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You are here: Home / Sports / This Must Be Done

This Must Be Done

by John Cole|  January 4, 20114:35 pm| 115 Comments

This post is in: Sports, Assholes, Schadenfreude

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Please excuse me, but HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA:

Michigan has fired head football coach Rich Rodriguez after three seasons, according to Fox 2 News in Detroit.

Rodriguez was 15-22 overall during his Michigan tenure and just 1-10 against ranked opponents. The Wolverines ended this season with a 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, the worst bowl loss in school history.

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. He could have been the king of West Virginia. He would have been the highest paid state employee in West Virginia his entire career, and then there would have been lucrative promotional contracts, his own radio show. They’d be naming streets after him, as anyone who has been on Don Nehlen Boulevard can attest. We even loved him despite that loss to Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl. He never would have been fired. Ever.

But he was too good for us.

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Reader Interactions

115Comments

  1. 1.

    eastriver

    January 4, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    Do they play football in West VA? Who knew?

  2. 2.

    John Cole

    January 4, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    @eastriver: Well, we didn’t this season, really.

  3. 3.

    ruemara

    January 4, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Mmm, dunno the story behind this at all. Can someone enlighten me?

  4. 4.

    eldorado

    January 4, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    delurking to laugh at this, even though i’m not a wv or michigan fan.

  5. 5.

    MAJeff

    January 4, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    He would have been the highest paid state employee in West Virginia his entire career…

    Which is exactly the problem with college athletics. I’m sorry, but there’s no reason whatsoever for a coach to be the highest paid employee of any state. (I live in a state where the flagship university’s hockey coach has that position.)

    But, let’s all make sure to cut the salary’s of cops, teachers, trash collectors, social workers….

  6. 6.

    Dave

    January 4, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    @ruemara: Rich was the WV coach and had them running really well as a program. Then he bailed for UM because he thought he was “too big” for WV. As a UConn alum, I loved it since that took WV out as an annual roadblock for us in the Big East.

  7. 7.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Well if Michigan tries to hire away my Les Miles from LSU …..

    I am hearing all these folks on ESPN tell me the Michigan job is better then LSU. Yeah maybe 10 or 15 years ago. Two national champs in under a decade. What about Michigan?

    Clearly a better conference then the Big Ten, which we will see again tonight. I can see Arkansas beating Ohio State by 21+.

    Yes I know Big Ten folks, those are fighting words — but does the record in bowl game this year or more then the last few years really lie?

    Michigan might have the “Big House” at 105,000. Well we got Saturday Night Under the Lights (I think 43-7 in the last 50 games) in “Death Valley” with 98,000.

    Now I am a LSU “homer” but outside of USC, Notre Dame, and Bama (yes that hurts to type) is there a better job in college football right now then LSU?

  8. 8.

    mr. whipple

    January 4, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    OSU fans are weeping.

    Oh well, they are so bad it isn’t even fun any more.

  9. 9.

    JZ

    January 4, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Maybe he figured that three years in Ann Arbor was better than a lifetime in Morgantown.

  10. 10.

    Dave

    January 4, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    @Tommy: Oregon?

  11. 11.

    Zandar

    January 4, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    They’d be naming streets after him

    You dodged a bullet there on Dumbass Boulevard.

  12. 12.

    Dave

    January 4, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    @JZ: I’d laugh but Storrs makes Morgantown look like Tokyo’s Ginza district.

  13. 13.

    pharniel

    January 4, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    Yha. One of his strength coaches wive’s was a friend of the Mrs. I feel bad for them, but the way he dicked over WV really made me not like him.

    But at least he allowed my spartians to trounce for multiple wins in a row.

  14. 14.

    Mark S.

    January 4, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    @Tommy:

    I don’t think Notre Dame is as great of a job as it used to be. I’d replace that one with either Florida or Texas.

  15. 15.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    Michigan’s first choice is almost certainly Jim Harbaugh. If there is a just and merciful God, Harbaugh will laugh at Michigan and stay at Stanford, where he doesn’t have to deal with the ridiculous expectations of a fan base that is living in the past.

  16. 16.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    @Dave: If you believe ESPN reporting they are saying he might land at Pitt. Just rumors and speculation at this point of course, but does kind of make sense for a lot of reasons.

  17. 17.

    drew42

    January 4, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    Syracuse is 1-0 in bowl games under Doug Marrone!

    I think it’s time to re-name the Carrier Dome.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    January 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    Many, many, many many, many decades ago there was a coach who turned down the head coaching job for the Boston Patriots to continue coaching for his college and guess what he’s still coaching.

  19. 19.

    j low

    January 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    @Dave: Yep. Go Ducks!

  20. 20.

    Michael

    January 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    @John Cole:

    There will be couches burning tonight.

  21. 21.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    @John Cole:

    WVU is becoming a women’s basketball school.

  22. 22.

    gene108

    January 4, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    Yeah maybe 10 or 15 years ago. Two national champs in under a decade. What about Michigan?

    Michigan won a national title in the 1940’s and another one in the late 1990’s. Michigan usually wins 9-10 games a year and has more than their share of Big Ten titles.

    They have never been good at closing the deal on national titles.

    They are also the winningest or second winningest college football program out there.

    Funny thing is they pushed Lloyd Carr out, who won the national title back in the 1990’s, for a new “better” coach and wound up with Rodriguez.

    I’d argue the SEC jobs right now are better from a football standpoint, than Big Ten jobs. The SEC is the best football conference in the country.

    Any news of Jim Harbough will take up the reigns at his alma-matter? I think with his success at Stanford, he’d be a tempting choice for a new U of M coach.

  23. 23.

    mr. whipple

    January 4, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    @Tommy:

    If you believe ESPN reporting they are saying he might land at Pitt.

    For all his faults, he apparently doesn’t beat his wife. Maybe he’ll have better luck finding a kicker in PA.

  24. 24.

    Dave

    January 4, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    @Tommy: That’d just piss Cole off even more. Especially if they started beating WV.

  25. 25.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    @Dave: Well Oregon is awesome and I am pulling for them when they play the BCS championship game in July sometime :). But not a football program that has been good for 100 years (other then the late 80s and early 90s) and basically a top 5 team the last 12.

  26. 26.

    MattR

    January 4, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    @burnspbesq: Don’t ruin my dreams of John Elway somehow managing to bring both Jim Harbaugh and Andrew Luck to Denver.

  27. 27.

    mr. whipple

    January 4, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    Any news of Jim Harbough will take up the reigns at his alma-matter?

    He’s being coveted on the pro level by at least 3 teams. Why go to MI or stay at Stanford?

  28. 28.

    Dave

    January 4, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    @Tommy: Oh, I’d agree if you are talking total history as opposed to the past 5-10 years. But then you have to include Oklahoma in the mix.

  29. 29.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    Anyone seen Stuck?

    Yo, Stuck. Duke vs. Kentucky tonight. Karima, Jasmine, and Krystal are going to do some very un-ladylike things to your team. You’re not going to enjoy it.

  30. 30.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 4:58 pm

    @mr. whipple:

    Why stay at Stanford?

    There’s probably a Condoleeza Rice joke buried in there somewhere, but I am not going to search for it.

  31. 31.

    spudvol

    January 4, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Right, I mean, who is their right mind would turn down infinite yokel-worship for a chance to prove yourself on the biggest of stages?

  32. 32.

    Keith G

    January 4, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    @Tommy:

    I can see Arkansas beating Ohio State by 21+.

    Can you also see Siberia from you breakfast nook?

    A guy who was good coach at a medium level program in a weak conference took a shot at the big time and failed spectacularly. As mr. whipple points to above, this has been a mixed blessing for the Buckeyes. A streak of sure wins is more than balanced out by a weakened conference. Not unlike the mirror image situation arising from the much too long Cooper era at OSU.

    Tonight the Bucks will be alright.

  33. 33.

    arguingwithsignposts

    January 4, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    Personally, I have no respect for conferences that can’t count.

  34. 34.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    @gene108:

    Any news of Jim Harbough will take up the reigns at his alma-matter? I think with his success at Stanford, he’d be a tempting choice for a new U of M coach.

    People seem to have no clue where he will land, even after his season is now over. Maybe Michigan. But he could also end up in Denver or San Fran. Or stay at Stanford.

    I tend to actually think San Fran or Stanford. Until the other day I had no idea he basically grew up on the Stanford campus (Palo Alto High School) and a lot of ties to that area.

    Who knows. I am not like a lot of these coaches. I love the San Fran area. I’d love my kids to grow up on the Standford campus and all that would offer.

    But I bet he follows the “big” money to the pros.

  35. 35.

    John W.

    January 4, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    The only people sad are OSU fans.

    Insert joke here about all their tainted players, of course.

    And yeah, I think the Bucks compete tonight, if Heyward can get pressure on Mallett. If not, watch out.

  36. 36.

    The Dangerman

    January 4, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    @mr. whipple:

    Why go to MI or stay at Stanford?

    IIRC, he was born in the Bay Area; Palo Alto is home turf. I’ve been to the Stanford Campus; one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen (not quite as pretty as UCLA, but I’m a Bruin, so I’m biased). Gotta figure Stanford will bank up the Brinks truck; no one should be able to pay him more. Their endowment is ridiculous (of course, Stanford was a Robber Baron, but bygones and all).

  37. 37.

    SpotWeld

    January 4, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    Um… Go Blue?

    I got nothing

  38. 38.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    @Keith G: Remember that comment in about six hours.

  39. 39.

    MattR

    January 4, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    @mr. whipple: I can’t really see Harbaugh going to Michigan. He is either going to the NFL or he will stay at Stanford. If Michigan was in worse shape, I could see him making the decision to revive the program but the way things stand that move doesn’t make a lot of sense to me even though it was his alma mater.

    As for NFL teams, I think the options are the Panthers, 49ers, Browns and Broncos. It would be interesting to see him go to Carolina and draft Luck #1 overall. Denver has the Elway/Stanford connection but I think they may look for a defensive mind as a coach (and Harbaugh would have to be sold on Tebow). SF has the advantage of being close to Stanford so it would not be disruptive to his family. I honestly have zero clue what the end result will be.

    @Tommy: @The Dangerman: There seems to be a lot of confusion about Harbaugh’s youth and his Wikipedia page does not help much. It says that he was born in Ohio and “Harbaugh played for the junior league Ann Arbor Packers, then for Tappan Junior High, going on to Pioneer High School and then to Palo Alto High School in California” which sounds like he grew up in Michigan before moving to California at some point in high school.

  40. 40.

    General Stuck

    January 4, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Yo, Stuck. Duke vs. Kentucky tonight. Karima, Jasmine, and Krystal are going to do some very un-ladylike things to your team. You’re not going to enjoy it.

    yawn, big talk

  41. 41.

    mr. whipple

    January 4, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    @Keith G:

    Tonight the Bucks will be alright.

    I’m not so sure. Major distractions for them with all the recent problems. Plus there is the Big 10 vs SEC record, which doesn’t bode well.

  42. 42.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    @The Dangerman: Two quick points. He was born in Ohio but went to high school in Palo Alto. Also, although their endowment rocks, because they are actually a “real” college, they have strict limits on what they can pay coaches. I believe his salary is limited to just under $2 million/year. He could make 4-5M at other colleges and 5-6M in the pros.

  43. 43.

    Gus

    January 4, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    @Tommy: Haha, I’m a Golden Gopher alum so I had zero interest in college football from a young age. Big 10 sucks? Big deal I say. I can imagine, though, that being a football coach at Michigan would be kind of like being basketball coach at North Carolina, i.e. the pinnacle of that profession. I was a student at the University of Minnesota when Lou Holtz actually created a winning Gophers football team. When he left for Notre Dame he got the same abuse Rodriguez got, but I understood it.

  44. 44.

    The Dangerman

    January 4, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Personally, I have no respect for conferences that can’t count.

    Wasn’t it the President of OSU that came out and said Boise State, TCU, et al, didn’t deserve the props because they didn’t play anyone? After the shellacking the Big 10+ has taken this year in the bowls, has he been sighted? I’d be in hiding.

  45. 45.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 4, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    Why has Oregon emerged as a big deal football school?

    Two words: Phil Knight

    Knight’s billions are fueling the UofO Football machine. All that money extracted first from near-slave labor in SE Asia, and then by selling the goods at outrageous prices to kids in inner city America.

    Lots and lots of money, and some of it is washing up in Eugene, in the form of a dozen new buildings (the expanded Knight library, the Knight law school, the new basketball arena, the palace for jocks, the entire Autzen sports complex complete with hookups in place for the ESPN College football roadshow.)

    That’s why Oregon has come out of nowhere at all.

  46. 46.

    stormhit

    January 4, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    He’s still a very nice guy. You’re just bitter because your amateurish athletic department insisted on jerking him around.

    Of course, at Michigan we’re getting now getting very familiar with amateurish Athletic Departments.

  47. 47.

    Mark S.

    January 4, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    Oh shit, I thought the Sugar Bowl was Thursday for some reason. Awesome.

  48. 48.

    mr. whipple

    January 4, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    He is either going to the NFL or he will stay at Stanford.

    I can’t see him staying or going to MI. His stock will never be higher for a chance at the NFL. These guys are egomaniacs and they all have the dream.

  49. 49.

    Andrew

    January 4, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    1) Anyone who says the AD pushed out Lloyd Carr is about as dumb as the average member of the GOP. Just so you know.
    2) West Virginia’s former AD and Rodriguez did not get along at all, that’s why he left. See the bitter ridiculous bullshit about the secret singular file system that he totally shredded.
    3) Yeah, he failed here. Reasons are many and varied.
    4) Those reports aren’t 100% still. Fox jumped the gun, as Fox so frequently does.

  50. 50.

    Hippie Killer

    January 4, 2011 at 5:08 pm

    You will never be able to convince me that RR’s negotiations with Michigan didn’t play a roll in WVU’s otherwise inexplicable loss to Pitt — the one that knocked us out of contention for the national title.

    Fuck you, Rich Rodriguez. Fuck you in the fucking asshole with a sandpaper dildo.

    Also, your wife is ugly.

  51. 51.

    Tim

    January 4, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    Someone’s bitter…and someone has an inferiority complex.

    When people say “well, so and so thought he was better than us,” it’s generally because people subconsciously agree.

    BUT it is an awesome opportunity to enjoy some Shadenfruede or however the hell one spells that word, so I say go for it.

  52. 52.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 4, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    Their endowment is ridiculous (of course, Stanford was a Robber Baron, but bygones and all).

    I remember when Stanford was looking for a new mascot (Stanford Indians was too offensive) that some of the students suggested that they be called the Robber Barons.

    The board of governors rejected that one toot sweet.

  53. 53.

    The Dangerman

    January 4, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    @Tommy:

    Also, although their endowment rocks, because they are actually a “real” college, they have strict limits on what they can pay coaches.

    Just gained much more respect for Stanford; it pisses me off when the highest paid person at UCLA is the basketball coach (especially since the greatest coach of all-time, i.e. Wooden, didn’t get paid all that handsomely, not that he needed it).

  54. 54.

    Seanly

    January 4, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Hasn’t it always been that? I knew of WVU’s women’s program as I had a childhood friend, Jocelyn Branham, who played for them in the late 80’s.

    Unfortunately, she was killed by her estranged husband a few years ago. Luckily the SOB (also a WVU grad) was found guilty recently. I believe WVU might have retired her jersey (though it may be her HS which did that).

  55. 55.

    j low

    January 4, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    @Tommy: Wouldn’t you rather land at a program that will be good for the next 100 years rather than the one that WAS good for the last 100? (pretending to ignore the Mayan Apocalypse of course)

  56. 56.

    Joe Schmo

    January 4, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    OT, but are you EVER going to fix your formatting problems? EVER??

    I love this blog. But any text that extends into your right margin has been unreadable for MONTHS, man. MONTHS!! It’s sooo frustrating. Isn’t there something you can dooooo??? Pleaase??

    we’re DYIN here…..

  57. 57.

    stormhit

    January 4, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    @gene108:

    They didn’t push Carr out. He was clearly retiring of his own accord. He even basically stopped recruiting for his last two years, which is part of the reason why the program is where it is now.

    Also, to a different comment, Michigan Stadium holds 113,000+.

  58. 58.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    @mr. whipple: Oh I just heard a stat I wasn’t aware of. OSU is 0-9 in bowl games against SEC teams. Ouch!

  59. 59.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    January 4, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    My bet is that Harbaugh has visions of being the next Bill Walsh, and will head a few miles north from Stanfurd to Candlestick Point. The weather there is only slightly less crappy than Michigan’s, but he’ll be able to stay in the Bay Area, the 49ers will give him lots of money (and, if there last couple of coaches are a good indicator, more than enough patience), and he will probably have the option of returning to the Farm in a blaze of glory if he ever wants to.

  60. 60.

    MattR

    January 4, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    @mr. whipple:

    These guys are egomaniacs and they all have the dream.

    I agree for the most part, but I just don’t know enough about Harbaugh to know how true that is of him. He is still young and may decide that the NFL will be an option again a few years down the road. Or he may think that being a college coach is actually a better gig.

  61. 61.

    Jon

    January 4, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    @MattR: Tappan Middle School and Pioneer High are Ann Arbor (MI) public schools.

  62. 62.

    Mark S.

    January 4, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    @j low:

    How about the Ducks win a few more titles before we start calling them the Team of The Next Century?

  63. 63.

    hueyplong

    January 4, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    Since Rodriguez went to Michigan, I have stopped every person I’ve seen in WVU gear and asked whether he/she (usually he) hates Rich Rodriguez. I’ve yet to get a “no.”

    If he really does go to Pitt, it will become a perfect storm of hatred.

    As someone who sat in those freezing stands on Dec 1, 2007 for that Pitt game, when every single man, woman and child in the crowd had a better idea than Rodriguez did as to how Pitt’s junk defense could be attacked, I join in JCole’s “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.”

  64. 64.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    @The Dangerman: There is another thing I don’t think most folks know that are not huge college sports fans. Each year Sporting News does an analysis of all Division I schools and the Conference and National titles all of their sports teams win. From woman’s fencing to men’s football.

    Almost every year Standford is #1. When they are not it is usually Texas or UCLA. They might not always be the best at football or basketball, but across the board a high, high level of excellence.

  65. 65.

    Bruce (formerly Steve S.)

    January 4, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    Congrats on the shadenfreude, but I assume you realize that he is getting more for being fired from Michigan than he was getting from WV. Maybe if WVU had thrown in all the coal he could eat and a few underage first cousins he might have stayed (that’s a little West Virginia humor, hardy-har).

  66. 66.

    fucen tarmal

    January 4, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    i hate the spread-option, so i am glad on that level to see rodriguez fail, but its such a joy to west virginians, that as a pittsburgher, i can’t help disliking the move.

  67. 67.

    Keith G

    January 4, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    @mr. whipple: Could cut the other way as well. A few of the Tattooed may see tonight as a chance to grease the skids to a draft slot later this year. I think the events of the last two weeks add to the intensity. Though I wish OSU would have tried to take a bowl game suspension and got the idjits back a game earlier next season.

    If the trends hold, Mallet will get skiddish in the face of blitzing and although the Buckeyes have lost to two very good SEC teams, Arkansas is not in that class.

    So yes Tommy, either way, I will remember.

  68. 68.

    The Dangerman

    January 4, 2011 at 5:32 pm

    @Tommy:

    They might not always be the best at football or basketball, but across the board a high, high level of excellence.

    When I was at UCLA, I think the most “dominant” team (in comparison to their competition) was the men’s gymnastics; I think it had 3 or 4 future Olympians. I forget when it got the axe for budget reasons. Cal just axed the baseball team (sorry, Jeff Kent). I’m guessing that other than Title IX issues, Stanford must be able to field any program it wants (no disrespect intended; they are fine across the board in sports and may be the best School in the country).

  69. 69.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    @Keith G: You are going to laugh at me, but as somebody that watches way, way more SEC games then I care to admit I might argue Arkansas is the best team in the nation at the moment. Sure I’d still like a playoff with Ohio State, Oregon, Auburn, TCU and a few others in it. But they are good, very, very good.

  70. 70.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    @The Dangerman: Cal cut baseball???!!! As a LSU guy our team has been dominate for almost two decades (not so much right now). I don’t follow college baseball like football, but wasn’t Cal a team that was maybe not a top 10 national team, but a very good team year in and year out?

  71. 71.

    fucen tarmal

    January 4, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    while i can understand how you feel, the reality is, sophomore literature doesn’t get a tremendous tv rating nor does it attract sponsors, you can say that reflects misplaced priorities, but that is how it is.

    speaking of misplaced priorities, no one has to work the system of higher education for a living. professors et al, know when they get in the game, or got in the game, the job has many perks, and some downsides.

    i think there has been a lot of “cake and eat it too” on the part of college faculty. they want to be paid closer to what they might get in the business world for their education, knowledge, without giving up the perks they enjoy on campus.

    its why i can’t really feel too badly about the poor oppressed professor in the college town subdivision, who watches the college coach drive through on the way to the big tract of land with the estate sized house. they are in a different world in terms of competition to keep their job as well.

  72. 72.

    The Dangerman

    January 4, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    @Tommy:

    Cal cut baseball???

    Yup; can’t say it’s permanent or hiatus, but their baseball program is, right now, no more. California (the State) is a full on mess. Poor Jerry Brown…

  73. 73.

    Bulworth

    January 4, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    For all his faults, he apparently doesn’t beat his wife. Maybe he’ll have better luck finding a kicker in PA.

    Seriously. Not sure, but I think one of the jobs of a head coach guy would be to find someone to kick the ball through the uprights. That he couldn’t manage to do that in Ann Arbor is a little astounding. Surely there’s someone, many someones, somewhere, who want to play pigskin for Michigan who can kick. But RichRod couldn’t find him.

  74. 74.

    Keith G

    January 4, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    @Tommy: I certainly would not laugh.

    I have enjoyed watching Arkansas play this year and Mallet is a “hoss” on the field and seems to be a great guy if that means anything, but Arkansas lacks the type of team speed that the teams that beat OSU usually have. And as I said above, Mallet seems to throw INTs in the face of a 4 rush as the second half of the Alabama game showed.

    My key is if Tressel can keep the team loose and not caught up in the supposed lessons of history.

  75. 75.

    anonymous

    January 4, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    /enjoys the smell of burning couches

  76. 76.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    @Tommy:

    It’s not like Stanford doesn’t have a lot of alums with deep pockets who could do things like admit Harbaugh to VC and private equity partnerships without putting up any money.

  77. 77.

    j low

    January 4, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    @Mark S.: You see it’s working already.

    How about the Ducks win a few more titles

    You have already forgotten that the Ducks have yet to win a national title. (And just in case the Mayan Apocalypse wasn’t enough to clue you into the tone of the comment- Anyone who claims that what happened 100 years ago or will happen in 100 years matters in College football is bit of a moran. Ya think?)

  78. 78.

    Tommy

    January 4, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @burnspbesq: As a tech geek and somebody that has worked in the industry for two decades … I thought about that. But is that legal via NCAA rules? I ask cause I really don’t know.

  79. 79.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    All that money extracted first from near-slave labor in SE Asia, and then by selling the goods at outrageous prices to kids in inner city America.

    It would be nice if you occasionally knew what you were talking about.

    Nike out-spends all of its competitors on social compliance, i.e., making sure that its manufacturing partners (nobody in that industry owns its own factories) are in compliance with local labor laws.

    If you think NIke sells only to “kids in inner city America,” drive to any recreation facility in any Wonder-bread suburb and count the swooshes.

    There’s a simple solution if you think the prices of Nike gear are outrageous. Keep your wallet in your pocket.

  80. 80.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    @Seanly:

    They have upped their game substantially since they joined the Big Least. They are currently number six in one poll and number seven in the other.

  81. 81.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    @Tommy:

    Almost every year Standford is #1. When they are not it is usually Texas or UCLA. They might not always be the best at football or basketball, but across the board a high, high level of excellence.

    Stanford is currently second in the Directors’ Cup standings. The Evil Empire is first.

  82. 82.

    bjrubble

    January 4, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    As a Stanford alum, I could have written exactly this screed a few years ago about Ty Willingham (although the schadenfreude was tainted by him laying his final turd in my current backyard at UW).

    But reading the thread just makes me depressed, because it reminds me that Harbaugh is likely to be yet another in the long line of Stanford coaches who raise the program from its usual mediocrity only to abandon it once that success opens the right doors.

  83. 83.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 4, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    The reality is, when UofO students raised questions about Nike’s business practices in SE Asia, they were told to shut the fuck up.

    By the UofO Administration.

  84. 84.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    @Tommy:

    But is that legal via NCAA rules? I ask cause I really don’t know.

    Somewhere in Silicon Valley, a small army of litigation associates is researching the living shit out of that issue.

  85. 85.

    Surly Duff

    January 4, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    Umm…it might not be the best time for a West Virginia fan to gloat about how a coach wasn’t good enough for their program, when they have just actively pushed out its current coach. I mean all the guy did was go 9-4 every year, win a share of the Big East title this year, and go to bowl games. And next year won’t be awkward or anything, with Stewart acting as a lame duck coach and the offensive coordinator waiting to take over. With the way they handled Rodriguez and now Stewart, I’d say West Virginia appears to be pretty amateurish in dealing with the football program.

    Are West Virginia fans really so delusional to think that 9-4 and the occasional Big East title isn’t good enough? Do they have some belief that they should be in the national title hunt every year?

  86. 86.

    Hippie Killer

    January 4, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    I don’t know what all you people bitching about coach’s salaries expect. It’s a multi-million dollar business, and it works out well for colleges or else they wouldn’t be doing it.

    Unless you don’t think there should be college athletics at all. Good luck with that.

  87. 87.

    Keith G

    January 4, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    @burnspbesq: To my knowledge coaching pay is not an NCAA issue whatsoever. I do think for some institutions it is an ethics/PR issue. As well as an issue of, “Who is this guy working for?”

  88. 88.

    gene108

    January 4, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:

    the 49ers will give him lots of money (and, if there last couple of coaches are a good indicator, more than enough patience)

    Your kidding right?

    Singletary was there for about two season, before getting fired. He got them to 8-8, there first non-losing record in several years, in 2009. The team struggled this year and didn’t turn the corner. He was fired.

    Since Steve Mariucii left in 2002, the 49er’s have gone through 4 coaches, with the current one, Tomsula, being the 4th.

    That’s one new coach every 2 years or so.

  89. 89.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I’ve been in shoe factories in China in the last year (have you?). It’s a shit job by American standards. I wouldn’t want to do it. By Chinese standards it’s not so bad (much less exposure to toxic substances than in electronics factories, for example). Beats the crap out of subsistence farming in the middle of nowhere. And Nike’s manufacturing partners are neither better nor worse than anyone else’s.

  90. 90.

    BobS

    January 4, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    @gene108: Carr wasn’t pushed out, it was his own decision to stop coaching- unfortunately, that was approximately 2 or 3 years before he retired.
    I wasn’t thrilled about the Rodriguez hiring at the time. Miles was who I was hoping they’d hire, Harbaugh was my second choice ( he pretty much took himself out of contention by alienating some important people with his remarks about compromised academic standards in the Michigan athletic department), and former Michigan defensive line (and current San Diego State head) coach Brady Hoke was third on my personal list. Unfortunately, former AD Bill Martin didn’t consult with me before hiring Rodriguez.
    If Harbaugh doesn’t take the job, I’m betting Hoke gets it this time.

  91. 91.

    Rommie

    January 4, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    Yeah, it was time for RR to go – there was nothing to generate hope that next year would be the big leap forward.

    I don’t think Pitt is foolish enough to hire the guy – they KNOW his history as well as anyone. Seems like they would want a safe pick, not another gamble.

    I think it would take the Uncle Scrooge money vault to get Harbaugh to Michigan, and they aren’t going to pony it up. We’ll see.

  92. 92.

    Jade Jordan

    January 4, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    Wow, didn’t know so many Michigan Alums visited Balloon Juice.

    How many of you have ever met Harbaugh?

    Rich Rod was/is a good coach. He walked into an incredible den of sabotage.

    No one ever mentions why Carr lost his lifetime job and office? His role in trying to take down Rich Rod took down the program.

    Brandon being a class act walked him out of the door after the NCAA depositions exposed his role.

    Good Luck to Rich Rod, Back to the Top for Michigan, Can’t wait for the new coach to be introduced.

    John, I hope your new coach works out next year. Go eers (for you).

    GO BLUE…WE WILL BE BACK.

  93. 93.

    Jade Jordan

    January 4, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    Rodriguez: Not Dead Yet. Technically, Anyway.

  94. 94.

    fucen tarmal

    January 4, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    then the joke is on those associates, the ncaa has been making shit up as they go for the last 25 years or so. they have gotten so good at it, 5 players are playing tonight, in exchange for the promise they will stay next year to be suspended 5 games, their “crimes” total in the 4 figure range.

    meanwhile in the championship game a qb who stole a laptop at a school he never played for had his dad ask for 6 figures to sign at a dumpier school by far, than the laptop u, or the school he is playing for…the ncaa cleared him in time to accept a prestigious award in prime time.

  95. 95.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    @fucen tarmal:

    then the joke is on those associates

    Not if those are billable hours that count toward their goal.

  96. 96.

    Barry

    January 4, 2011 at 7:19 pm

    @John Cole: Living about 6 miles from the UM football stadium, I don’t know why they ever hired him, and I don’t know anybody who does.

  97. 97.

    stuckinred

    January 4, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    Fac Michigan

  98. 98.

    JMC in the ATL

    January 4, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    @burnspbesq: New Balance still owns five operational factories in the U.S. They account for approximately 25% of their North American sales.

  99. 99.

    stuckinred

    January 4, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    ESPN say Rich is not fired

  100. 100.

    RobertB

    January 4, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    From where I sit, it was more the ‘how’ of RichRod’s leaving, rather than the fact of his leaving itself. Sure, the UM job is a step up, but bolting right before the bowl game was a punk move.

    Not mentioned yet is how the summer before the ’07 season RR had the Alabama coaching job for about a day, then had a press conference where he blathered on about how he loved the Mountain State so much that he couldn’t bear to leave. So I guess that he was looking shouldn’t have been much of a shock.

    @hueyplong – I didn’t have the ‘pleasure’ of freezing my ass off in the stands, but I remember wondering why RR didn’t just run straight up the gut, because the WV o-line was dominating them. It was just that all the gadget shit was not working.

  101. 101.

    Dr. Squid

    January 4, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    Who’s the last guy they fired in Morgantown? Frank Cignetti?

  102. 102.

    Andrew

    January 4, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    @Barry:

    Because college football is heading in the direction of the spread and he is a legitimate offensive genius. We just… mildly underestimated the influence Jeff Casteel had at making West Virginia a success.

  103. 103.

    aamom

    January 4, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    Mr. Cole I knew I loved you for a reason. YES TAKE HIM BACK PLEEEZZZZ.
    signed,
    AA MOM
    UofMich Class of ’77

  104. 104.

    jake the snake

    January 4, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    A Phil Knight apologist, amazing.

    Asian sweatshops are only the smallest reason I hate Nike.
    Their undue influence on college sports, especially basketball is enough reason never to buy anything with a swoosh.

  105. 105.

    Gus

    January 4, 2011 at 9:03 pm

    @jake the snake: I assume he works for Nike. Why else the strident defense plus the visit to the factory?

  106. 106.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    January 4, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    @jake the snake:

    Eh, I went to Oregon State, so regardless of Nike I still have nothing but nasty adult words for UO. Go Auburn!!!

  107. 107.

    Kathy

    January 4, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    The Freep (Detroit Free Press) said this morning that Harbaugh would either go pro or stay at Stanford. The buzz I was hearing was that Michigan would go with Hoke. Quite a bit of let down for those of us who bleed Maze and Blue. I hope Michigan can turn it around, but this was not handled in the best of ways.

  108. 108.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    January 4, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    @Tommy: At 1:59 to the half Tat-Gate State 28 R-Kansas 7

  109. 109.

    rikyrah

    January 4, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    ok, this was funny

  110. 110.

    PanAmerican

    January 4, 2011 at 10:20 pm

    Harbaugh’s dad Jack did assistant stints with Michigan and then Stanford.

  111. 111.

    cmorenc

    January 4, 2011 at 10:23 pm

    QUERY: Why is a COACH free under NCAA rules to coach a team at school A in say, year 2008 and jump to more prestigious/better-paying school B to coach in the immediate following season 2009
    BUT:
    a PLAYER recruited by that COACH to play at school A as an incoming freshman for the 2008 season, after learning at the end of the 2008 season of his coach’s planned departure, forced to sit out the 2009 season if the player decides to transfer to another school instead of remaining at school A to play in 2009?

    Athletic scholarships are nearly ALWAYS structured as year-to-year grants and not four-year guarantees. Incoming coach Y may not be nearly so compatible or favorable a fit for many players as outgoing coach X (who recruited them) was, and coach Y has many ways at his disposal to make athletic life much less pleasing or tenable for players that don’t suit him, the better to make those scholarship spots available for his own recruits.

    The NCAA has been running double-layered rules for years, one to rigorously insure players remain strict amateurs playing only for scholarship money to attend school plus room and board, another to help the NCAA and member schools harvest enormous revenues from sports entertainment as a professional business, which couldn’t exist without the purportedly amateur players.

  112. 112.

    Paul in KY

    January 5, 2011 at 9:27 am

    @burnspbesq: We would’ve won the game, except for the damn homer officiating. Why don’t you bring Duke up to Memorial Colisseum some time?

  113. 113.

    Jamey: Bike Commuter of the Gods

    January 5, 2011 at 9:56 am

    @drew42: We should call it something like “Ernie Davis Field.”

  114. 114.

    Jamey: Bike Commuter of the Gods

    January 5, 2011 at 9:56 am

    @drew42: We should call it something like “Ernie Davis Field.”

  115. 115.

    JR in WV

    January 5, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    @cmorenc:

    I think if coaching staff changes, players can transfer and be eligible immediately. This may vary depending upon whether it’s head coach or the assistant in charge of a player’s specialty.

    I’m glad RR is gone from Michigan, he treated WV like the dirty end of a stick when he left, tried to get out of paying the contract requirements, etc.

    I’m not altogether happy with the way Bill Stewart is being treated, but WVU has a new AD named Oliver Luck (ex WVU QB, NFL QB, lawyer, managed pro sports) who wants to put WVU at the highest level of football. If he thinks hiring the offensive coordinator who has his team at #3 in the nation to work with our defensive coordinator who has the WVU defense at #3 in the nation, well, that’s his decision. It sounds good, if they can keep the current defense coaches and if they get along with the new offensive coach…

    JR

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