much out of our defense last year, or Buddy Ryan, or anyone. We were just too young in the secondary. Although. . . Gerg lining up the LB's up the ass of the DT's in the stack was, and will always be, asinine. So that might've helped.
February 4th, 2011 at 3:07 PM ^
If you're a player on the Michigan defense, do you want to hear your coach say, in effect, that you're so bad that you're beyond coaching help? I think it's incumbent on the coach to put a positive spin on things. You've got to keep your players' confidence up.
February 4th, 2011 at 5:13 PM ^
Ah yes...that D was assembled by RR. RR chose to focus on offense in his recruiting. RR was the coach when ~30% of defensive commits departed (for varied reasons). We were "too young" for a reason. In any event, I'll give you another good RR quote that a losing Michigan coach should never utter, "At least we're fun to watch".
February 4th, 2011 at 12:29 PM ^
i think RR was pretty tame and classy in his interview. perhaps there was a slight jab at DB, but nothing to get upset over. he praises his old team. good for him.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
Praises old team. Complains that he wasn't given a chance to win (oops, missed all those chances on the field). Complains about the talent situation he walked into. Hints that future success at Michigan will be, in part, because of him. Insults the AD who fought vigorously against the NCAA violation allegation. Total class act.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^
In his defense, if we do have immediate success, it will in large part to him, at least on offense. I mean, was English really the reason our defense was great in 06? Or was it the people before he got there assembling the team and letting them age?
February 4th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
Tough call on that one. RR seems to want excuses for things that go poorly and credit for things are work well...even after he is gone from A2, he still wants excuses and credit. Maybe that's worse than just levying excuses?
With regard to RR's offense, it was not able to perform against winning BigTen competition. He did leave some talented players (and Hoke did well to retain them), but the measure of success (to me) will be competing against and beating the top in-conference teams. That will have nothing to do with the guy who was unable to do it.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
Tired of all the bickering between camps since Bo passed away. Its annoying and an embarrassment. Hurts more seeing the retards in E. Lansing and the School Down South winning + ESecPN hyping up the convict schools in the south.
Just want to win going forward.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
February 4th, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^
I know fans of a couple of the name national power teams that said we were patient giving him the third year. Coaching at a school like Michigan brings with it way higher expectations and more condensed time frames for results.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
... I think we now know why MSC and, over time, DB, lost confidence in RichRod.
It's all about him, yet it's never his fault.
And then there's this from RichRod:
>>"What I am going to do to make sure the next job I get, we win the national championship and everybody is pulling in the right direction."<<
The more I see from him post-firing, I think the ACC and Big East may even be a reach.
That said, I do think RichRod could win a NC in the FCS. I hear that Youngstown State may be looking for a HC next year.
February 4th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
I'm pretty sure he's going to land a job at a BCS school. One in the south would be a great fit. And he will probably be successful.
February 4th, 2011 at 1:14 PM ^
I dunno about a BCS job. A lot of ADs are going to look at tanking the all-time winningest program, NCAA violations, bad press, and PR gaffes and think, "uh, no thanks." If he walks into a situation, like, say Washington State, he'll have to figure out the defense issue once again, but since that particular school has such low expectations, I guess it's a possibility. I think he'll need to go somewhere where the expectations are close to zero, like Tulane.
February 4th, 2011 at 1:20 PM ^
"People might say, 'You don't understand our culture.' What's to understand?" Rodriguez said. "We all want the same goals, to have the best program in America. I don't know what needs to be understood."
February 4th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
OK...it's my first post. Be gentle...
I like RR and was a supporter of his return for a 4th year...right up until the bowl game blow out. I felt like, after that, it was in the best interest of the university AND RR to part company. I just couldn't see how, with the lack of support and the pressure that he would have had to labor under, things were going to get substantially better anytime soon. As much as he might say he wanted to return and "finish the job", I can't believe that he isn't relieved to be out from under all that.
I also think that he just made a major blunder taking a shot at Dave Brandon like that. Whatever one might think of the timing of all of this, I felt like DB was fair and reserved in his public comments about RR. Calling out your boss as inexperienced for firing you when pretty much everyone expected you'd be gone after that disaster of a bowl game doesn't make you look any better. I understand that he feels like he didn't get the time to do what was needed, and to some extent I agree with it. I just don't see how you do yourself any good by looking whiny about it...especially when (as some have pointed out) you haven't exactly owned up to your own failings (in spite of the other things that have gone wrong).
I like RR and I wish him luck. I'll be rooting for him wherever he pops up next. But it was best for us AND HIM to get on with our respective lives. He simply was not going to be a success at Michigan...not in the current environment.
February 4th, 2011 at 1:15 PM ^
what the fuss is about. I saw the interview, read the article, and I don't think he said anything inflammatory. I thought the interview with Hoke was professional and classy on both sides. If he feels short changed about 3 years and out, thats his opinion and he is entitled to it. You guys who are so concerned about him not getting a job because he is coming off the wrong way.....you are nuts. If an AD in the SEC thought RR gave them the best chance to win, they will hire him the same day he goes on national TV and flings his own poo at the camera. These are the same people that have no problem throwing scholarship players off their teams for mythical injuries and you think sour grapes will prevent them from hiring a coach, laughable.
Bottom line is RR is gone, there are many, including myself, who think he should have gotten a 4th year and there are many who would have been happier if he were fired after year 2. Lets move on, this revisionist history is getting out of control. The man was the greatest thing since sliced bread 3 years ago, now he FCS quality at best? What does that say about UM?
Move on.
Go Blue
February 4th, 2011 at 3:11 PM ^
All it says about UM is that the guy we hired wasn't right for the program. It doesn't say that we're a bad program. It's pretty hard to believe that when we're not only #1 all-time in wins and winning percentage, but also attractive enough for a successful NFL DC (Mattison) to take the same position here.
February 4th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
Classy Rich..
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February 4th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
Okay Rich, I will believe it when I see it, but it's not gonna happen. Big mouth.
February 4th, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
would you totally kick his ass?
February 4th, 2011 at 1:32 PM ^
The problem with Rich is that he is, though a nice a guy overall, kind of weasely. Self-pity. Deflecting blame. Most great coaches take full responsibility for everything. He didn't. And the media didn't lose all those games. He did. If he'd been more accountable, people would have given him more rope.
February 4th, 2011 at 1:57 PM ^
We've played this song too many times. RR is no longer the head coach at Michigan. It was great for a while. The separation from WVU. The exodus of Lloyd's loyalists. The arrival of Barwis. Then . . . well, no point going over everything that went wrong.
Let me just say that I loved the thrill of how we started in 2009 and 2010 with our shiny new quarterbacks, beating Notre Dame twice. But I hated the beatdowns we took when conference play started and the sinking feeling that our football team divided the season between Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. You kept saying we'd get better. But we didn't.
OK? And now that's over. No hard feelings, best of luck, let's stay friends.
Goodbye RR. I'm moving on.
February 4th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^
about making sure "everyone is pulling in the same direction".
I don't think that's ever possible. A great deal is beyond your control.
A lot of people were underwhelmed by Jim Tressel's hire and Bo Schembechler's hire.
The difference must have been how they zoned out all of the noise and negativism and just did their jobs and made sure there was a quality product on the field. They didn't make excuses and they had immediate successes their first years.
I think Rich Rod encountered a lot of bad fortune at Michigan, some of it man-made. Some of it was beyond his control. He did the best he could, but it wasn't enough.
I'm sure Rich Rod will land a new HC job somewhere, but his notion that he can have control of the hearts in minds before he even starts is ridiculous. They didn't like him at WVU that first 3-8 season either. The only thing that matters for HC's is winning games. A lot. You have to be a competent coach, but you also need good fortune (good staff, talented players, position depth, easy schedule). At Michigan none of those things were on the menu really for RR.
February 4th, 2011 at 6:02 PM ^
But, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone say: "We just didn't win enough at Michigan."
It's easy to expect someone else to say that when you are on the side of the boss, but when you are in that place where the school didn't see things the same way you did, not many people step up and say, "I was fired because I didn't do my job."
It's just human nature. Mostly because I'm sure in Rich's mind he did his job the absolute best way he could. One of the public criteria put out there by his boss was program improvement and there was win/loss improvement every year. So it's just natural to feel like, I could see it why couldn't my boss?
February 4th, 2011 at 2:19 PM ^
Even ignoring all the off-field crap, the supposed insensitivity to Michigan's traditions, the WV accent, and all the junk that doesn't involve wins and losses, Rodriguez's downfall was his inability to put together a decent defensive team. He hired the wrong coaches, couldn't recruit the right players, and never understood how to defend Big Ten teams. It didn't matter how good the offense was - which was starting to become good this past season. I say starting to, as despite the gross numbers, was ineffective for long periods of key games. Did the defensive recruiting clearly slip in the last few Lloyd Carr years? Yes. But he had 3 years to recruit his own players while melding together at least a decent defense. In fact the defense was getting worse statistically over the 3 years not better. The 2010 historically terrible Michigan defense is what sealed his fate. Not some ill-thought out, random decision by David Brandon.
February 4th, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^
what factored into the decision to wait until January to make the CC, and what, if anything, the motivation was. The losing, the money saved after January 1, the possible friction, all had to play a role.
It's clear that the parties involved don't agree on exactly what transpired.
It's tough losing a job you really wanted to keep, for whatever reason. And I'm sure it's equally tough not speaking your mind about it.
Professionalism means you shouldn't say anything, but I'll give the guy a pass for a short time. Maybe he shouldn't feel hurt, but he is a pretty emotional guy, as we've seen. So he is being who he always has been, and for better or worse, after a while pain will go away.
February 4th, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^
Wahhh on not letting this guy land on his feet. That's ridiculous. He landed on a mattress full of money, and he will get a pick of jobs in the near future.
He had three years here, and while the roster was decimated, I think it's hard to see that there was tremendous growth. The offense was outstanding against shitty competition and sputtered against quality defense.
Injuries, QB, warring factions, blah, blah, blah. But Michigan is a top-10 recruiting school historically, and we should have been able to add enough key guys in the previous two classes that should have made significant contributions. Instead, we had an offense that relied on our QB to be superhuman. He was, and we barely won.
Yes, RR had bad luck. But I was tired hearing him complain. It sound like he was making excuse, without ever taking blame for things he had control of.
Whatever the opinion on Hoke, The Decision and RR, it seems that the program has a feel of stability that it hasn't had in three years.
February 4th, 2011 at 2:43 PM ^
I am OK with the short media tour, if it is indeed short, but he needs to talk to a PR guy (or woman) to get some coaching on responses. Just say UM was unhappy with the slow progress, easy enough to understand. Also, if the Gator bowl had a reversed score of UM 52 and Miss State 14, he would have something to be mad about and DB would have some 'splaining to do, but that clearly is not the case. If anything DB played it right. If he had fired RR before the bowl, RR would be complaining about his premature discharge and that he would have won the gator bowl if he was allowed to stay. Now, after the bowl, nothing really to hide from, except maybe the embarrassing ass whipping.
February 4th, 2011 at 3:01 PM ^
Under RR this team was NO WHERE near NC Title aspirations. I'm tired of people blaming the Free Press for the reason why the allegations arose. For starters before I get negged I think the Freep is a trash news paper, secondly it's a reporters duty to report news, which in this case they did. You think had Foster or Angelique from the Detroit News gotten the scoop before Rosenberg they wouldn't have ran with it? No, its their job. Do I think Rosenberg had a hidden agenda? Yes I do, we are all well aware. RR can only blame himself for getting fired. DB knows how to run a business, and UM Football is big business. Yeah, the offense was good...against lower calibre teams. When it met the big boys, it couldn't score. Had he returned this season it would have been more of the same, no better.
February 4th, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^
RR always had someone else to blame. From day one, RR came in here with full guns a blazing and said it was his way and only his way. If the transition was put into place over time, maybe the program would have succeeded. There are many boosters who were holding back their money till a change was made. It's the old saying, money talks b****s*** walks.
February 4th, 2011 at 3:29 PM ^
RR you're making it real hard to keep respecting you.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6080878 In that he says "Would it have been better for the staff to know a month ahead? No question about it. When jobs come open in the college level they come open in December."
You didn't think it was even a possibility that you may be shown the door after getting pissed on by tsio when it was supposed to be a competitive game? Then besides the 1st quarter your team didn't even show up? And a defense that doesn't even know the basic tackling fundamentals even after 12 weeks? Ohh hot potato keep passin it!
Boy am I glad that mess is over.
February 4th, 2011 at 4:55 PM ^
If almost anyone here had been treated like RR was by Brandon, he or she would be saying a lot worse about him than RR is right now. And he or she would be saying a lot worse about the Carr-tel, too, if he or she were in RR's position.
RR has to address these questions, or he comes off as an idiot. He has addressed them in as forthright and non-inflammatory a way as possible without coming out and saying that Brandon is a POS. RR should be commended, not vilified.
Also, there is a huge difference between being a lifer football coach, as RR is, and having played DB for four years and left football to go into business for even longer than RR has coached, as DB did. RR is right; DB is a businessman who used to play football. RR has lived football for over thirty years. RR is a better judge of football than DB is.
When DB pioneers a scheme on either side of the ball and revolutionizes the sport as RR did, then I will believe that he knows as much about the game as RR does. Until then, RR is right to say what he said.
The best thing one can hope for now is that DB puffs out his chest, brags about how he "straightened out the football program at Michigan," and leaves to pursue his true passion, politics. Most of all, David Brandon can't be allowed to meddle in Hoke's business as he did in RR's, or it will be another long decade in Ann Arbor.