Rich Rodriguez has been fighting an uphill battle since day one in Michigan. Last year, the administration was willing to give him a free pass, since it’s nearly impossible to turn a team around in a first year as head coach. A lot of players left, and fans were disgruntled.
This year hasn’t been the best, but there’s progress…and that progress is apparently saving Rodriguez’s neck, as the school is reportedly bringing him back for another year in 2010. Says athletic director Bill Martin,
He will be our coach next year. You’re asking me today if he’s going to be our coach, …read more

Few people at Michigan were happy when former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez accepted the head coach position after the retirement of Llyod Carr. We’re actually still seeing players leave the team after the mass exodus that happened nearly immediately after he was given the job. It’s not that Rodriguez isn’t a good coach; few people can argue that he’s not after what he did at West Virginia. The people and players of Michigan just don’t like his coaching style, which seems to be a big departure from the coaching of greats like Carr, Bo Schembechler, and other Michigan greats.
I …read more

With so many changes to the Michigan coaching staff and team roster over the past year, head coach Rich Rodriguez isn’t sure which player is best for the top job – leading the team as quarterback. So, during the team’s Week One game against Western Michigan, he’ll play three different quarterbacks – Denard “Shoelace” Robinson, Tate Forcier, and Nick Sheridan. The three have been competing for a few weeks now, and while Coach Rod may start his personal number one pick, he isn’t ready to commit just yet.
Junior Sheridan obviously brings the most experience to the game, since Robinson and …read more

When Llyod Carr got replaced as Michigan’s head coach by Rich Rodriguez, formerly of West Virginia, there was a mass exodus of players. Everyone thought that the school would go from having a traditional, family feel to being more sterile. And they were right, at least according to offensive lineman Kurt Wermers.
Wermers is the latest Michigan player to leave the school, saying that the whole dynamic between players and coaches is just different than it was under Carr.
“I really didn’t get along with the new coaches. They were bringing in a lot of different kids that were not my kind …read more

When West Virginia’s head coach, Rich Rodriguez left to coach Michigan instead, a lot of fans were mad. After all, less than a year before that, he made it sound like he was dedicated to being with the program for a long time.

And he still hasn’t apologized for leaving the way he did. Should he have to though? At least one writer thinks so.
Rodriguez recently said,
“It was painful last year and it’s still painful now. But I still have to be honest and say that I’m glad I did it. That’s nothing against West Virginia or anyone there, …read more

 
Coach Rod, the new Michigan head coach, is being sued.
Who’s doing the suing? Why, none other than his former coaching assignment, West Virginia. According to Rich Rodriguez’s contact, the school is set to collect a $4 Million buyout over the next two years, since he left the program on his own accord.
Also according to the contract, one third of that total cost (or, over $1.33 Million – OUCH) is due 30 days after his resignation, which went into effect on December 19th. That means Coach Rod has until January 18 (give or take) to shell out that chunk of change.
By …read more