wvucrazed Wrote:

usffan Wrote:If this is true, it paints all of the drama of the last couple of days in a very different light...

USFFan

One side of the story.

[/quote]Mr. Reynolds declined to discuss it, but one source said he informed university officials yesterday that he planned to withdraw $12 million in donations he pledged to the school.[/quote]If this is true, that side has some pretty damning evidence. You don't lose $12 million in financial support over nothing.

bitcruncher Wrote:Mr. Reynolds declined to discuss it, but one source said he informed university officials yesterday that he planned to withdraw $12 million in donations he pledged to the school.

If this is true, that side has some pretty damning evidence. You don't lose $12 million in financial support over nothing.

The BOG and most of the boosters are fully supporting the AD and his actions. If Kendrick cared about his school the way he supposedly does, he wouldn't be withdrawing $$$ and dragging its name through the mud.

One individual - in this case Dick Rod - does not make a university. One may disagree with the way something was handled, but ultimately the loyalty should be to the university.

WVU cannot be blackmailed into doing things a certain way just because one or two boosters gets their tail-feathers all a'flutter cuz they've drunk the Dick Rod kool-aid.

bitcruncher Wrote:

Hoquista Wrote:http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07352/842541-144.stm

WVU officials blamed for coach leaving
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The wealthy donors primarily responsible for keeping Rich Rodriguez as head football coach at West Virginia University 53 weeks ago are angry and frustrated over his departure this week for the University of Michigan.

Their ire isn't directed at Mr. Rodriguez.

It's aimed at WVU administrators.

"I tell you what, I've never seen anything mishandled as much as this was," Bob Reynolds, former chief operating officer of Fidelity Investments, said yesterday. "Here's a university that made a $200,000 decision -- it probably could've cost less than that [to keep Mr. Rodriguez] -- and it's going to cost them millions" in booster support, potential bowl money and revenue from football success.

"I've had calls from at least six major contributors to the program, and they're all done [donating] because they know the Mickey Mouse things that have gone on there," Mr. Reynolds continued. "I've been in business 36 years, and it's the worst business decision I've ever seen. I've been the COO of a 45,000-person company. When somebody's producing, you ask, 'What can I do for you to make your life better?' Not 'What can I do to make your life more miserable?' They have no idea how big this is. It's frightening."

Mr. Reynolds declined to discuss it, but one source said he informed university officials yesterday that he planned to withdraw $12 million in donations he pledged to the school.

Earl G. "Ken" Kendrick Jr., a part owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks and benefactor to the WVU College of Business and Economics and other colleges in his home state, said: "I'm severely disappointed in leadership. I'm discouraged by the decision-making and lack of judgment. And the lack of respect for key employees -- because this isn't just about Rich, he's just the most high-profile one. It's a sad story. It's compelling to me as somebody who's given emotional and financial support to the university. And it makes it questionable to me as I go forward."

Mr. Rodriguez, both at the top of his program's prestige and other colleges' candidate lists, made what he considered relatively simple requests. However, his employers considered them "gun-to-the-head" demands because he already had the Michigan offer, said one source close to the administration.

All agree that the details separating the two sides had nothing to do with Mr. Rodriguez getting richer.

In separate meetings with Athletic Director Ed Pastilong, Chief of Staff Craig Walker and, finally, late Saturday night with newly installed President Mike Garrison, he asked the university to do the following:

• Allow at least an additional $100,000 in bonus money for his assistants.

• Allow scholarship players to retain possession of textbooks at the end of each term, which meant they could have sold them, as apparently happens at other programs.

• Waive a $5 ticket fee for each high-school football coach attending Mountaineer home games, a fee that generates an estimated $5,000 for the university each season.

• Hire seven graduate assistants and a new recruiting coordinator, to ease the duties performed by secondary coach Tony Gibson.

"You could do them in 15 minutes," Mr. Reynolds said of the wish list.

Those supporters, who pledged millions last December for the six-year, $1.9 million-per-year contract that helped to keep Mr. Rodriguez from accepting the University of Alabama coaching position, offered to absorb the additional costs. Their offer was denied.

"It is frustrating to me that when push came to shove, we weren't included in a possible solution," said Wheeling, W.Va., lawyer Dean Hartley, who last year donated toward VIP seating added to Mountaineer Field. "We were not asked to do anything that would bridge the divide that had developed obviously between the administration and Rich. Over the weekend, I've just been bitter over the way it was handled, especially knowing that it wasn't about Rich getting a raise."

"[Mr. Rodriguez] was flabbergasted, because this did not have to happen," said Mr. Reynolds, a Boston-area resident who also donated toward the new academic center that was part of Mr. Rodriguez's deal last December. "It just became political, and he didn't think he was supported. And I don't blame him."

Some of the items discussed were part of the contract extension signed Aug. 24, more than eight months after the details were first hammered out last December. Mr. Rodriguez's representatives maintain that university administrators agreed to other requests that haven't been met, though they decline to publicly specify them. In short, it means Mr. Rodriguez might contest the $4 million he owes WVU to buy out his contract, by claiming the university acted in bad faith or fraudulently.

The search for a new coach to replace Mr. Rodriguez, a Grant Town, W.Va., native who went 60-26 and to five bowls in seven seasons, began yesterday.

The only known candidate to step forward is former Auburn coach and current ABC/ESPN announcer Terry Bowden, son of former Mountaineer coach Bobby Bowden. Sources said Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster and former Mountaineers assistant head coach Rick Trickett of Florida State may soon come to Morgantown to interview for the vacancy.

Other possible candidates mentioned include Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley; Huntington, W.Va., native Jim Grobe of Wake Forest; Central Michigan coach and former Mountaineers assistant Butch Jones; Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster and former Mountaineers assistant head coach Rick Trickett of Florida State and Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher.

The West Virginia boosters have become close to Mr. Rodriguez and acknowledged that he grew depressed -- one described it as despairing -- over the 13-9 loss to Pitt that cost the Mountaineers a chance to play in the national championship game.

Mr. Hartley said he found it "amazing" that in the last year, WVU lost its basketball coach, John Beilein, to Michigan; the head of the Mountaineer Athletic Club, Whit Babcock, who was instrumental in last December's rally that kept Mr. Rodriguez, to Missouri; the swimming coach, Sergio Lopez, after winning the Big East title, to a Jacksonville, Fla., high school swimming program; and women's soccer coach, Nikki Izzo-Brown.

One college where she reportedly interviewed? The same place where Mr. Beilein and Mr. Rodriguez work.

"Maybe we should be a farm system," Mr. Hartley added, "until our coaches get good enough that they can coach at Michigan."

I think if WVU just lost $12 million in income, Rodriguez has some good evidence to back up his claim. That kind of ire doesn't form over nothing.

I thought it was only $4.0 million. It is ashame; he is going to end up going down as the most controversial Mountaineer atheletic icon in history. He is going from one of the most beloved West Virginians, except in Gang Green circles, to the one that may never be welcomed back.

Here's a funny twist though... Nick Saban’s agent contacts WVU

Well, I'm not going to b!tch and moan about it. I'm just curious to see who the next coach will be. The soap opera is of little interest to me.

Pryor would be real jackpot for Michigan
Gerry Ahern | Yahoo! Sports
December 17, 2007

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It wasn't long into Rich Rodriguez's introductory news conference Monday as the new football coach at Michigan when he made one point abundantly clear.

He wasn't here to discuss bygone days in West Virginia or the circumstances behind his unexpected and sudden departure from the Mountaineers.

"I don't think there's any need to do that," Rodriguez, a native of Grant Town, W.Va. and former WVU player drawled before spinning into an anecdote.

"There's an old movie called The Lion King," he continued. "There's a scene in the movie where a monkey hits the lion over the head and the lion says, 'what did you do that for' and the monkey says, 'it doesn't matter it's in the past.'

"Doesn't matter it's in the past."

Given what lies ahead for the 44-year-old coach, who Michigan wanted so badly it agreed to pick up a $4 million buyout, how could you blame him for going ape?

He was just handed the keys to the winningest program in college football history. And, as Rivals.com reported Sunday, he's got a bead on bringing the top recruit in the nation – dual threat quarterback Terrelle Pryor – to the Big House to run his souped-up spread option offense and drive other coaches in the Big Ten and around the nation absolutely bananas.

Perhaps no one more than Ohio State's Jim Tressel.

Pryor is now reportedly considering the Buckeyes, Wolverines and Florida Gators as his college destination. The winner gets the 6-foot-6, 235-pound burner from Jeannette, Pa. and potentially a whole lot more. Pryor has built relationships with several of Ohio State's current commitments and could, in theory, change some of their paths from Columbus to Ann Arbor.

Somewhere Bo and Woody are about to start throwing blows.

Michigan would provide Pryor with all the ingredients he seeks to show his wares – a huge stadium filled with rabid fans and colossal national TV exposure in an offense that suits him to a "T."

With Rodriguez, the consummate tactician, pushing the buttons.

"Rich was born to be a football coach," said John Beilein, Michigan's basketball coach who also previously worked with Rodriguez at West Virginia. "He's a coach and he's a leader."

And apparently a pretty good recruiter.

If he can get Pryor, and the quarterback can persuade others to follow, Michigan could go from having a decent recruiting class (currently ranked 14th by Rivals.com) to the top 10 in the nation and the best in the Big Ten, a distinction that rests with Ohio State right now.

Rodriguez knows to make the spread go, he needs a player with Pryor's unique skill set and speed (4.4 in the 40-yard dash).

Perhaps that's why the coach wasted no time in announcing Monday that WVU offensive coordinator Calvin Magee and secondary coach/recruiting coordinator Tony Gibson will be joining him at Michigan.

These are the same guys who had impressed Pryor enough that he was previously considering going to Morgantown.

Meanwhile, Michigan returns quarterback Ryan Mallett, a pro-style passer who doesn't have the mobility to thrive in the spread option. Certainly the offense could be modified to work with Mallett, but not nearly with the effectiveness it would with Pryor.

And oh, what an efficient offense it has proven to be for Rodriguez in stops at Glenville State, Tulane with Shaun King, Clemson with Woody Dantzler and West Virginia with Pat White.

White and Co. piled up nearly 39 points per game this season in winning the Big East and earning a trip to the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma. A stumble against Pitt in their finale cost the Mountaineers a shot at the national championship.

So while Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and fans breathed a sigh of relief in landing Rodriguez after failed attempts to lure LSU coach Les Miles and Rutgers' Greg Schiano, the real jackpot could come Feb. 6 on National Signing Day.

Pryor's signature on a letter of intent and the potential residual effect could ensure that the future at Michigan is all Rodriguez wants to talk about.

He got a head start on Monday.

"My son Rhett is 9 years old. He will be the most highly recruited quarterback in the class of 2017," Rodriguez joked as he has introduced his family, including wife Rita and daughter Raquel. "Rhett has already committed to the University of Michigan."

First, Rodriguez needs a Pryor commitment.

This article appeared on the Rivals website on Monday, December 17, 2007.

There is such a thing as taking a grudge too far and, unfortunately, this situation looks like it might become a prime example before all is said and done. The fallout from trying to skirt a contractually obligated buyout could be unreal.

Krocker Krapp Wrote:With Rodriguez, the consummate tactician, pushing the buttons.

Unless he is a liar Rich Rodriguez said that he was leaving for Michigan no matter what because it was to good a job to pass up. If that's the case it's all on Rodriguez and nobody else.

despicable, he's just using this as an excuse and using one of his friends to go public with it is even worse, he's just trying to weasel his way out of paying for his complete buyout. i'm sure he'll get his lawyers to settle and drop the buyout to 2.5 mill which michigan will gladly buy off. the guy is looking more and more like scum every day.

If WVU doesn't make a try for Jim Grobe, they will have done themselves a disservice, IMO......

Todd Graham and Butch Jones are names that intrigue me.

Grope won at Ohio & Wake Forest, His Off fits the talent WV has, From WV & he proabblly would be able to sothe every body's hurt feelings. Looks like a no brainer.

There are currently 13 threads about Rich Rodriguez on the first page-and-a-half and some of them do not even have that many replies. I know it is a hot topic but everything else is being crowded out at its expense.

- Who'll replace Rodriguez @ WVU? [18 replies]
- WVU officials blamed for coach leaving (Post-Gazette) [28 replies]
- WVU fans. Keep your head. [36 replies]
- Should Rich Rod be allowed to Coach WVU in Fiesta Bowl Game? [3 replies]
- Rich Rodriguez=Bob Petrino [7 replies]
- Rodriguez To Michigan [48 replies]
- Article: A spoiled Rod won't spare WVU [1 reply]
- Don Nehlen has interesting comments about Rodriguez & WVU [14 replies]
- Best Article on Rich bailing [6 replies]
- Why did DickRod jump? [20 replies]
- my thoughts on RRod [no reply]
- RRod Leaves Like the Colts [1 reply]
- Did Rich Rodriguez really do this!? [8 replies]

Is it possible to merge these down to maybe a half-dozen threads? I would recommend combining the following threads:
- Should Rich Rod be allowed to Coach WVU in Fiesta Bowl Game?
- Rich Rodriguez=Bob Petrino
- Article: A spoiled Rod won't spare WVU
- Don Nehlen has interesting comments about Rodriguez & WVU
- Best Article on Rich bailing
- my thoughts on RRod
- RRod Leaves Like the Colts
- Did Rich Rodriguez really do this!?

These two threads also seem to cross over a lot and could probably be merged into one singular discussion instead:
- WVU officials blamed for coach leaving (Post-Gazette)
- Why did DickRod jump?

These three threads can probably be left alone:
- Who'll replace Rodriguez @ WVU?
- WVU fans. Keep your head.
- Rodriguez To Michigan

While you are at it, these two older threads on the topic could probably also be combined into one discussion:
- RRod meets with Michigan?
- Rich Rodriguez has not returned phone calls from WVU officials

The following four edge of the ledge reaction threads to Rich Rodriguez leaving might also merit being combined:
- Is Big East Football in trouble again?
- It time to split or be the conference that is always raided for its coaches!
- I told you about BCS salaries!
- Take the best leave the rest

Here are two other threads that could be combined as well:
- Who wants a split forum
- split forum

Then there are these two:
- Column: Schiano is another bad Jersey joke
- Columnist: Schiano a "joke" and a "baby"

As well as these two:
- Greg Schiano to Michigan?
- After talking to Michigan, Schiano sticking as Rutgers coach

I think that would take care of a good deal of the topic duplication from the last two weeks. Sorry to have to ask this but I personally do not see the need for 13 or 15 different threads covering the exact same subject.

Grobe has already removed his name from consideration according to reports.

Here's a retired Charleston Daily Mail Sports Editor's opinion on the matter...

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:I'd gladly help Rodriguez pack
By Bill Smith
For the Daily Mail
December 18, 2007

I'VE never done this before -- in almost 17 years of retirement -- but I am weary of coaches at West Virginia University going through the process of blackmailing the school to get what they want and then immediately selling themselves to the highest bidder.

So, I'm venting.

As far as ex-WVU football Coach Rich Rodriguez is concerned, who do I call to volunteer to help him pack?

One year ago he played a bluff using Alabama as his ace in the hole to get what he wanted from WVU. I don't think I'd want to play poker with him. I don't even think I want to be around a person like that. The school gave him everything he asked for. He said at the time he was committed to the university for a "long, long time." After all, he was a West Virginia native and an alumnus of the school. It was home.

What a bunch of bull! In Rodriguez' mind the contract wasn't worth the paper it was written on. His commitment lasted less than one full season. Where I come from we call such a person a welsher.

I had more commitment to my job as former sports editor of the Daily Mail, and I sure as heck didn't make a lot of money. But I was loyal and the paper was loyal to me.

Let's see? As far as I know, Rodriguez taught no classes. Didn't contribute one thing to the education of his players, except to teach them how to knock their opponents senseless and how to use four-letter words. Oh, yes, he taught them "character" too -- like how to honor a contract. And for doing that he made umpteen times what Gov. Joe Manchin makes. Talk about a world out of whack.

What about his assistants and their wives and families? Will he take all of them to Michigan? No, probably just two or three. For the ones left behind, great news at Christmas, huh? Yeah, Merry Christmas, guys. See you later.

He has a $4 million buyout in his contract. In other words, if he breaks his contract for another position, either the school that hires him or Rodriguez himself has to pay WVU the $4 million for the school to let him out of his contract. When basketball coach John Beilein abandoned WVU last year (I don't put him in same category as Rodriguez) for the Michigan job, Michigan refused to buy out his contract and Beilein talked WVU into negotiating and taking a smaller buyout.

WVU administrators should have learned their lesson. Even if they have to file a lawsuit, they should hold Michigan and Rodriguez to the full terms of the contract -- $4 million, and not one cent less!

Unfortunately, big-time college football and basketball haven't been about student-athletes competing against one another for more than half a century now. It's big, big business. It's all about money.

Some will say, "Yes, but Rodriguez took WVU football to new heights." He did, but he was paid for it. He was very well paid for it. He was doing the job he was paid to do.

Is he a great coach? I'm sure he is. Is Bobby Bowden a great coach? I'm sure he is. He's the winningest coach in the history of college football. However, I hate to say it, because Bobby is a dear friend of mine, but his Florida State team wasn't all that great this year.

The late, great Woody Hayes wrote a book years ago entitled "You Win With Players." There aren't any secrets in coaching, Oh, you might pull off an upset once in a while, but you won't win if you don't have the players.

Rodriguez' spread offense has some great players. But he lost to Pitt. No, he not only lost, he got outcoached. And in my humble opinion, it was the worst defeat in the history of WVU football.

So, Michigan can have Rodriguez (and Beilein, too). I think we have a winner in Bob Huggins. And WVU will find a winner in football, too. And the wheel goes around and around. In certain relationships, if a person doesn't want me, I don't want him. I'm funny that way.

As for Coach Rod, if you think you felt heat after you lost to Pitt a couple of weeks ago, just wait until you lose to Ohio State.

Smith, 78, joined the Daily Mail sports staff in 1956. In 1970, Smith became executive sports editor and served in that position in 1990 when he retired for health reasons.

USFMike Wrote:despicable, he's just using this as an excuse and using one of his friends to go public with it is even worse, he's just trying to weasel his way out of paying for his complete buyout. i'm sure he'll get his lawyers to settle and drop the buyout to 2.5 mill which michigan will gladly buy off. the guy is looking more and more like scum every day.

I tend to agree and at this point and I am in no way defending him, but playing devil's advocate think about college Presidents. They wake up in the morning, look themselves in the mirror and even though in charge they are sometimes number 3-4 in importance on campus. Somewhere behind the BB coach and the FB coach depending on the school. Maybe there was some sort of power play going on with this.

Despite - RRod has turned his back on his state and school - to bad to sad - time to move on. I am thinking lessor of him every day and I am sure many others are as well. He took a great job, kudos, but let it go. Again, his head was getting bigger than the New River Gorge, and was then deflated by a poor coaching job against Pitt. This is his way out but why make WVU suffer?

Now to more important things for me - when my alma mater will be number one and the New Orleans Bowl.

wvucrazed Wrote:out of that list, I'd go with Terry Bowden.

I agree with you, my old man is high on Jimbo Fisher.

bitcruncher Wrote:Grobe has already removed his name from consideration according to reports.

Grobe may be a WV guy but I think somewhere in his blood there is green matter; coaching at WVU may not set with him well - don't know for sure, just a guess.

Great coach, great person; have met him. When I told him where I grew up he jokingly said, oh I grew up in the big city of Huntington, you were in the country; I see they let you wear your shoes today; they let me do that sometimes to you see.

this particular situation is clearly about money and makes the governor's words about coaches and big-time agents ring more true. it appears his lawyers and financial agent are just trying to find a loophole or subjective breach of contract to get RR to weasel out of his buyout. i don't believe for a second that those tiny list of demands were the reason he's no longer coaching at wvu.