Comments on: Rich Rodriguez: Five burning questions

By: AggieWolv

AggieWolv — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:32:31 +0000

My jaw is still on the ground after hearing of this hire. All I can say is, “I’m sorry Arizona fans.” As a true blue Michigan fan, I watched RR drive our program into the ground. He knows how to talk a good talk. After each lost game (and we suffered a bunch with RR) he would always say “my system takes time, I need more time.” Give me a break. The guy is a liar, he cheats, and he’s stupid. Yes, I’m sorry, he’s stupid. He’s going to make very bad decisions because he just doesn’t know better. The author of the article is right; RR was the wrong coach for Michigan. He’s the wrong coach for every organization and y’all have got to STOP looking at his WVU record. Come on folks, this is WVU, Big East, not a real football conference and no where near the caliber of Pac12 play. Listen, I’m also connected to Texas A&M where Greg Byrne’s father is AD; yes, the same school that left the Big 12 to join the SEC in an effort to snub UTexas. .. good luck with that Texas A&M. The Byrne’s are idiots, and RR is a poor choice for coach at Arizona. Mark my words, y’all will regret it.

By: MFan23

MFan23 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:03:30 +0000

University of Arizona Fans:
As a lifelong Michigan fan, Rich Rod is a good coach and a good man. He was a bad fit for Michigan from the start. He was not prepped well for the opening press conference (didn’t really grasp the Ohio State rivalry) and it only got worse from there. He was undermined internally when the ex-coach signed transfer papers for any player wanting to leave, Remember, he was inheriting a team that beat the Tim Tebow-led Florida Gators. And Rich Rod did himself no favor by not retaining some Michigan assistants which would have helped in the transition (see: no support from Lloyd Carr) and by not hiring a good DC and defensive coaches. Simply put, his UM defense was horrible. By not winning and losing every year to your our two biggest rivals: Ohio and Michigan State, sealed his fate. Hopefully, he has learned from his mistakes and will be successful at Arizona. Even if he puts together an average defense, Arizona will be successful with a high-powered offense. I have a lot of respect for what he went through at Michigan. He is a good and decent family man and is an offensive genius. Look at what his players are doing on a 9-2 team this year. Good Luck and Bear Down!

By: UM Class of '81

UM Class of '81 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:26:17 +0000

Seems like his defensive recruits at Michigan are doing pretty well given a good DC. Not to take away from a lot of what you are saying, but it assumes that he had power that they never really let him have.

By: rod

rod — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:29:24 +0000

To the person stating that RR teams played “pasties and then got steamrolled”; defeating Georgia, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma (with RR players-) winning two BCS games in two of four years and winning the other bowl games in that four year span is not playing losers and getting beat; quite the opposite

By: UM Class of '81

UM Class of '81 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:25:53 +0000

Great analysis. I second your recommendation to add “Three and Out” to any Arizona fan’s short reading list. I will be watching the Arizona program closely, am really excited to see Coach Rod get the gig.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:47:39 +0000

Bill – You should get your facts straight. RichRod’s team are 2 and 0 in BCS Bowls. WVU beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and Oklahoma in the Fiesta bowl. I wouldn’t consider that “getting rolled”. Also the offense RichRod runs is the same offense that Oregon runs. I’m pretty sure that’s been working out well for them the pat couple of season. Do you homework before posting.

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:23:09 +0000

Michigan was, is and always will be a power football team. RR’s system at Mich didn’t work because the players that were at Mich were power football players when he came in, not spread option players. Don’t think there is a difference? Then you know squat about football and putting together an offense. UA is a spread offense team, has been for several years and those players are already in the system. If Scott was not here, RR would struggle until he got that ideal QB in the system – next year they will be good because of Scott, whether he can recruit the next QB in here remains to be seen. But he has the right players at the school today for his system to work immediately.

And in terms of this offense not working in the PAC 12.. LOL. Yeah, tell Chip Kelly and Oregon that the rest of the PAC 12 doesn’t think his zone read offense won’t work in the PAC 12 because teams are big and too athletic.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and nobody says you have to like the RR hiring… But your complete lack of football knowledge completely negates your “opinion”. You’d be better off saying you don’t like the RR hiring and walk away without any supporting facts – rather than pretending you know what you are talking about – because it is painfully obvious you don’t.

By: dtownwolv

dtownwolv — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:30:26 +0000

I do think this is a good hire for both UA and RR. I thought he would end up in the ACC. However, I am not sure if RR can win at the highest levels in a real conference… The Big East is not close to the same level of weekly competition as SEC, B10, Pac 10, or Big12 and his record at Michigan was disastrous when you really look at the schedule and the numbers, most of the large offense stat were put up against weak competition and/or after Michigan was basically out of the game and teams were in prevent . IMO RR still has a lot to prove… it will be interesting to see, especially with his offense philosophy, which although can be explosive and fun to watch, puts a lot of stress on his own teams defense with quick 3 and outs, quick scores, etc…
As to Michigan, it is true he didn’t have the support he should have from the ex-coach and some alums (some of which is not his fault and some of which is his fault for the way interviewed the old coaching staff, constant comments about building the program, not adhering to the team captain tradition, etc read the book if you want more) and the NCAA violations were a joke and really shouldn’t be a concern for UA, the reason he was terminated was for lack of performance… his record, especially in the Big Ten… each year his teams performed worse as the season progressed…NateVolk is spot on… I do think RR deserved to be treated better by some, but Michigan deserved better as well, I mean RR let MSU out recruit him the state of Michigan, something that I could never remember happening.
My predictions is UA will be an above average Pac10 team with occasional break out season every once is a while with a possible Pac10 championship… I wish both RR and UA the best of luck.

he was fired for one reason and one reason only lack of performance. His record speaks for itself, especially in the Big Ten and every year his teams seemed to be getting worse as the season unfolded and the blow outs by the strong teams every year. Well said NateVolk. Rich Rod was fired for one reason only his teams performance on the field, especially against B10 teams and how each year his teams would get worse as the season progressed.

By: NateVolk

NateVolk — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:05:06 +0000

Arizona fans. There are a couple members of what we called the Rich Rod Mafia on here trying to sell you too much on his failure at Michigan. What they say is true about the lack of a support base within in the University. But he was the head coach and that was a lot on him in failing to build those bridges. The head coach holds way more power to effect the outcomes on the field, than the media, the old guard university cronies or disgruntled ex-players combined. People who think otherwise aren’t in reality.

Rich failed at Michigan because he didn’t win enough. In fact the losing he did there was considered impossible at a school like Michigan. Still he pulled it off. He inherited a defense with NFL talent at 3 or 4 positions in 08 and so alienated them that they went through the motions and wholly underachieved. He made no serious effort to adapt to the talent that was left on either side of the ball. Don’t be fooled, it was Michigan and there was still more talent then most schools.

You’ll see that the guy is in love with his offensive genius label and is not adaptable to the talent he will inherit in any shape or form. If you can ride that out, he’ll deliver an interesting and at times explosive offense. Don’t expect that offense to be highly productive against big athletic defenses though. It never was in the Big Ten. Except in blow outs when the other team would gladly let him run his quarterback into the line while they nursed 20 plus point leads. He’ll face a lot of bigger athletes in the Pac 12 too.

Be mindful that he was no where near installing anything like we saw at Oregon after 3 years at Michigan. The systems may be similar, but Kelly has a great eye for talent. Rich was tanking in recruiting at Michigan. Especially recruiting good local defensive talent, which he frankly seemed indifferent to doing. He preferred 2 and 3 star guys who fit his offensive system over mega talents higher rated players. The other issue is after 3 years, I still had no idea what he wanted as far as defensive recruits. His performance in recruiting talent on defense was abysmal by Michigan standards. I would say it was abysmal by Mike Stoops Era Arizona standards too. So keep an eye on that.

The facts are the offense was interesting and blew up some serious numbers against weak teams but was no where near worth the pain of the 3 basically rotten years it took to achieve it. Rich is a good guy though and he is probably ok character wise. The guys who said he was the victim of a witch hunt by local media are right on.

Be careful not to overestimate the guys ability as a football coach based on the WVA thing. If he learned his lesson about going after big time defensive talent and he brings in a competent defensive staff, you might compete and maybe go to a Rose Bowl. But he’s in love with his ego and if he looks at Arizona as the chance to recreate the thing he built at WVA, he’ll fail. Teams like USC, Utah and ASU will handle that offense and score a million points on you.

Not sure how it will work out. I wanted to make sure you got some balance away from the Rich Rod Mafia version of his Michigan days. In that world, everyone undercut this genius coach right before he took the team to greatness. It’s bunk. He was treated poorly but he never won anything in 3 years and that’s what happens.

By: oldwest2

oldwest2 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:37:12 +0000

Those records are considered winning seasons at Arizona.