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Sports Illustrated: Rich Rodriguez’s first 48 hours

by on Nov. 30, 2011, under Arizona football
Rich Rodriguez

Rich Rodriguez tries on a sombrero during halftime of Saturday's game. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

The hiring of Rich Rodriguez is national news.

Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples was imbedded for the first 48 hours as the Arizona Wildcats introduced Rodriguez as their head football coach and he navigated the challenges of making the right first impression.

It was enough for two stories — the story of the magazine and an on-line companion piece.

In the on-line piece, Staples writes how deputy athletic director Rocky LaRose advised Rodriguez to “Don’t say you don’t like spicy food.”

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Rodriguez told me he doesn’t really have the stomach for spicy food — but his family does.

Anyway, check out the both of the pieces from Staples — informative and entertaining.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Arizona football. Tags for this post: . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • Bret

    Both those SI pieces are great reads, and are yet another benefit of Greg Byrne firing Stoops early. If Arizona was stuck in the current musical chairs game with ASU, UCLA, WSU, Illinois, North Carolina and others, it’s highly unlikely that SI chooses Arizona for this story. Besides, recruits and their parents will read things like this.

    • oldwest2

      Hmmm no mention of Penn State?

  • Mark B. Evans

    Sounds like the football team will be getting its version of Bobbi Olson. Here’s hoping RitaRod will have as much of an effect on recruits as Bobbi did.

    • l.a.d.

      By the looks of her, I think that woman might scare recruits clear out of the Pac-12.

  • Vegasallen®

    Off topic: With the situation at Syracuse deteriorating, Boheim’s days appear numbered.

    Certainly Sean Miller’s name will be at or near the top of the list to replace Boheim. 

    • Mark B. Evans

      Lateral move. Plus, he’s got the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation coming in next year. He won’t make the Final Four this year, not the way this team is playing, but 2014 and 2015 should be Final Four-caliber teams.

      But it’s not off topic, if RichRod turns UA football into a powerhouse, the millions more in revenue that will result will make it easier for UA to match any ridiculous salary offers to Miller in the future.

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