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Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

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DFP

MEET THE MAN: U-M's new coach echoes Bo, built WVU using familiar mantra

December 17, 2007
BY MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
After Rich Rodriguez's first season as West Virginia's football coach and a 3-8 record, he knew he needed to find more talent. And quickly.
But he had to a sell a dream that his recruits couldn't see.

So he offered a promise for the Class of 2002: "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.""When we were getting recruited, it was the promise," former West Virginia tailback Jason Colson said Sunday. "We didn't know what was going to come, but we believed in Coach Rodriguez. He told us, 'Those who stay will be champions.' "
Six years later, those words have never sounded more familiar. At 9 this morning, Rodriguez will be introduced as Michigan's 17th football coach, but the first without ties to the program since after the 1968 season. That was when U-M hired the originator of the champions phrase, Bo Schembechler, who at the time was an obscure coach at Miami of Ohio.
Like Schembechler, who built the modern U-M program around that mantra and made the job possibly the most prestigious in the state, Rodriguez sold a dream at West Virginia and followed through. He won four Big East titles and at least 10 games the past three seasons. He built one of college football's most impressive programs and steamrolled opponents with his innovative and dynamic spread offense that featured slashing quarterbacks operating in the shotgun and four- and five-receiver sets.

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DFP

GETTING RICH: U-M cashes in with Rodriguez; new offense could affect Mallett, Manningham

December 17, 2007
BY MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER


Michigan has a new football coach: West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez.
After nearly a month of searching drama, the Wolverines ended up with one of the country's most innovative and successful coaches.

He told the 11th-ranked Mountaineers of his decision during a team meeting at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. In Morgantown, W.Va., his players, according to multiple reports, appeared distraught. After practice, cornerback Vaughn Rivers told the Associated Press: "It's a rough day. ... Coach Rod was a man about it." He also said Rodriguez was emotional to the point of tears.
In Ann Arbor, athletic director Bill Martin finally could release this statement: "I am thrilled to have Rich Rodriguez as Michigan's new coach. Rich brings an exciting brand of football to Michigan Stadium. We welcome the entire Rodriguez family to Ann Arbor."

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U-M RECRUITS: Demens, other verbal commitments like Rodriguez hire

December 17, 2007
BY CHRIS LAU
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Kenny Demens committed to Michigan in September. But after coach Lloyd Carr decided to retire, the Birmingham Detroit Country Day senior looked at other options.
"I was planning on taking an official visit to West Virginia in January," Demens, ranked by rivals.com as the nation's 19th-best outside linebacker, said Sunday.

After Carr retired, Demens talked with West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez and was going to visit the Mountaineers. Now Rodriguez is Michigan's coach. And Demens said he'll likely abort his West Virginia visit.
Demens said he reaffirmed his commitment to Michigan because he liked the new hire. (He also said his recommitment wouldn't have been as certain had Louisiana State coach Les Miles been the new hire).



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DFP

DOUG KARSCH: Rodriguez has a lot to prove: Can he win in Big Ten? Can he do it U-M way?

December 17, 2007
WXYT (97.1 FM The Ticket) host Doug Karsch analyzes the U-M coaching search.
Is Rich Rodriguez the right coach for Michigan?


I don?t know. I mean he?s got to prove it. He?s got to prove he can win at Michigan, in a tougher conference than he did at West Virginia (Big East). He?s got to prove that he can do it within the rules. Which is something that I think is a bigger factor than the average fan thinks about. I want to see what his staff looks like. He?s got to put together a staff. He?s got to prove that they are going to be able to recruit and recruit the Midwest. So I think he?s got some of the qualities. I don?t think there was just one candidate for this job. There were probably 10-15 people that could have done a good job at Michigan and he was among them.

Was he among the best available coaches?

He?s got a proven track record, that?s for sure. He?s shown that he can win at this level. He?s just got to make sure that he does things the Michigan way. Can he win in the Big Ten? Can he do it the Michigan way? And can he piece together a staff?


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DFP

U-M got the new guy -- in the new fashion

December 17, 2007
BY MITCH ALBOM
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Today, for the first time in nearly 40 years, a football coach will be introduced at the University of Michigan who is not homegrown, who has not already bled his maize and blue. Instead, the man taking over will carry the scent of another school and the recent sweat of another team's practice, a university that was his alma mater, an institution he once gave the impression he would not be leaving.
Rich Rodriguez might prove to be a wonderful, winning leader for Michigan -- and we hope he does. But that is the unknown future. Here is the well-known present: Rodriguez left a program with five years left on a new contract. He left a group of upset players preparing for a major bowl who, a few weeks back, was one victory from playing for the national title.



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ESPN REACTION: Reporter Joe Schad talks about Michigan's latest hire

December 17, 2007
FREE PRESS STAFF REPORTS
ESPN College football reporter Joe Schad reacts to the Rich Rodriguez hire:
How surprised are you at this?

Slightly surprised, only because Rodriguez is a West Virginia alum who obviously came as close to taking the Alabama job (last year) as you could expect to come.
So obviously (West Virginia) is his school. He wanted to finish his career in West Virginia -- he had spoken about that very often. Obviously this is an offer he felt he could not refuse.

We don?t know how much money he?s going to get. But obviously, he?s going to get a nice pay raise over the $1.9-million salary that he was slated to get at West Virginia.

Is there bitterness between Rodriguez and the WVU AD over how this was handled?

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Amazing how one game can change the directions of scUM, WV, and LSU.

If Dick Rod beats Pitt, he's playing in the National Title game and most likely wouldn't want to leave his team to take the scUM job.

If WV wins, LSU isn't preparing for a National Title game so it would have been much easier for Miles to leave.

If WV had won, Les Miles would be the coach at scUM right now.
 
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I like this hire. I think it brings a new wrinkle to TSUN and the Big Ten. That's good for recruiting and the standard of competition.

I watched this guy closely in two games. I think he has a lot of trouble handling his emotions in big games. There is no game bigger than The Game. In both losses, he appeared to be unable to focus on his business late in the games when he needed to score. In the South Florida game, as I noted at the time, he was so emotionally distraught that he was crying on the sideline.

I suppose that I need not point out that, while our guy on the other sideline for The Game is not divinely without fault, he is very cool under the most intense pressure.

I like this hire.
 
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One more point. It will not be lost on TSUN supporters that Bo made his mark by bringing a two-loss team into the Game and unseating the undefeated reigning national champions.

Next year, we need to forget what record TSUN brings into The Game. They will be living to repeat that and claim the rebirth of Bo.

It's gonna be a lot of fun to watch them try.
 
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I like this hire as well. I don't know what his record against rivals is, but it always seemed like he had difficulty living up to expectations--especially against rivals. I'm guessing he'll do great every season, he just won't close it out against us. Either way, we're going to be spending a lot more time focusing on defending the spread.
 
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Rest easy Bo the new man has arrived. One thing for sure with double-r at Michigan the anty has been raised and the stakes will be higher. Tressel will have his hands full learning to defend against the spread from one rival coach in Zook but now also in Rodriguez. Anyway the positive side is that the BIG 10 could be prove to be a stronger conderence with this change of events taking shape for the future.
 
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No surprise, but I am far from sold on this hire.

I look at coaches at major institutions as having three hats.

Hat 1 - The Coach
First hat is where Rodriguez has the highest reputation - innovative and a winner. Runs a very tough practice / program. Though there are still question marks about his ability to win in close games.
Hat 2 - The Recruiter
Second hat has well documented question marks against it. The litany of colorful to criminal that have played for him at WVU is long enough to cause concern, not just for TSUN faithful but for the Conference as a whole. Preemptive poaching of your soon to be erstwhile institution's number 1 target for 2008 doesn't look good either.
Hat 3 - The Man
Third hat - well if last year wasn't bad enough the current hiring process and story should provide some cause for concern. If Rodriguez got the offer he couldn't refuse from TSUN, what next? A tasty morsel of Pro Football perhaps a few years down the line?
Performing a poach job on the number one target for WVU's 2008 class before any other business is handled looks downright sleazy as well.
On the plus side he reportedly uses photos to make a wall of fame for any player on squad netting a 3.0 or better grade.
Good job kinesiology and General Studies are staple diets at TSUN. :)

I'll tip him one hat out of the three, the rest he has to prove.
 
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I think this is a great hire for us short term but very slightly may be a good (not great) hire for Michigan.

RR will not be a great hire immediately. To save a multiple post, just look in the Michigan Coaching thread if you care for my opinion.

One positive right off the bat for Michigan... Maybe they will finally stop a running quarterback/spread option team now.
 
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