Comments on: Rich Rodriguez: About those NCAA violations…

By: Jim Keyes

Jim Keyes — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:24:34 +0000

“I have something to prove” RR – that says it all.. fire in the belly is the best motivator… he will make UA both a BB and Football school…. kind of like UW and Texas

By: UM Class of '88

UM Class of '88 — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:48:13 +0000

I agree with UM ’81 wholeheartedly. Coach Rod was undermined by the previous coaching staff (who committed the same practice violations if you read “Three and Out.”) and those in the AD aligned to them. Furthermore, the plethora of career-ending injuries on the defensive side of the ball before he got there plus transfers contributed to the team’s poor defensive performance. Did Coach Rod make some mistakes, yes (he should have demanded the money for a top-flight coordinator, U of M limited his budget in that area) but considering that he was boating upstream the whole time at UofM, he did the best he could under the circumstances.
As an alumnus of Michigan, I was sickened by Coach Rod’s treatment by the University Administration and the Detroit lap-dog media.
I am a critical person by nature but, I believe that you hired a great head coach (look at the play of his WVU teams with so-called 3-star talent). I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arizona in a Rose Bowl before Michigan.

By: DHaupt

DHaupt — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:41:52 +0000

Actually, he won his first Big East championship in 2003, sharing the title with Miami (who he lost to 22-20) and beating Boston College (who was also still in the Big East), and won his second before Pat White arrived in Morgantown. By the way, what’s Pat White doing these days? Because based on what has happened since he left college, I think it’s safe to say Rich Rodriguez made Pat White.

Regardless, he dominated the Big East for half a decade and his teams beat an SEC champ and a Big 12 champ in BCS bowl games.

He will make Arizona football more relevant than they have ever been.

By: rblyel58211

rblyel58211 — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:43:03 +0000

get used to the qb draw… its his best play…. and fyi, hes really over-rated.. he never won anything till va-tech, miami and bost college left the big east.. he was a loser until then…. he shd kiss pat whites butt everyday thanking him for making him look good

By: Scott Terrell

Scott Terrell — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:25:52 +0000

I agree with your forecast for the next couple seasons. Next year looks really good for everything you say plus the eight home games. Then there might be a dip during the transition from Stoops’ system/players to Rodriguez’s.
If any assistants are retrained I think Scelfo should be at the top of the list. He’s got a good relationship with Matt Scott already and he coached with Rodriguez at Tulane. My guess is Rich Rod starts completely over on the defensive side of the ball.

By: UM Class of '81

UM Class of '81 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:16:44 +0000

I’m a born and bred, died in the wool Michigan alum-football fan. The reason some – some – of the fanbase revolted against him was that he stepped into a mess, with the alumni high court and the U-M Athletic Department divided three or more ways on the direction that the program should take in the wake of Bo Schembechler’s death in 2006. There is plenty of evidence that the very reason that the overblown charges of violations leveled against the program by the Detroit Free Press (“Stretchgate”) was because those very writers had it out for Coach Rodriguez from the beginning. Lawsuit? Please! Michigan agreed to pay, but then left Rodriguez to swim in the wake of bad press, not allowing him to even comment on what was going on. It was one thing after another.
Coach Rod made mistakes. I doubt that he will ever overlook the defensive side of the ball again, at least the need to get a good coordinator in position. Perhaps he will also be able to let that coordinator run a system at which the DC is proficient. I also doubt that he will allow any employer to fumble the ball the way my alma mater did on some many PR-related matters.
Arizona got themselves a very good head coach. I wish him nothing but the best, and look forward to following the team’s progress.
Just hope that they don’t have to play Michigan anytime soon!

By: JK

JK — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:16:27 +0000

He’s going to sell tickets for the next few years…I can’t wait to see how different the wildcat offense will be next year.

By: wildcatfight83

wildcatfight83 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:08:38 +0000

Very happy I get to root against ASU this weekend. Though, I’m still hoping that ASU ends up keeping Erickson. He’s been good for Wildcat Universe. I do think the ASU situation is much more complicated that Arizona’s was. ASU is looking at needing to fire both their football coach, their basketball coach and their AD (I don’t know how you can keep an AD whose main coaching hires had to be let go). The media deal should help them with cash flow, but that’s a lot of money and major changes at leadership.

My guess is that they end up not firing one of the coaches and maybe keeping the AD. Erickson might be saved by ASU basketball is so pitiful.

Tedford is pretty safe too. Cal wasn’t smart enough to put a buyout in his contract. If they fire him they still owe him something like $10 million. Cal is not a school that can take a hit like that….
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What do you think that RichRod’s timetable is here? I think he’s actually set up for a nice season next year. He has a read-option capable QB in Scott, a helluva RB in Carey, really solid WRs to prevent teams from selling out to stop the run. On defense we will still be a bit shallow up front, but if he wants to run a 3-3-5 we already have the DBs for that. Personnel-wise, I don’t think the transition will be that great.

Unreasonable to expect us to contend next year, but 8 wins? I think that’s possible. Maybe to the point of being expected. Not to say I don’t think that he should be given time…. just that he should have an easier transition than he did at Michigan. A dip later might be expected since this recruiting class is probably not gonna be stellar.

Any thoughts on who on the staff might get to stick? I’m hoping against logic that Kish gets offered a positional coaching gig (or even special teams) and accepts the demotion. He’s been a good Wildcat. Probably not happening though. Scelfo has probably also earned his keep.