Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

[Gatorubet]

OK, y'all won't like this, but I think that DW is not a bad coach. In fact, I think he is a very good coach. Tulane had a 12-0 season because of Rodriguez, and the joke that is Bowden's boy rode the richrod offense to the Clemson job. Turning the Mountaineers into the success they have become was a good job. So I do not dismiss him the way y'all do. I question his character, but then, many of the most successful college coaches have been character-lite. The one thing that they do have in common is winning. If he wins, the rest will take care of itself. Say what you want, if Tress should lose four or five in a row to dickrod starting in a few years, Tress could be kicked to the curb, no matter what you say now.

Winning is a cure for many ills. Losing is a condition that creates amnesia regarding past victories, and it tends to diminish the value of honor and truthfulness in a football coach. Every program says that this cannot be true. As I'm in my 50s, I've seen it myself now enough times to know that the bottom line trumps all, and the bottom line is winning. Bobby Bowden was hung in effigy by his own program's fans at a coaching stop before FSU. Same coach....but he lost.

Anyway, I'd worry less about the guy's character and more about the quality of his staff and recruiting efforts over time.

 

[LightningRod]

A clue that this deposition was going to be a riot is found on page 6. Right out of the box Robon has me scratching my head. I am going to start referring to Robon as Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy who searches for truth and justice.

7 BY MR. ROBON:

8 Q Mr. Pastilong, you know who I am, correct;

9 why I am here?

10 A I assume I do.

11 Q Okay. I am here for a search for the

12 truth, protect Richard Rodriguez; you have been told

13 that?

14 A You are here for the truth.

15 Q Yes.

16 A And that's fine with me.

17 Q Okay.

BTW, as a lawyer conducting a deposition, I am not necessarily interested in finding the truth. I want to nail down the opponent's story so I know what I must do to prepare for trial. Pastilong didn't allow Robon to corner him on anything significant.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

OK, y'all won't like this, but I think that DW is not a bad coach. In fact, I think he is a very good coach. Tulane had a 12-0 season because of Rodriguez, and the joke that is Bowden's boy rode the richrod offense to the Clemson job. Turning the Mountaineers into the success they have become was a good job. So I do not dismiss him the way y'all do. I question his character, but then, many of the most successful college coaches have been character-lite. The one thing that they do have in common is winning. If he wins, the rest will take care of itself. Say what you want, if Tress should lose four or five in a row to dickrod starting in a few years, Tress could be kicked to the curb, no matter what you say now.

Winning is a cure for many ills. Losing is a condition that creates amnesia regarding past victories, and it tends to diminish the value of honor and truthfulness in a football coach. Every program says that this cannot be true. As I'm in my 50s, I've seen it myself now enough times to know that the bottom line trumps all, and the bottom line is winning. Bobby Bowden was hung in effigy by his own program's fans at a coaching stop before FSU. Same coach....but he lost.

Anyway, I'd worry less about the guy's character and more about the quality of his staff and recruiting efforts over time.

What you say is true. Jackie Sherril somehow managed to stay employed... you know.. Anyway, for me, I just think it's funny how it was only a year or so ago Michigan and Ohio State fans tended to agree that RRs offense at WVU was "gimmicky" and wouldn't work in the Big Ten week in and week out. It wasn't long ago that OSU and SCum fans agreed that dominating the Big Least was hardly something to feature on one's resume. Etc.

 

[NFBuck]

OK, y'all won't like this, but I think that DW is not a bad coach. In fact, I think he is a very good coach. Tulane had a 12-0 season because of Rodriguez, and the joke that is Bowden's boy rode the richrod offense to the Clemson job. Turning the Mountaineers into the success they have become was a good job. So I do not dismiss him the way y'all do. I question his character, but then, many of the most successful college coaches have been character-lite. The one thing that they do have in common is winning. If he wins, the rest will take care of itself. Say what you want, if Tress should lose four or five in a row to dickrod starting in a few years, Tress could be kicked to the curb, no matter what you say now.

His record as a head coach is built upon the last three years where he happened upon the wondertwins White and Slayton. He didn't recruit Pat White, and White only became the starter after an injury. Can he stumble upon a dynamic duo at scUM? Time will tell. I think he has the RB in McHoppy, but Pat White is a transcendant athlete. The current incarnation of his offense lives and breathes on that type of player. Look what happened to WVU when Pat White went down.

You can't totally dismiss what DickRod did at WVU, I absolutely agree. But you also can't ignore that his best success came after arguably the 3 best teams in that conference bolted for the ACC, and even then with White and Slayton in place, he couldn't roll through a very weak Big East to get to a BCSCG.

Winning is a cure for many ills. Losing is a condition that creates amnesia regarding past victories, and it tends to diminish the value of honor and truthfulness in a football coach. Every program says that this cannot be true. As I'm in my 50s, I've seen it myself now enough times to know that the bottom line trumps all, and the bottom line is winning. Bobby Bowden was hung in effigy by his own program's fans at a coaching stop before FSU. Same coach....but he lost.

Very true, but that knife cuts both ways.

Anyway, I'd worry less about the guy's character and more about the quality of his staff and recruiting efforts over time.

I disagree. If this guy continues forward with actions that make you question his character and doesn't win BIG TIME, his leash at scUM will begin to tighten. The Big Ten is a completely different ball of wax than the Conference USA or the Big East. The defenses are much more athletic than what he faced in the Big East and over time will learn to neutralize that offense. Look how much his teams struggled when they faced the best defense in his own conference the last two years...back to back losses. Even an average Pitt defense shut them down when White was hurt in probably the biggest game of his career. I just don't buy into all the crap people like to write about his "genius".

 

[Gatorubet]

What you say is true. Jackie Sherril somehow managed to stay employed... you know.. Anyway, for me, I just think it's funny how it was only a year or so ago Michigan and Ohio State fans tended to agree that RRs offense at WVU was "gimmicky" and wouldn't work in the Big Ten week in and week out. It wasn't long ago that OSU and SCum fans agreed that dominating the Big Least was hardly something to feature on one's resume. Etc.

True. The skunkbears have made a 180 on those issues. But I also read a lot of posts in 2005 and 2006 about Urban's gimmicky offense and how it would not work in the SEC. I read about his gimmicky offense on BP in '06. So you never know what will work if the right personnel are recruited. Strength and continuity of coaching staff and strength of recruiting will tell the tale. It is likely that richrod will be an epic fail of a choice. But I heard from the Domers how lucky they were that Urban passed on them so that they could get the genius that is Charlie Cheesburger. You never know. But it sure is going to be an interesting year in the Big 10.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

True. The skunkbears have made a 180 on those issues. But I also read a lot of posts in 2005 and 2006 about Urban's gimmicky offense and how it would not work in the SEC. I read about his gimmicky offense on BP in '06. So you never know what will work if the right personnel are recruited. Strength and continuity of coaching staff and strength of recruiting will tell the tale. It is likely that richrod will be an epic fail of a choice. But I heard from the Domers how lucky they were that Urban passed on them so that they could get the genius that is Charlie Cheesburger. You never know. But it sure is going to be an interesting year in the Big 10.

For sure. As memory serves, 2005 wasn't the greatest UF season (owing to the wrong player(s) running his O) and I'd expect as much with Mich. In that same regard, and maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't think I am, UF had a much more established D in 05 than Mich is anticipated to have in 07. I suppose similarly, both schools were "happy" to get rid of the guy before either Meyer or RR, so in that respect the leash is probably a little longer than it might otherwise be. Like you say, we'll see...

 

[3074326]

But it sure is going to be an interesting year in the Big 10.

I think it'll be more interesting a couple years down the road when Rodriguez gets his players with some experience.

I don't think he's going to be an epic failure. He's the coach at scUM - not really a program like WVU or Tulane. He's going to have more talent than he's had in previous years. I fucking hate him, but I think he'll win.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I think it'll be more interesting a couple years down the road when Rodriguez gets his players with some experience.

I don't think he's going to be an epic failure. He's the coach at scUM - not really a program like WVU or Tulane. He's going to have more talent than he's had in previous years. I fucking hate him, but I think he'll win.

I'd say the question is, who will he win against. I have little doubt he'll be able to beat the Iowa's and Northwestern's. Not sure he'll be able to beat the Wisky's and Ohio State's though. I'd include Penn State in the "not sure about" category since their D is usually still decent, I guess, but... eh... it's PSU....

So, I guess I can see RR going 9-3, 8-4, even 10-2, but I can't see him knocking on the door to the BCS Championship. AS you mention, UM isn't really like WVU or Tulane.... and while that's true, it's not like Michigan is in the BE or Sunbelt either.

 

[3074326]

I'd say the question is, who will he win against. I have little doubt he'll be able to beat the Iowa's and Northwestern's. Not sure he'll be able to beat the Wisky's and Ohio State's though. I'd include Penn State in the "not sure about" category since their D is usually still decent, I guess, but... eh... it's PSU....

So, I guess I can see RR going 9-3, 8-4, even 10-2, but I can't see him knocking on the door to the BCS Championship. AS you mention, UM isn't really like WVU or Tulane.... and while that's true, it's not like Michigan is in the BE or Sunbelt either.

I didn't specify because I don't know enough about Rodriguez's defense.. his offense alone will get him to bowl games, and the fact that it's Michigan will get him to even better bowl games, but his defense is going to be important if he wants to beat the top Big 10 program(s?) and challenge for the games that will keep him in Ann Arbor for a while.

The only WVU games I really watched while he was there were the ones he lost, ironically. Never really was a big fan of watching them.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Gator, I suppose another difference between Urban and Dick is I think UF was closer to having the athletes needed for his O than Michigan is to having the one's RR wants. I guess we'll see soon enough how big of an effect that has, if any.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

The only WVU games I really watched while he was there were the ones he lost, ironically. Never really was a big fan of watching them.

You'd better watch every OSU Mich game then.

 

[3074326]

You'd better watch every OSU Mich game then.

Well, I don't think I'll have a problem with that.

 

[Jaxbuck]

OK, y'all won't like this, but I think that DW is not a bad coach. In fact, I think he is a very good coach. Tulane had a 12-0 season because of Rodriguez, and the joke that is Bowden's boy rode the richrod offense to the Clemson job. Turning the Mountaineers into the success they have become was a good job. So I do not dismiss him the way y'all do. I question his character, but then, many of the most successful college coaches have been character-lite. The one thing that they do have in common is winning. If he wins, the rest will take care of itself. Say what you want, if Tress should lose four or five in a row to dickrod starting in a few years, Tress could be kicked to the curb, no matter what you say now.

Winning is a cure for many ills. Losing is a condition that creates amnesia regarding past victories, and it tends to diminish the value of honor and truthfulness in a football coach. Every program says that this cannot be true. As I'm in my 50s, I've seen it myself now enough times to know that the bottom line trumps all, and the bottom line is winning. Bobby Bowden was hung in effigy by his own program's fans at a coaching stop before FSU. Same coach....but he lost.

Anyway, I'd worry less about the guy's character and more about the quality of his staff and recruiting efforts over time.

Agree 100%, it will be the losing that gets him fired. The charachter issues and whatever off the field problems that arise from it will more and likely be the excuse. Make no mistake, if Cooper were 10-2-1 against scUM he'd still be the HC at OSU if he wanted to be.

I look at RR's last 3 years at WVU and how much better his team was than the rest of the BE, I see those monumental choke jobs against USF and Pitt, I see games like UC last year where he tried to give it away but the competition was to weak to take it. I talked about how scared he looked and how tight his teams played in big games before he had anything to do with scUM. This is why I am as confident he will be a failure as I was that CW would be.

CW had absolutely zero HC experience and I pointed out that Holtz and Ara both commented on how they needed every ounce of experience they had for the challenges the ND job presented. The cream margarita chugger only wanted to talk about Super Bowl rings at that point. He doesn't bring them up so much anymore.

What makes RR different from Urban is the big game performance. Being from a fanbase that had to endure the king of big game choke jobs, we KNOW that look when we see it. I saw it many times last year from RR while at WVU before I or anyone else thought he'd have anything to do with scUM.

They just hired their John Cooper and just like us in 1988 they won't be able to fire him as quickly as they will want to. I'm going to enjoy the shit out of it.

 

[Gatorubet]

Gator, I suppose another difference between Urban and Dick is I think UF was closer to having the athletes needed for his O than Michigan is to having the one's RR wants. I guess we'll see soon enough how big of an effect that has, if any.

Yeah. I'm not trying to say that he'll have anywhere near the short term success that Urban had. But if the Michigan D stays anywhere near their current state, and he is given three to four years to recruit despite some 7-5/8-4 type first years, it could get interesting.

Actually, having the Zooker and now Rich Rod bringing some diversity to the conference's offensive palette will be a good thing in and of itself.

 

[HailToMichigan]

but don't forget, your state really wanted the "Toledo strip" and we battled over it and our state cried about it in Congress, and hence we kept our hillbilly brothers from Toledo.

FIFY

But I do not argue that you hung on to your "hillbilly brothers from Toledo."

His record as a head coach is built upon the last three years where he happened upon the wondertwins White and Slayton. He didn't recruit Pat White,

How do you figure he didn't recruit Pat White? The only players you happen upon are the ones who were there when you got there.

Anyway, for me, I just think it's funny how it was only a year or so ago Michigan and Ohio State fans tended to agree that RRs offense at WVU was "gimmicky" and wouldn't work in the Big Ten week in and week out.

[spin]That was assuming he was at a program other than Michigan - now he doesn't have to contend with Michigan's defense, you see.[/spin]