Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

HTM - would you be defending RR's recruitment of Lazear if RR was still at WVU?

 

[NastyDogg72]

I agree that is Lazear had been available long enough someone would have taken him -

- in the same way that if you leave your keys in your car every day somebody will eventually drive off with it.

In both cases the act says something about the man who did it.

I genuinely want to be wrong about RR. I really don't want to read a Sampsonesque headline regarding UM in a year or two.

Remember this about Sampson. He only cheated because he felt he had to.

I think this does a great job of summing it up.

HTM, it is more than understandable that you defend RR with such vigor. After all you are in a definite minority here at BP, but your example is not exonerating RR for the recruitment of Lazeer. It is creating a hypothetical situation that would in all honesty, if it became reality, make cause to question the coach of Towson, or whoever would have taken him. Just because more than one coach recruits a questionable player doesn't necessarily make it right. After all Larry Coker could never escape the questions surrounding his recruitment of Willie Williams, a decision that was backed by the President of the University. But he was, after all, the number 2 recruit in the country and Coker wasn't the only coach to recruit him. Even after the incidents on the UF visit. The big question here is where do Universities draw the line? Is there a point at which credibility trumps winning?

As a fan of tOSU I follow TSUN almost as much as my Buckeyes, HTM I know the same to be true of you. You are here after all. Whether any of us would want to admit it, tOSU and TSUN are very much alike. And as I try to explain to my friends that are outside the Rivalry, we are the only ones who can understand the other. With that said, I don't see a player such as Lazeer ever getting through the gates of Stadium and Main. Even if RR tried.

Anything that damages a Big 10 school damages all of us. The Clarett saga, unfounded as it was, hurt the entire conference. The O'Brien firing hurt the entire conference. The weekly arrest of Penn State players, see the legal blotter thread, hurts. And now you can add the mess in Bloomington to the list. As a conference we don't need any more questions in the media, let's hope the lawsuit ends quickly and quietly and that we don't have to revisit questionable recruiting practices anytime in the near future.

 

[HailToMichigan]

HTM - would you be defending RR's recruitment of Lazear if RR was still at WVU?

Only if pressed for an opinion. Otherwise WVU is too far off my radar screen for a life-goes-on thing like Pat Lazear. WVU is not a school I root for, nor is it a rival school of one I root for, nor does it share a conference with a school I root for.

But I wouldn't be criticizing RR for recruiting him, either. I think a coach can control what his players do while they're at school, and I think the way to handle Lazear is to have a come-to-Jesus talk with him, put him on a tight leash, and chuck him if he misbehaves. If your program can afford to pull the scholarship offer, fine, you are essentially erring on the side of integrity, looking out for your program, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I don't think it's right for college football as a whole to shut its gates to Lazear either. Rehabbing bad character always requires a second chance, and I don't see anything that says Lazear is unreachable. I think if you offer Lazear, let him join the team, provide the right guidance, and he still pulls shenanigans, you can kick him right off again and still have maintained the integrity of your program. You can do this if you keep him on a tighter leash and boot him for offenses that might earn a suspension for another kid. You can't ever have a team full of angels, not with 85+ college kids running around. We'd all like to think Michigan and OSU are bastions of integrity, but there's always those that slip through and do stupid things (Robert Reynolds, Johnny Sears, etc.) Hell, look at Ryan Mallett. By many accounts he was a selfish malcontent, which was starting to show to the public around the middle of the season. Is it better to have a Ryan Mallett on your team, who acts like a little twit but has a perfectly clean record, or a Pat Lazear, who (I don't know this at all, but for the purposes of this paragraph I kind of have to assume it) has a history but might be showing a desire to stay clean and out of trouble?

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Fair enough, HTM.

 

[Sportsbuck28]

Fuck DickWad.

 

[ShakerBuck]

I know many I-AA programs that wouldn't have taken him (Youngstown State, App State, etc.).

{cough} irizary {cough}

 

[NFBuck]

But I wouldn't be criticizing RR for recruiting him, either. I think a coach can control what his players do while they're at school, and I think the way to handle Lazear is to have a come-to-Jesus talk with him, put him on a tight leash, and chuck him if he misbehaves.

Well, you are certainly in the minority of your UM brethren. The high and mighty, holier-than-thou attitude of much of your fanbase sickens me. You appear to be quite the opposite and I applaud you for that.:)

 

[buckiprof]

Only if pressed for an opinion. Otherwise WVU is too far off my radar screen for a life-goes-on thing like Pat Lazear. WVU is not a school I root for, nor is it a rival school of one I root for, nor does it share a conference with a school I root for.

But I wouldn't be criticizing RR for recruiting him, either. I think a coach can control what his players do while they're at school, and I think the way to handle Lazear is to have a come-to-Jesus talk with him, put him on a tight leash, and chuck him if he misbehaves. If your program can afford to pull the scholarship offer, fine, you are essentially erring on the side of integrity, looking out for your program, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I don't think it's right for college football as a whole to shut its gates to Lazear either. Rehabbing bad character always requires a second chance, and I don't see anything that says Lazear is unreachable. I think if you offer Lazear, let him join the team, provide the right guidance, and he still pulls shenanigans, you can kick him right off again and still have maintained the integrity of your program. You can do this if you keep him on a tighter leash and boot him for offenses that might earn a suspension for another kid. You can't ever have a team full of angels, not with 85+ college kids running around. We'd all like to think Michigan and OSU are bastions of integrity, but there's always those that slip through and do stupid things (Robert Reynolds, Johnny Sears, etc.) Hell, look at Ryan Mallett. By many accounts he was a selfish malcontent, which was starting to show to the public around the middle of the season. Is it better to have a Ryan Mallett on your team, who acts like a little twit but has a perfectly clean record, or a Pat Lazear, who (I don't know this at all, but for the purposes of this paragraph I kind of have to assume it) has a history but might be showing a desire to stay clean and out of trouble?

Giving someone a second chance, rehabbing bad character, that sounds nice and does actually work sometimes. However, the one giving the second chance, the one responsible for the rehabbing, better have some damn strong character and integrity if it is to have a chance of working.

Nothing I have seen or heard about Dick Wad indicates he is a bastion of integrity, high morals, or strong character. There are way, way too many stories that paints a picture of a man that I would not want recruiting my son.

One measure of a person's integrity, his character, his moral fiber if you will, is what would he do if no one is watching? Would he do the "right" thing if no one is watching? Look at what Dick Wad has shown you about his character and then posit what does he do when no one is watching?

 

[osugrad21]

DFP

RICH RODRIGUEZ SPEAKS, PART I: On a Tressel-esque speech, the spread offense and Steven Threet

February 14, 2008
FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
U-M coach Rich Rodriguez appeared on WDFN-AM (1130) Wednesday. Highlights of the chat:



Cont...

On giving a Jim Tressel-like halftime speech:

?No, I didn?t really plan on a speech. Obviously we have a few new coaches and I want them to be introduced, then I just want a chance for everybody to see the former players. I think it?s always neat when the former players have great pride in our institution and want to come back. I know that?s the case here. Yeah I?ve heard about (Tressel), and that?s usually not something I?ll do very often.?

 

[osugrad21]

DFP

RICH RODRIGUEZ SPEAKS, PART 2: On U-M recruiting and Purdue coach's attacks against him

February 14, 2008
FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
U-M coach Rich Rodriguez appeared on WDFN-AM (1130) Wednesday. Here are some highlights of the chat:



Cont....

On Purdue coach Joe Tiller?s comments about Big Ten recruiting (Tiller called Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez ?a guy in a wizard hat selling snake oil? because high school receiver Roy Roundtree switched from his commitment to Purdue by signing with Michigan):

?Yeah, I heard that. I know Joe, I?ve known him for several years. He?s a great guy, a great coach, and has done tremendous things at Purdue. But I?m a little surprised, just from the standpoint that in our profession, you recruit all the way until the end. It happens to everybody every year. It happens to us, it?s happened to me every year. You know, guys make commitments and if a guy that?s recruiting him leaves or if he has a change of heart and they make a decision to go. I think if we had an early signing date in December, around the third week of December, it would eliminate some of these hard feelings but certainly as a coach, we had to work with several guys until the eve of signing day, even the guys that were committed to us because other schools were recruiting them, and that?s just part of it. I didn?t take it personal, we just had to keep working it and hope the guy signed with us. I know there were hard feelings, but maybe the young man didn?t communicate with him. Usually if you?re recruiting a young man, if he?s committed to you but yet he?s still visiting someone else, that?s usually a pretty good red flag that, ?Hey, you better stay on him.? If a guy is verbally committed to you yet he still visits other places and talks to other coaches, then that doesn?t mean he?s truly committed, that means he?s very interested. There?s a difference. If a guy is really committed to you, he doesn?t visit anywhere else or he doesn?t talk to any other coaches then that he tells you he?s pretty solid. When the young man visits our campus or something like that, that?s usually a pretty good sign to that recruiting coach or those coaches that, ?Hey, there?s an issue here, we?ve got to try and keep a hold of him.??

 

[osugrad21]

DFP

RICH RODRIGUEZ SPEAKS, PART 3: On West Virginia, his tear-filled interview, and if he made mistakes when he left

February 14, 2008
FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
U-M coach Rich Rodriguez appeared on WDFN-AM (1130) Wednesday. Here are some highlights of the chat:



Cont...

 

[Steve19]

Only if pressed for an opinion. Otherwise WVU is too far off my radar screen for a life-goes-on thing like Pat Lazear. WVU is not a school I root for, nor is it a rival school of one I root for, nor does it share a conference with a school I root for.

But I wouldn't be criticizing RR for recruiting him, either. I think a coach can control what his players do while they're at school, and I think the way to handle Lazear is to have a come-to-Jesus talk with him, put him on a tight leash, and chuck him if he misbehaves. If your program can afford to pull the scholarship offer, fine, you are essentially erring on the side of integrity, looking out for your program, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I don't think it's right for college football as a whole to shut its gates to Lazear either. Rehabbing bad character always requires a second chance, and I don't see anything that says Lazear is unreachable. I think if you offer Lazear, let him join the team, provide the right guidance, and he still pulls shenanigans, you can kick him right off again and still have maintained the integrity of your program. You can do this if you keep him on a tighter leash and boot him for offenses that might earn a suspension for another kid. You can't ever have a team full of angels, not with 85+ college kids running around. We'd all like to think Michigan and OSU are bastions of integrity, but there's always those that slip through and do stupid things (Robert Reynolds, Johnny Sears, etc.) Hell, look at Ryan Mallett. By many accounts he was a selfish malcontent, which was starting to show to the public around the middle of the season. Is it better to have a Ryan Mallett on your team, who acts like a little twit but has a perfectly clean record, or a Pat Lazear, who (I don't know this at all, but for the purposes of this paragraph I kind of have to assume it) has a history but might be showing a desire to stay clean and out of trouble?

HTM, when you start defending the recruiting of a felon convicted of participating in an armed robbery and who was forced to leave a high school because of his violent behavior, then begin to perform a character assassination on a player who may have done nothing more than perhaps show his frustration with playing time or something else--it's time to take a deep breath and consider the real motivations for what you are writing.

My opinion? That's bullcrap and if you think about it, I think you are the kind of person that will agree you're only writing it to defend this new coach.

 

[Steve19]

DFP

RICH RODRIGUEZ SPEAKS, PART 3: On West Virginia, his tear-filled interview, and if he made mistakes when he left

February 14, 2008
FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
U-M coach Rich Rodriguez appeared on WDFN-AM (1130) Wednesday. Here are some highlights of the chat:



Cont...

Geez, that Joe Tiller sure is swell. I guess we just have to forget that stuff about verbal commitments, we must all get in there and just keep crawling all over other team's recruits. It's good for America. And world peace. Gosh, I wish I had said less to ESPN and I could have done this differently, but, gee, did I mention world peace and free pizzas to everyone in America? Anyway, oh and these threats on my kids, one even suffered the indignity of being called a pee-pee pants by some Ohio kid, but, gee, did I mention world peace, God, apple pie, and doing the right thing even when it's hard, anyway, you can love me because I'm really just a really deep, emotional guy with very strong principles. When you're as ethical as I am, well, you just overlook guys like Joe Tiller, hey did I say how great he is, we're best of buddies and we went to different schools in different decades together, well, sort of, oh my poor kids, imagine, pee-pee pants, anyway...

 

[jimotis4heisman]

I agree that is Lazear had been available long enough someone would have taken him -

- in the same way that if you leave your keys in your car every day somebody will eventually drive off with it.

In both cases the act says something about the man who did it.

I genuinely want to be wrong about RR. I really don't want to read a Sampsonesque headline regarding UM in a year or two.

Remember this about Sampson. He only cheated because he felt he had to.

nearly a perfect post

 

[shetuck]

HTM, when you start defending the recruiting of a felon convicted of participating in an armed robbery and who was forced to leave a high school because of his violent behavior, then begin to perform a character assassination on a player who may have done nothing more than perhaps show his frustration with playing time or something else--it's time to take a deep breath and consider the real motivations for what you are writing.

My opinion? That's bullcrap and if you think about it, I think you are the kind of person that will agree you're only writing it to defend this new coach.

my opinion? RR's done gone 'n put a spell on HTM to talk dat vodoo jive...