Fox Sports in Detroit is reporting that Rich Rodriguez has been fired as head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines.
Rodriguez compiled a less than stellar 15-22 record during his three seasons after stepping in for Lloyd Carr. The Wolverines suffered their worst bowl beating in history in the recent Gator Bowl, a 52-14 throttling by Mississippi State.
Rodriguez emphasized offense in his approach at Michigan. The defense was putrid.
There were some questionable activities during the RichRod time at Michigan. The NCAA investigated allegations that he was violating practice hours limitations.
Now, Rodriguez is back in the market. With the head coaching job re-opening at Pitt, who knows? He might wind up back in his old backyard.
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Warren says
I have another stupid question. Please go easy on me! LOL.
Why does it seem like another team always picks up a loser coach and expects him to be a winner? In college and pro, it seems like loser or mediocre coaches always get rehired. It can’t be that hard to get quality coaches.
The Nittany Turkey says
I think it is more complicated than your generalization suggests. In Rodriguez’ case, he had been quite successful at West Virginia for quite a while before he interviewed for and got the UM job. Meanwhile, under Lloyd Carr, the Michigan program was on the verge of decline. Many said that Carr picked the right time to retire. So Rodriguez inherited a difficult situation.
Three years should have been enough to have made his presence felt. Everybody knew in advance that his spread offense was a big departure for Michigan; nobody knew that would mean that he would neglect the defense.
I didn’t respond to your question. That’s because I cannot easily bring to mind a known loser coach having been hired by a college or pro team. In retrospect, it’s easy to brand one as a loser if he loses (a la Zook), but how does one know in advance? Hiring someone, whether a head football coach or a corporate executive, is always a crapshoot. If you’re talking about Tom Cable — Oakland fans rejoice! — Davis finally saw through the fog of senility long enough to can that loser.
All that having been blathered, last night the PR people from the University of Michigan said that contrary to media reports, Rich Rodriguez had not been fired, and that a statement would be made later.
And the coaching merry-go-round continues!
—TNT