Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

[BB73]

Stewart Mandel weighs in:

SI.com

In Sunday's Detroit Free Press, 10 current or former Michigan players accused Rich Rodriguez and his staff of working them far beyond the NCAA-allowable hours both in- and out-of-season. While some of the details were troubling (if staff members monitored offseason 7-on-7 workouts, as the players allege, that's a no-brainer NCAA violation, albeit a minor one, and 10-hour Sundays seem inordinately harsh), you'd have a hard time convincing me they're unique to Michigan. In a 2007 SI.com survey of 119 Division I-A starters, 46 percent estimated they spend at least 40 hours per week during the season on football-related activities (the NCAA allows 20 practice hours). Suffice to say, they aren't putting in those extra hours "voluntarily."

Nevertheless, Rodriguez has a huge problem on his hands. The fact that several current players felt compelled to complain to the paper tells me the Wolverines' chemistry issues of a year ago aren't yet resolved. Meanwhile, old-guard Michigan fans -- whose patience was already being tested by the rebuilding process -- will likely begin grumbling even louder. They may not have been pleased with Lloyd Carr's record against Jim Tressel, but they took pride in his integrity and the program's clean record. Suddenly Rodriguez is facing even more pressure to win big, and soon, or risk a full-scale mutiny.

 

[BB73]

Ray Ratto talks about how TSUN is now just like everyplace else.

[Bucknutty] Only if you ignore the smell. [/Nutty]

CBS

Michigan: From a program unlike the rest to just another place

The most compelling defense given to date to the charges that Rich Rodriguez has been operating a work farm at Michigan is that "Everyone else does it."

To the university's credit, it hasn't used that one yet. All it has said is it would investigate the claims laid out by players who told first the Detroit Free Press and then confirmed by other outlets that the football program was routinely violating NCAA rules by wildly exceeding the 20-hour-per-week limit for practice, film and weight work.

This would be after Rodriguez and compliance director Judy Van Horn declared the program clean, so we'll see where that leads.

But it's the argument that Michigan is doing what all the other collegiate scofflaws are doing that strikes us here, first of all because it's such a little boy's argument. "Hey, everyone does it?" That's the one you drop when you get caught toilet-papering someone's house.

Of course, it's a pretty good argument if the idea here is to position Michigan as just another place, which has never been Michigan's stance. Not under Lloyd Carr, certainly not under the area's iconic Bo Schembechler. The argument then was "Hey, nobody does it like Michigan," and Michigan fans seemed absolutely enraptured by that position.

But Rodriguez, who has always been the trapezoidal peg in the triangular hole at Michigan, has made himself a pretty impressive array of enemies since drain-piping his way out of West Virginia. A healthy number of players, it seems, don't go for his style of leadership, and instead of buying the argument that "everybody does it," have decided to fight back, apparently with a painful truth about the Rodriguez regime.

That he isn't, to steal the definitive Schembechlerian line, "a Michigan man." That he cuts corners with too much brazenness, that he isn't what many of them signed up for when they signed the letter of intent, that he is simply too much the blinkered football autocrat who believes the players are insufficiently hard.

Oh, and that he went 3-9. That hurts him, too.
...

Whether he survives or not depends on two factors -- one, the number of wins, and two, the amount of money Michigan feels his presence is worth as opposed to how much his absence is worth. That difficult equation is not athletic director Bill Martin's alone, but the university hierarchy as a whole, given that Rodriguez has been a very expensive acquisition.

And that, to Michigan's growing chagrin, is like everyone else.

Cont'd ...

 

[buck1973]

The press conference can be found here:

Multimedia Center

 

[Boilers Fan]

I thought it was funny during Rich Rod's interview he was talking about Barwis and how he'd do anything for his team, like he would "go to church with them on Sunday". And I sat back and thought, "wait, players can't go to church on Sunday because they are working out all day!" :)

 

[ysubuck]

Uh, no.

USC, Tim Floyd have no excuse for turning a blind eye - Columnist - ESPN

O.J. MAYO

​

Former USC basketball player O.J. Mayo received thousands of dollars in cash, clothes and other benefits in apparent violation of NCAA rules while he was still in high school and during his freshman year in college, a former Mayo associate told ESPN's "Outside the Lines." News

? Source: Mayo talks to U.S. Attorney
? Report: Floyd gave money to Mayo handler
? Johnson question by NCAA, USC, Pac-10
? Mayo hires agent who represents LeBron
? Attorney: Feds investigating funds in Mayo case
? Official probing credit card use
? Mayo arrives at pre-draft camp, pleads innocence
? Mayo cuts ties with agent
? Report: USC to say it didn't know of impropriety
? Wolves not turned off by allegations against Mayo
? Report: NBPA investigating agent dealings
? Report: Ex-Mayo associate to cooperate
? Report: Mayo's HS can keep titles
? NCAA to investigate Mayo with "new information"
? O.J. Mayo denies receiving money, gifts
Video

? Watch: Mayo pre-draft workout in Chicago
? Watch: USC campus reacts to Mayo allegations
? Watch: O.J. Mayo, others react to the OTL report
? Watch: "Outside the Lines" investigation Analysis

? Katz: What's next in the Mayo investigations?
? Chad Ford: How "bad" is Mayo?

? Stephen A. Smith: What's the big deal?
? Katz: Mayo projected into the lottery

? Bilas: What can be done to help?

? Keown: Mayo demonstrates NBA rule a disaster
? Katz: Academic issue with one-and-dones
? TrueHoop: NBA buzzing about Mayo
? Ford: Mayo's draft stock shouldn't change

? Gottlieb: Cheating rewards outweigh the risks

? Vitale: Mayo mess proves one-and-done is a joke
? Forde: USC should've known better about Mayo
? Naqi: Guillory tied to Mayo, agent Bill Duffy
Audio

? Myles Brand says he favors a two-year rule

? Dave Telep: Mayo isn't the only one

? Forde: USC has no excuse for not knowing

SportsNation

? Chat wrap with OTL reporter Kelly Naqi

? Chat wrap with Pat Forde

ALSO SEE

• Mayo denies claims he took gifts at USC
• Naqi: OTL probe follows money funneled to O.J. Mayo

Thomps,
USC can't control what gets covered and what doesn't. This all goes back to how Ohio State was treated for 3 years by the biggest sports outlet on the planet. My gripe is with the media (lots of basketball stories there but about 0 regarding the football program, by the way).

I'm a broken record on this, but Ohio State was ripped on pre game shows, post game shows, radio shows and the web site. Then during a bad season the Buckeyes get ripped by the guys covering their bowl game. Maybe it's because USC and the players have kept mum about everything. I don't know. Michigan is getting it right now. Even the basketball allegations at USC haven't gotten the lip service that Michigan is getting right now.

No way anyone will ever convince me that there isn't a huge double standard with regard to the coverage and the op-ed pieces ripping the program, coaches and ADs.

 

[unionfutura]

On their boards, most UM fans are saying it's just a hatchet job by Rosenberg and that he has never liked the Rodriguez hire. The article linked by osugrad21 (post 225) refutes their contention that Rosenberg never liked Rodriguez.

They had a bad falling out during last summer's preseason.

 

[buckeyes_rock]

The press conference can be found here:

Multimedia Center

I almost feel bad for the guy...NOPE!

 

[Bucklion]

[Harry Doyle/] "You know I used to hate DickRod when he was with West Virginia. It's amazing how a new uniform can change your attiutude about a guy"...(covers microphone)..."He's still a dick" [/Harry Doyle]

 

[cincibuck]

Maybe it's because USC and the players have kept mum about everything. I don't know. Michigan is getting it right now. Even the basketball allegations at USC haven't gotten the lip service that Michigan is getting right now.

No way anyone will ever convince me that there isn't a huge double standard with regard to the coverage and the op-ed pieces ripping the program, coaches and ADs.

Or maybe it's because without USC there's not much of a west coast product to sell to TV and without product there's no TV money. The NCAA needs a West Coast draw and USC provides it. The Pac 10 without USC? As Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, "There's no there, there."

 

[martinss01]

And going back to the comment that "there would always be a coach in attendance", I'm not so sure about that. I suspect there would be some coaching staffs who wanted to push the envelope, and some who preferred not to push the envelope for what would likely be minimal gain.

when im running voluntary 7 on 7 drills. you honestly think i wouldn't want the qb coach on hand? the wr coach? dbs...? if you have the choice would you honestly say you wouldn't want a coach available to give you tips and let you know when your doing something wrong?

as far as minimal gain is conscerned. if my opposition is taking sundays off and im not... thats a full day every week i gain on them. even if all im doing is having them lift and run in the morning, film study in the evening and team meetings at night... that still puts me a full day up on the opponent. thats a HUGE advantage. would there be concern for overworking the guys and not giving injured players enough rest to heal? absolutely. but coming off a 3-9 season...? i doubt that would be a significant concern.

I think he's that emotional because he knows his ass is in deep [censored].

yeah, same ol alligator tears you see everytime someone gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar. far too emotional, far too much delay in his statements and didn't actually address any of the allegations.

 

[Steve19]

BB73, I read this in the following way:

1. I am now officially throwing Barwis under the bus. If the NCAA investigates this, I will claim ignorance and throw Barwis under the bus. It's about him, not me.
2. We're going to uphold traditions. Expect a minimum of three losses.

 

[Dryden]

I thought it was funny during Rich Rod's interview he was talking about Barwis and how he'd do anything for his team, like he would "go to church with them on Sunday". And I sat back and thought, "wait, players can't go to church on Sunday because they are working out all day!" :)

He meant they worship at the Church of Barwis, in The House of Pain.

 

[brutus2002]

Big Girls don't cry...ay...ay...they don't cry!!!

 

[heisman]

No, a strength coach and trainers are allowed to be there, but they are not allowed to report back to the coaching staff. The quality control coaches are the ones that were alleged to be there and are not allowed.

According to the articles I've read, unlike at other schools, Barwis IS one of the quality control coaches.

 

[BuckNutty]

Proof of the Ann Arbor Stench