Michigan (sucks!) Gets Its Mercenary

DeepTeaKup

Too bad UM can’t be like ND where a coach comes back to his alma mater and demands a contract extension after a 5-2 start because every NFL team wanted to hire him (right), now THAT’s loyalty. Please, it’s a business, I think BM gets that now. If RR is successful he will make money at UM, if not he will be gone.

Didn’t CW go to RR for help on offense? Kind of dents this offensive genius label a little bit, no?

The Biscuit

DTK, are you really excited about this hire? I mean, honestly and deep down, is this who you wanted at UM? If so, fine, I’ll believe you. But it’s tough to think that UM’s excitement about the hire isnt much more relief about getting anyone, rather than excitement about getting RR. Maybe I’m wrong, but I would bet that all this joy will temper extremely quickly…

DeepTeaKup

Biscuit, I am not quite sure what to make of this hire to be honest. The biggest reason being, I never thought he was a serious candidate. I do think the guy can coach, it can not be easy to turn WVU into a national title contender can it? Sure, there are games you can question (Pitt this year, USF this and last year) but all in all this guy’s teams play good D and exciting offense.

Yeah, I’ll give you that his name will be easy to mock by opponents (or fans if he drops too many to OSU).

As far as Mallett goes, that stuff is overplayed nonsense. Yes WVU did not pass a lot the last 3 years but ask yourself these two questions: did they need to? and is Pat White a throwing QB? It’s widely acknowledged that RR is a great offensive mind, I think he could have Mallett put him serious numbers. Look what he did for Shaun King at Tulane, he was the OC when he set the NCAA record for PASSING efficiency.

I think the excitement will last, and here’s why: this is a complete change in direction for UM football. I know I really liked Carr but you could tell he was done (tired to quit last year, BM did not want to hire a BB coach and FB coach at the same time, WTF!!!!). He was basically letting the OC and DC audition for the job, created a toxic environment that was only well when pounding ND. Here comes a new guy, replacing about 3/4 of the coaches at least, and hopefully our S/C guy, Mike “Midnight Pizza Diet” Gittleson, it’s a chance to be relevant again. As you ND fans know, hope and promise are two things you can not deprive a fan bse of. With Coach Carr, it felt like that was gone, nothing was ever going to change.

The Biscuit

I think RR can coach as well. I just dont think he can coach as well at Michigan. I understand the excitement, but that’s exactly why I think it’s unfounded. And somewhat delusional. All this ‘top tier’/'A List’/'great hire’ stuff sounds to me like UM fans WANT it to be true so badly, that it must be true. I remember this when Ty came to ND. We were all soooo excited to get the “west coast” spread offense, and all that that we didnt notice the fact that the guy couldnt coach and couldnt recruit. I see a lot of parallels here (winning at a smaller program, with different types of kids, bringing a ‘fast’ offense to a ’slow’ school, etc). And while I can’t fault UM fans for being excited (you dont have much of a choice – you HAVE to be excited and support the guy now), I’m calling a spade a spade. And RR being gone in 3 years after never really gaining traction.

I dont think the Mallet stuff is overhyped. If you brought in an option coach to ND, Jimmy would start looking too. And rightfully so.

And you’re right. I aced my sarcastic mocking classes and need NO such help.

Shout Boxx

Domer.MQ, I think its too harsh to call Rodriguez’ character into question so much just because he took this job, and to put him in with the likes of Saban and Petrino. Sure, money and prestige were a factor, and he probably thinks he’s got a better shot at winning an NC at UM (sucks) than at WVU (let’s face it, if there was ever a year WVU could have won an NC, this was it, and in the end it didn’t happen; although I doubt he would have taken this job if WVU was in the NC game).

And, as far as him telling his players one thing and then taking this job, sometimes things happen and people change their minds. Whether or not its really a character issue has more to do with the context in which they make the decision, and how they handle things once the decision has been made. Everything that I’ve read indicates that once he made the decision, he told his players in person and, as one player said, “was a man about it.”

To make an imperfect analogy, if you told your employer today that you loved your job and had no plans to leave it, and tomorrow you are offered a job for more money at a company that you honestly thought offered you a better chance to reach the pinnacle of accomplishment in your career, are you automatically a scumbag if you leave? Isn’t it possible that you could like your current job, but find the new offer “too good to pass up”? Why should this be viewed any other way?

To ask a bigger question, why is it that when a coach doesn’t have a winning record, most people show little to no loyalty to them, but when a coach has a winning record, people expect them to remain loyal to their school forever, and get pissed off if they leave? The issue with the Sabans and the Petrinos of the world is that they are only about themselves, and they come in, f— everything up, and then leave like a thief in the night. With Rodriguez, you have a coach that has brought his team up from near nothing to the very brink of greatness. So, why is he suddenly the scumbag of the year just because he makes a decision that will objectively advance his career and may put him in a better position to win an NC at some point?

Please note that I’m not saying anything about whether that’s actually going to happen. And, I like WVU, and am sorry to see them lose Rodriguez as their coach. But, its just to harsh to lump him in with Saban and Petrino.

The Biscuit

Shout Boxx – what, you’re sentient AND a UM sympathizer now?

I think the difference is that this was RR’s alma mater. A place he espoused undying love for, lifelong loyalty, etc. etc.

The other difference is that he went to Michigan. This means that he sucks by default.

The Biscuit

I agree that he leaves the program better off. I like your separating the issues too. And you can be wrong, sentient computer program or not.

I like the TMQ’s take on this – there is good info that speaks of his weas-iality (being like a weasel):

Consider Rodriguez, the latest high-profile walkout. The Charleston, W.Va., Gazette reports that after Rodriguez decided to walk out on West Virginia, he spoke to his players for a mere 10 minutes — no questions, please! — before exiting through a side door and heading to the airport for a flight to Michigan. These are players to whom Rodriguez surely made elaborate promises during recruiting. In December 2006, when some recruits were hesitant to sign letters of intent with the Mountaineers owing to rumors that Rodriguez would leave, he reassured them by publicly declaring he would stay at West Virginia “for a very, very long time.” The moment there was something in it for him — a pay increase from $1.9 million at West Virginia to a reported $3 million annual salary at Michigan — Rodriguez shafted his players. The Detroit Free Press asserts that even before Rodriguez announced he was leaving for Michigan, he called Terrelle Pryor, this fall’s most sought-after high school player, and urged Pryor to enroll at Michigan rather than at West Virginia. Immediately after there was something in it for him, Rodriguez shafted his former employer.

And this is the coach Michigan wants! Someone whose word is not bond; someone who, if the Free Press account is accurate, actively tried to double-cross his previous school. Wolverines: If Rodriguez is a fiasco at Michigan, don’t say you weren’t warned. And the history of selfish coaches suggests that fiasco will come calling. Petrino, Saban, Price, Franchione, Fairbanks, Parcells — which of these guys did really well after walking out on a commitment for self-serving reasons?”

here’s the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/071218&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

It’s the same attitude I lambasted Brian at MGoblog for having – who cares about a man’s word? Who cares about ethics? If there’s money, none of it matters?

Yes, yes, I get that everyone wants more money and that if I had a raise elsewhere, blahblahblah, but this isn’t about me. I’m not a coach that bailed on his alma mater after speaking to kids I RECRUITED for ten minutes just because I ONLY make $1.5 million dollars a year and I want more.

DeepTeaKup

Biscuit, I would then like for you to describe for all of us what is the proper way for a coach to leave for another job? All coaches have to give the “I will be here for a long time” lines, do you tell your employer “I will be here until I have a better offer”. I’ll tell you, I used to work with Domer, he would say that to me every morning instead of “hello”. Should he have called Pryor and said, “I’m leaving WVU, but you should still go”?

Ben

ND hypocrites. Hilarious. Typical.

If your coach was so loyal to his alma mater, given your righteousness in questioning the morals of alumns, wouldn’t he want to give back some of his 3.3 million for your abysmal season?

Shout Boxx

Biscuit, its true, sentience does not equal omniscience. Therefore, I can be wrong, although its incredibly unlikely statistically. That’s why I can say within a 99.99% accuracy that Ben really is an idiot.

I take the points on RR, although I still don’t think he deserves to be lumped in with Petrino and Saban, who really are despicable. Also, if you read the Charleston and Detroit Free Press articles, they are a little subject to interpretation, and TMQ has consciously taken the least charitable interpretation to make his broader point about “super coaches”(for example, the Charleston article doesn’t say Rodriguez immediately left the building after talking to his players, as TMQ implies, and its interesting to note in the Charleston article that none of the players (all RR recruits) quoted seem to feel particularly betrayed and outraged at RR).

But I see your point about college coaching being a different type of job with unique responsibilities, and I see the broader point TMQ is making about the shifting ethics of college football. Unfortunately, because college football has become such a big business, we are likely to see more and more of this sort of thing in the future, and will probably see more program hopping by both coaches and players in the future. As TMQ points out, this sort of thing is part of a dynamic that has been leading both to higher salaries and quicker dismissals at both the pro and college levels. Its hard to imagine a coach starting out today who will have the longevity of a Paterno or Bowden.