Rich Rodriguez (official thread of last laughs)

[MililaniBuckeye]

If you want a great example of "cycles" in a series, check out our all-time series against Illinois:

First 18 games: 5-11-2 (won two stright only once, and one 2-1 stretch)
Next 16 games: 15-1 (including 11 straight)
Next 8 games: 3-4-1 (Illinois won two, then we won 2, then loss, tie, win, loss)
Next 34 games: 28-5-1 (including 15 straight, and a single two-game losing streak)
Next 7 games: 1-6 (including a five-game losing streak)
Last 11 games: 8-3

They owned us for 18 games, then we owned them for 16, played even for eight, we owned them for 34, they owned us for seve, and then we've owned them the last 11 (last year not withstanding). A clear ebb-and-flow in the series, although our tides have tended to be higher and of longer duration.

 

[Oh8ch]

To look at it another way:

Up to the end of the John Wilce era: 10-6-1
against Williams/Schmidt/Brown: 2-13
Between Brown and Woddy: 3-4
Woody era: 4-22-2

If you subscribe to cycles the luckiest coach in history is John Wooden. He took over at UCLA a few years before they started a really good cycle and was lucky enough to retire shortly before it ended.

IMO Jim Tressel is another very lucky coach.

 

[OCBucksFan]

Mike Hart was on his cycle? That actually explains a lot.

He spent a lot of time on his cycle.

 

[lvbuckeye]

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.

hmm... i wonder if anyone senses the irony of the Bobby Bowden reference considering the fact that he was the head coach at WVU prior to Free Shoes... for the record, BB went 31-6 in his first stint as HC at Howard, and went 42-26 in his time as the head coach of WVU... but anyway,,, carry on.

 

[buckeyes_rock]

Link to Rome ripping on RR yesterday. Don't like Rome, but hey, more negative publicity for RR.

http://www.jimrome.com/home/articles/article_5.html

 

[3074326]

I think he ripped good ol' Charlie in the same episode. Good episode for Jim Rome. Didn't think I'd ever say that..

 

[BuckeyeInTheBoro]

He spent a lot of time on his cycle.

True... he does look bloated, irritable and a little down in that picture.

 

[Oh8ch]

True... he does look bloated, irritable and a little down in that picture.

And worst of all those pants make his ass look big.

 

[BB73]

And worst of all those pants make his ass look big.

Most of us just want to make fun of TSUN players, but you're always checking out their asses.

 

[buckford]

Most of us just want to make fun of TSUN players, but you're always checking out thier asses.

Judging by his avatar, he just wants to be assured of adequate head room.

 

[TheIronColonel]

Nice write-up over at MGOBLOG on some RR hands-on time at an alumni event. Nothing terribly surprising: takes shots at Boren, makes jokes about being a wizard/recruiting, says positive things about the program. Some second-hand info from Bill Martin indicates Michigan won't be ponying up like OSU and playing non-con games against teams with a pulse, but nothing terribly surprising. Anyway, a good read.

 

[Tlangs]

Bill Martin indicates Michigan won't be ponying up like OSU and playing non-con games against teams with a pulse, but nothing terribly surprising. Anyway, a good read.

[sarcasm]they play Notre Dame every year....don't they[/sarcasm]

 

[Jaxbuck]

from the article:

I moved on to football-related matters, asking him whether there are plans to upgrade Michigan?s nonconference schedule. Much hemming and hawing ensued, followed by these key words: ?Probably not.? He explained how big the Notre Dame series is to the TV people. I patiently and in a roundabout way explained that, while nobody has a problem with the Notre Dame series, many are hoping the fourth nonconference game will be reserved for a home-and-home with a competent SEC/Big 12-type team. Again: ?Probably not.? So that?s that. More chump/chump/chump/ND slates for the foreseeable future.

chump/chump/chump/ND huh?

They better worry about beating all the chumps before they worry about finding a "competent" opponent from the SEC/B 12.

What a bunch of arrogant pricks.

 

[OCBucksFan]

from the article:



chump/chump/chump/ND huh?

They better worry about beating all the chumps before they worry about finding a "competent" opponent from the SEC/B 12.

What a bunch of arrogant pricks.

They didn't become "The Winningist program of all time" by scheduling tough games!

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

chump/chump/chump/ND

they play ND four times a year?