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Michigan has fired head football coach Rich Rodriguez after three seasons, according to Fox 2 News in Detroit and the Detroit Free Press.
Rodriguez was 15-22 overall during his Michigan tenure and just 1-10 against ranked opponents. The Wolverines ended this season with a 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, the worst bowl loss in school history.
Rodriguez's job status has been a hot topic all season. AD Dave Brandon elected to wait until after Michigan's bowl game to decide whether to fire Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was also 0-6 against Ohio State and Michigan State, Michigan's biggest football rivals.
Former West Virginia Mountaineer Coach Rich Rodriguez - I feel I have to explain who he is since his departure from WVU has resulted in him becoming a Loser coach who would have drifted into obscurity except for the numerous scandals - is in yet another scandal at the University of Michigan:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez says he won't let a lawsuit over a failed Virginia condo project affect preparations for Saturday's season opener.
The suit was filed in August in U.S. District Court in South Carolina against Rodriguez. It says he owes a bank $3.9 million for defaulting on a loan to build condos near Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium.
The University of Michigan football team consistently has violated NCAA rules governing off-season workouts, in-season demands on players and mandatory summer activities under coach Rich Rodriguez, numerous players told the Free Press.
Players on the 2008 and 2009 teams described training and practice sessions that far exceeded limits set by the NCAA, which governs college athletics. The restrictions are designed to protect players' well-being, ensure adequate study time and prevent schools from gaining an unfair competitive advantage.
The players, who did not want to be identified because they feared repercussions from coaches, said the violations occurred routinely at the direction of Rodriguez's staff.
"It's one of those things where you can't say something," one current Wolverine said. "If you say something, they're going to say you're a lazy person and don't want to work hard."
Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez appeared to tear up as he talked about his program during his weekly news conference in Ann Arbor.
He opened his weekly news conference - scheduled for each Monday during the season - by saying he would talk about the Free Press report in which numerous current and former players said U-M consistently far exceeded NCAA limits on practice time and other football-related activities. Rodriguez talked for 15 minutes on topic, stopping several times when he appeared to choke up.
When he finished, he said, "That was longer than I wanted to take." Then he asked for questions about Saturday's opener against Western Michigan.
Michigan announced Sunday that it had launched an investigation into the allegations. The Big Ten and the NCAA have been alerted.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University says ex-football coach Rich Rodriguez has agreed to pay a $4 million buyout clause after breaking his contract.
That would settle WVU's lawsuit that had been set for trial this fall. WVU attorney Tom Flaherty says the tentative agreement was reached late Tuesday night.
Rightwing Republican blogger Vic Sprouse made a big deal out of how Rodriguez was right to screw WVU, with his comments angering even his fellow Republicans on a football message board. Looks like Sprouse has to dine on crow. I'm sure it's a dish he's quite accustomed to eating.
Update by Clem G. Here's the link to the sports message board Carnacki mentioned. There's a few choice comments there.
Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez, who is being sued by West Virginia in an attempt to collect on a $4 million buyout clause in his old contract, received a $287,000 incentive payment from his former school yesterday for goals reached during the 2007 season.
Rodriguez's contract stipulated that WVU had 30 days from his resignation to make the payment. . . .
This is a politics blog, not a sports blog. I want to consider the potential political fall out here.
The Manchin administration is aggressively pursuing a $4 million settlement from Rodriguez.
How will it look if West Virginia settles for significantly less? Could the handling of this case become an issue in the Attorney General race? What's the third question I should be asking? [There's always supposed to be 3 questions. :-)]
This is a little off topic, but this was too good not to share.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the essence of Wabi-Sabi, the imperfectly beautiful, the 2008 Fiesta Bowl Champion West Virginia University Mountaineers!
On a lighter note, as an homage to Todd Haynes recent biopic I'm Not There about the life of Bob Dylan, here is my Todd Haynes vision of the different incarnations of former WVU coach, Rich Rodriguez.
Governor Joe Manchin statement regarding the impending departure of Rich Rodriguez from WVU to become Head Coach at Michigan actually says a lot about the state of big business and big money in our country today.
Dec. 16, 2007
STATEMENT FROM THE GOVERNOR REGARDING WVU FOOTBALL COACH RICH RODRIGUEZ'S RESIGNATION
Contact: Lara Ramsburg, 304-558-2000
The last seven years that Rich Rodriguez has been football coach at West Virginia University brought great excitement to our fans and tremendous and positive notoriety to our state, and I am truly sad that he has made the decision to move on.
I have known Rich for most of his life, from a boy whose only wish was to play football at WVU to a young man whose only wish was to coach at WVU. His dreams came true, and he brought back with him to West Virginia a love and a loyalty for our state that I thought would never change.
But, unfortunately, over the last two years, I have seen Rich become a victim of a college coaching system driven by high-priced agents that has turned those dreams into just another back-room business deal. Something is wrong with the profession of college coaching today when a leader’s word is no longer his bond, and it does not bode well for the student-athletes who entrust these coaches with their futures.
I wish Rich and his family nothing but the best, but I challenge everyone in our state and across this country to start looking more closely at the system that we’ve allowed these agents to create, because in the end, it serves no one well but them.
I can’t say enough about the WVU fans and financial boosters who have made such tremendous commitments to this football team, and I commend President Garrison and Athletic Director Ed Pastilong for having a program that is truly worthy of the national spotlight. I also trust them and the WVU Board of Governors completely with the coaching search that now lies ahead.
In the meantime, I encourage the people and fans of West Virginia to continue to show their support and respect for our tremendous student-athletes as they prepare to compete in front of a national audience in the Fiesta Bowl.
- Gov. Joe Manchin III
Terse words... leaders not keeping their word, and back room business deals.
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