Rich Rodriguez Interview - Outside the Lines

[Knightmessenger]

Rodriguez was frustrated at dealing with politics and continually going uphill. He wanted a lot of facilities upgraded and even helped raise some of the money yet the athletic department never delivered. He also had to stay silent about the full terms of the buyout.

A lot is explained in Three and Out.

[wvmtneer96]

I know his nephew lol. He never recieved any death threats. Rich Rod was lying and he knows it

[redmustang03]

Rich really screwed both programs over. West Virginia isn't what they used to be when Rich left. Their still a bowl team just their an average team. He also screwed Michigan over by having a losing record his first two seasons, getting his ass beat by Ohio State, then when they pull it together they get destroyed in their bowl game and almost lost to UMass a I-AA school. Their defense was pathetic. He really fucked both schools over.

[pizzaman1918]

@redmustang03 No WVU shit on him when he wanted to make the football program better. The university quit on him. The good ole boys of Michigan gave him shit from day one.

I have spent enough time in West Virginia right in Morgantown and they are all low class assholes. I wouldn't want to go back and live with the redneck assholes

[redmustang03]

@pizzaman1918, other than coal what just West Virginia really have, nothing except the football team and maybe the basketball team. Both sides of WVU are to blame the school and Rich and now WVU will never be like they used to being in the top 5. Still they had their chance against Pitt and all they had to do was win and they're in and they choked even to do that.

[raidersfan8]

No offense but West Virginia fans are being a little overdramatic

[chufuss]

@raidersfan8 I see this is your introduction to the WVU nation...All passion, no logic.....GO MOUNTAINEER"S !

[Chrisrokk239]

Summary: 1. Rich Rod left a job where he could look great dominating the weak Big East to struggle in the Big 10. 2. Some West Virginia fans are nuts.

[cinderellaman7x]

Rich Rod is a narcissistic douchebag liar. Michigan did not "call him" fking MIke Brown called Michigan looking for the gig after Schiano turned it down. Fk you Rich Rod you fraud.

[BOOMEROU4]

the guy at 6:22 looks like he is being interviewed in a prison, if you look at the background

[MWolverine9]

Rich Rod has fucked over both teams really

[thebluefus]

He left for a better job. Sounds like a good idea to me

[Amaizenblue86]

LOLOLOLOL

[foshizzlesteve03]

That's exactly why you guys suck now

[eers2ya]

Authority he needed? lmao!!! Need for total control, how did that work out for you michigan? Total control=probation.

[MrPopyotop]

Sorry , One more thing id like to say ...... NOT having Rich Rod around anymore made WVU players feel less pressure , Seemed like Rich was a VERY MEAN man ... Like one of them guy/dads who would SCREAM at you If u messed up!!!Sometimes that's a good thing , Keep them focused but ... When it get's to a point your players may start to hate you or be afraid of you ..... Yeaaaah that's not good :(

[MrPopyotop]

Aaah F. it The Man lead us back to glory !! For that I'm Thankful !! Just like any break up " Sometime's " There will be bad blood , That's life . Onething i will say is as much as Rodriguez made WVU good again ... WVU player's like Pat White , Steve Slaton & more made him look good too , It went hand n hand !!!! I wish him the best i don't hold grudges .

[JJPierce]

what? i dont own a gas station ? i dont get any of your comments but I go to the Univrsity of Michigan...the best degree to have in the country.

[KinkyWoodsman]

@JJPierce HA yea i'm sure it's better than all those ivy league schools. get over yourself you go to an above average college, Whoopdi freaking doo

[lashx123]

2 seasons later....... WVU Football and Basketball are ranked. UM is not and is losing all the time

LOL.

[JJPierce]

WVU...we stole your 2 coaches. why? because we are Michigan. The best university in the country. You are white trash. Get over him leaving, its been 3 years. move on with your lifes, will be in a BCS game in a year or 2 and you know it. So talk all the shit you can then eat your words soon.

[shelldawv]

hahahaha...is that all you've got...trash talk and immaturity? How have those coaches worked out so far ..HAHAHAHAHA....look at where WVU is ranked, compared to scUM....Meatchicken WHO !!!!

UM took out WVU's garbage, and paid them to do it...hahahaha. Kinda like letting them buy used comdoms...and they liked it ...hahahaha

Can't wazit to see scUM in the NCAA tourney...er, no wait...nevermind..hahahaha

[JJPierce]

HAHAHA are YOU serious? 1st of all with football...look at the records the last 3 years RR was at WVU it was like 11-1 11-2 12-1 oe some great ass numbers with 2 bcs wins...look at it since he left...9-4 9-4, 8-5. We had a run style offense, it takes fast lineman and a experienced QB to do it. everyone around here knows that. He did that at WVU with 1 and 2 star recruits. here at Michigan we get 4 and 5 star recruits. We will be on top very soon, I say 8-9 wins this year, then BCS after BCS

[shelldawv]

HAHA..take off your RR boyfreind glasses..Look at RR's record WITHOUT White and Slaton...He won 1 BCS game , Stewart won the other after RR bailed out.....blah, blah..excuse after excuse is the UM way huh? 8-9 wins this yeah...excuse me while I piss myself laughing.....LMFAO Come back after losses to UCONN and ND......maybe RR will go back on TV and boo-hoo some more.

[soulflyx69]

@shelldawv wont lose to ND you should know better, ND stinks ....... really they are bad this year ucon will be good could pssibly lose that game but i doubt they will lose c'mon bro not all Michigan fans are assholes. we are arrogant yes but earned the right to. WVU will be fine really.

[JJPierce]

and R.R. built that program from the ground up. They just stayed with the same system and now look where there at. not close to where they were lol. you dont make sense. Now to b-ball, same thing, belien built that program. And thats what hes doing here, hes in year 2 buddy, that means his recruits are sophmores. same with R.R. his recruits will be sophmores this year. lol. you make no sense. the 08 recuting season he scrambled at the end and got about 5 of his players, the rest were Carr's

[JJPierce]

basketball...fab 5, we were the best team in the nation then we violated ncaa rules and couldnt even make the NCAA tourny untill like 3 years ago...so why would any top recruit wanna come here? but now they will...plus we have the best facilities in America best college town...man u just dont know, go to your shitty university and take that degree and go work at a gas station? or maybe for me one day aye?

[welchce]

At 4:54 "just because your from here doesn't mean you HAVE to stay her"...what???

"There are no walls around West Virginia"...Huh???

"You don't have to commit yourself to BEING HERE FOR LIFE'?

That one made me laugh...It's a good thing you gave Rich permission to leave...I'm sure he needs permission to leave the state.

WOW! These comments are quite telling of who the true ego-maniacs are in this situation.

[VictorsValiant]

In Rod we trust!!!! Go get em coach. Nothing shuts em up, like winning. You are putting some nice classes together and the offense has developed. Once the defense comes around...watch out. Go Blue!!

[bouwadi3]

The Buckeyes are taking care of this creep nicely...

[Neenockamockawok]

Congrats to Rich Rodrigeuz for realizing that Morgantown & WVU sucks.

[shelldawv]

yeah,thats why Morgantown is the #4 city in the US....AA didn't even make the shit list..but does rank up there as the gayest..

Look at how RR has made scUM the LAUGHING STOCK in the ncaa...hahahahaha

Go ahead and take out more of WVU's garbage...and pay em millions to boot...LOL

UM WHO ?? Oh, yeah..hahahahahahahaha that shithole team up in southern Canada..AAYYY

[backtohali]

I feel for all those hating mountaineer fans, it sucks when you lose a great coach in that way, but they should really be blaming the athletics administration for not allowing him to push extra hours/training on his players (overworking the players happens in michigan I guarantee it, maybe thats on ereason that they are top shit and WV don't compete) The coach is one man, a real coach does't passup an opportunity when he isn't allowed to do what he needs to do to help WV win - it isn't fair

[backtohali]

can't blame rich for going to another school, he just wanted to build an elite squad, ya know michigan had no problem breaking the rules to let him take control - WV students and mountaineer fans should blmae the athletics admin for not cutting corners and aiming for a real team

[jrr0385]

west virginia- little man complex

[welchce]

The detractors are so predictable. What's next? They'll say "Well, when Um plays somebody tough RR's system will be exposed...RR's system is a gimmick.." Okay sure...That is called a hypothesis not a statement of fact.

We shall see, but it does look like UM is the future of the Big Ten in terms of scoring points. They are young, talented and run a system that is very advanced compared to other Big Ten schools. So far I see Spread, Power I and West Coast Pro Sets being ran consistently @UM

[welchce]

Michigan is outscoring everyone in the Big Ten by 8+ ppg (37.3). UM scored 28 at Iowa while Penn State scored 10 versus the same Iowa team in Happy Valley.

Bottom line: UM has TRUE FRESHMAN at QB and over 75% of their traveling roster are freshmen & sophomores. They are stastically the youngest team in the Big Ten and still they are scoring more points!

"but they don't play anybody" Iowa, ND, MSU and even Indiana have winning records...most teams in D1 football don't play grueling skids!

[Beastieboys82]

michigan will be good under Coach Rod, but they will NEVER go undefeated. Teams figure his offense out and we've seen that the past 2 weeks. WVU has more total yards on offense this year under Coach Stew than Coach Rod ever had at WVU. Enjoy your mediocrity in the Big Ten

[SeanP7195]

Enjoy your mediocrity for everything and all the time. WVU will never be Big Blue. I hear Michigan bb is ranked this year. Thanks.

[c73carp]

first off rich is a good coach but its not him that was the problem... when he left he took his staff with him an those are the guys that run shit... stew is a fucking tard ( Yes i'm a WVU fan i bleed blue an gold) but he doesnt have the staff that coach rod had... yeah we got doc holliday but one man doesnt make things work... oh an seanP, we're ranked to... #9... so thanks for taking him lol we are much farther ahead then he's EVER BEEN

[SeanP7195]

Terrible analogy. According to you, its not the coaches that are the problem, but the staff.....stupid. Nearly all coaches take along with them their staff. Its more a loyalty issue than anything else. Think about it, how could they know if another coaches staff is great or terrible.....

Anywho...not sure what you are saying about #9. You were ranked (until you lost today) so you are no longer in the the top 25, and Rivals has you listed at #21 in recruiting for 2010. So....

[c73carp]

im talking about basketball you said " you hear the BB team is ranked this year too" talking about MU BB program with just so happens that their head coach used to coach at WVU but like always MU has to give something better a "prettier deal" but im glad u took him cause belin is nothing compared to huggins an if u disagree on that you are retarded

[SeanP7195]

Lol, then I guess i'm "retarded" then. Michigan bb was dead in the water for over a decade. Beilein took them to respectability in no time. they beat..who..Duke and UCLA last season and went to the 2nd round of the tourney. This season they are ranked for the first time since I dont know when and have scheduled powerhouses all over the place. WVU bb on the other hand is living off the recruits it got from Beilein.

[SeanP7195]

By "prettier deal", do you mean the same deal. Cuz thats what the coaches got for going to Michigan. Its a better institution, thats why they left. Thats how it works, the great schools get the best coaches. The same way WVU got RichRod from Glenville State. I dont understand why you people cant get this.

Huggins is doing nothing more than living off Beileins recruits. Currently Huggins has been able to bring in one top 150 recruit (139 overall actually) in 2 seasons.

[c73carp]

really you should know what your talking about before you say anything because for one coach rod come from clemson yeah he started out at glenville state but we did not take him from there, an living off of beileins recruits.... give me a break, ebanks huggins ( will be a first round draft pick if he stays healthy) truck bryant one of the best Soph. point gaurds in the nation, we got the number one JC transfer in the nation.. the only player still from beileins recruits is Butler an im pretter

[c73carp]

sure he's bigger an stronger then when Beilein was here an huggins took our team from a team that got out rebounded every game to one of the top 10 rebounding teams in the nations you yall have fun bombing the 3 ball an we will pound that rock below

[SeanP7195]

Yeah, just like I said. Beilein went to Michigan and took a .500 team and made them a 20 plus win team and in the tournament for the first time in over a decade. Huggins took Beileins team and recruits and maintained them (even though he lost in the 1sr round of the NCAA). Clearly he is still maintaining off the program that Beilein solidified. This is simple stuff. Nearly all coaches who take over for a strong team keep the team doing well, how could they not.

[SeanP7195]

The question was that I must be 'retarted" to think Beilein was better than Huggins. well, I have found no evidence to suggest Huggins is better, but much evidence to suggest Beilein is great. He went to a struggling WVU team adn made them strong, and did the same at Michigan in a very short amount of time. Beilein didnt even vist Michigan when he took the job. He just knew it was superior on merit alone. Also, RichRod lost coaches nearly every season. So how is it all their success?

[shelldawv]

If you take a good look at his records.RR didn't do anything spectacular til White and Slaton stepped forward. That is why he can't even win with 4-5 star recruits at UM,he is a mid level coach..hope you will be happy with 7-8 win seasons..and NC ..doubt it.He has a track record of recruiting thug athletes PacMan, Henry, Gwaltney, at WVu and will do so at UM. RR will never keep good Asst. coaches because they know that he'll never have their back and will toss em under the bus to save his ass !

[34moss]

dont forget noel devine and boubacar cissiko

[shelldawv]

Actually, Devine turned out to be a good person, compared to his life before WVU. He has said several times that coming to WVU was the best thing that ever happened to him and turned his life around. Of course mostly due to coach Stewart.

[shelldawv]

All you have to do is look at Huggins record at Cinn. and see how many he's put in the NBA....Beiline is a decent coach and yes he has turned UM around, but that wasn't hard to do. When at the bottom the only way is up...Yeah, you'll win some good games, but not consitantly, and will get over-powered by bigger players. Any time thar WVU wasn't knocking down 3's, they lost, and so will UM. Huggins has WVU ranked highest EVER, and excellent recruits coming. wait til end of season and compare the 2

[SeanP7195]

Ohhh and can you explain the "we are much further ahead then he's EVER BEEN" comment? Cuz I cant make heads or tails outta it. Looks to me like WVU is clearly on a downturn right now.

[welchce]

" WVU has more total yards on offense this year under Coach Stew than Coach Rod ever had at WVU. Enjoy your mediocrity in the Big Ten."

What does that even mean?

[SeanP7195]

Didn't Bobby Bowden leave WVU to?

[shelldawv]

Do you mean in 1970? hahaha...Lee Corso coached WVU too...I'm sure that you remember that too, don't you? LMFAO

Grasping at straws for something that happened when you were how old? Dude you weren't even born yet.....no wonder you brag about NC from the 1940's..grandpa tell you these facts! LOL...TYPICAL EGO-TESTICLE UM FAN...priceless !!!!!!!!

[speedywithchicken]

Look, college football is a business, and just like the world's top firms attract the services of qualified people, so will football programs with bigger budgets, more attractive facilities, etc. What, exactly, did Rich Rodriguez owe WVU other than coaching the best he possibly could while employed by the university, which he did?

[shelldawv]

He owed them $4 million......due to his contract......

How can he "coach the best he possibly could"...when he was constantly being 'shopped around' for a different school?

[nined5civicex]

So he left WVU for UofM. (most would.....sorry)

Big fkn deal.

He made WVU football what it is today, how can he not be welcome back?

You have to be the most ignorant, homer fan, to completely shut out Rich Rod from a homecoming to his childhood home.

[Harrisononthesack]

It is not that he left...It is the way he left! Everyone outside of WV doesnt get the whole story. You gotta know the things that happened behind the scenes around here when he left. theres more to it.

[lucci314]

Correction...ALL WOULD leave WV for Michigan. Go Blue!!! We are so happy to have him!!

[dt101880]

Can we say bitter? No wonder he left.

[sgeeding12]

u guys are dicks........rich rod just changed jobs.....hes a good guy

[mustanggt12382]

Good guy? Didn't wanna live up to this contract and pay the $4 million dollar buyout and the NCAA is investigating if he broke rules by over working the players, which I believe he has done. Anyone who has ever heard about Mike Barwis the teams strength coach can tell right away these guys don't care about rules or the long term well being of the student-athlete.

[wilk7]

I love coach rod he da best

[wbinwv]

To answer that last question Rich,,,, NO, you won't EVER be welcome back.

Every last one of us hopes you rot in that shithole.

[KinkyWoodsman]

rich rod was a fraud

he did not make wvu what it is

pat white made wvu what it is

rodriguez stumbled upon pat white and thats the only reason he didnt go like 8-4 like he had for the other years before pat white

[Swazi4]

Sigh....RichRod RECRUITED PAT WHITE. No RichRod=No White for WVU. No Steve Slaton either. Do the math.

[shelldawv]

swazi...actually Stewart was the main recruiter for RR..so he is the one that recruited both Slaton and White...also Stewart was Whites QB coach...so there goes that theory......

RR - (White +Slaton) = (3/9 +4/2)= 7/11

Yeah how does the math add up for UM LMAO.....Stewart + White = 9/4........Stewart + Brown =(4/1) =(9/4)=13/5....

last I checked 13/5 > 7/11 or .702 > .308 ....You are correct..DO THE MATH..

Stewart is 2:1 better than RR !!!!!! OR

RR - (White+ Slaton)= SUCKS !! LOL

[Swazi4]

Oh, and saying what you just said would be like if Leach left for Tennessee, and suddenly TTU fans were saying he just got luckey that he "stumbled upon" Crabtree and Harrell. Simply ridiculous.

[shelldawv]

You know what they say about what if's !

If your aunt had balls she'd have been your uncle....no comparison, unless it happened.....(see the math)..numbers don't lie...but RR does....RR's only good years were with Slaton, White, and Schmitt..and don't tell me that he coached White to scramble the way he did...Like Nehlen taught Major Harris to scramble LMAO.."SIMPLY RIDICULOUS".......RR was exposed just like UM has been..

[ripped5050]

Rich I bet I can answer that last question....NO your not welcome back!

[ripped5050]

haha poor lil RichRod...what a freakin crybaby! Goo Buckeyes!

[ducati644]

Rich was a slimeball. A good coach but a slimeball who threatened to leave every year for more money. WVU cancelled their rifle team and cross country teams to help pay for his salary demands, and then he kept demanding more. He is an greedy egomaniac.

[Kelm48103]

The West Virginia fans are absolutely ridiculous. There football team would be nothing today if it weren't for RR. Yea, I can understand you're upset to see him go or whatever, but give the man some credit for making your team a legitimate contender and wish him the best with whatever he does next.

[tennisproace]

I personally like Rich Rodriguez, he is the greatest thing to happen to THE Ohio State Unviersity. Congratulations on an exciting 3-9 year, have a great winter break because you don't have any bowl games, and be sure to bring the same successful offense back next year.

[Sierra688]

Enjoy it now, but you may regret it later. I don't think Rodriguez has forgotten how to coach football. His teams smoked SEC schools in BCS bowls, something OSU and Tressel can only dream of. BTW, not a Michigan fan AT ALL.

[tennisproace]

who is one game away from a National Championship and losses to Pittsburgh...at home...with the refs on your side? Rich Rod. 3-9 42-7 thats nough said. HE WILL SUCK FOREVER!!!!!!!

[azjohndixon]

Cancel the game? Why stop there! Erase this year from the history books, Nullify the dudes contract and use some of the auto industry billions to hire Les Miles!

[azjohndixon]

RESIGN now! And fire the people who hired him!

[72seeker72]

Didn't you hear? The Ohio State game's been cancelled. Michigan can't get past Toledo!

GO BUCKS!!!!!!!!5 in a row!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mike0n0jake0inc]

lol im a michigan fan but thats funny lol

i get it

[NAskins09]

I'm a huge Michigan fan, and I am 1 amongst many who do not welcome him. He is the embodiment of arrogance. He has no idea where he is, and what Michigan football is all about. The way he left WVU (who was already an established program) was pathetic. So not being exited about what kind of coach we had signed I awaited to see his coaching abilities on the field. I'm not impressed. His play calling is laughable, and he screams at anybody and everybody. Rich really does have no CLASS.

[markusr2001]

Wow, WVU fans have really lost it.

RR should pay back the $4 million, but every single WVU fan to a man should just say "thank you". You didn't have a football program anyway until a Michigan man like Don Nehlen showed up in 1980 anyway. And don't tell me Bobby Bowden built the program up prior. His best year was 9-3-0 at WVU.

Like RR is the first and last coach to ever leave WVU for something bigger.

The doors are not locked from inside down there are they?

[HelloFear]

west virginia fans need to chill, you guys were nothing before rich rod and he completely revolutionized your program, be thankful for what he did for yall

[heartbreakerlds]

this is America and you can take a better job whenever you want. i dont get it.

[withears]

Michigan didn't come calling for Rich. Rich's agent was shopping Rich around to various schools including Arkansas.

[kdurrant35]

College football as is all sports is played in the now not the past previous games won and National titles in the past do nothing now so with that said WVU Football right now is better than Michigan WVU killed Oklahoma without Rich and still has Pat White and Noel Devine

[Juiceroids]

you can go after rodriguez but you leave his family alone. thats taking it way too far

[eers2ya]

@Juiceroids No one messed with his family. Only person who has said so is rr. No police reports, nothing.

[Dre3773]

What a bunch of cry-babies. Who wouldn't (if they're any good) want to play for Michigan over WV, Notre Dame, OSU, or any other college football program. Look up the stats. Who's number one of all time? MICHIGAN. Most collegate wins.

[Juiceroids]

Yeah but you know a vast majority of those wins were collected before other schools were established. Since 1930 the two teams tied for most wins and best winning % are OSU and USC. Michigan is still a very good program none the less. They are in that group of all time top 5 programs along with USC, OSU, Oklahoma or Texas, and Notre Dame.

[VictorsValiant]

Stay classy WV.

[wheelingdowns]

Get ready for 3-9 Michigan. Kind of O changes he has with the players leaving, better hope the Big 10 never becomes a good conference. Hope he brings as much success as Belien has brought ... you see us in the Sweet 16? You will also see us in the BCS while your season ends at 3-9 and a loss to OH St. Rod sucks! A petty egomaniac who turned his back on his home. Huggins is on cloud 9 in Morgantown while you are probably staying up at night regretting your decision. Go EERS!

[themike95]

Dude, he made WVU a football program that belonged in Division I. You're a retard

[wheelingdowns]

retard, what are you 8 years old? You must be because WVU has been established for years. The previous coach to him is in the freakin NCAA Hall of Fame. So thanks for your in debth analysis.

[themike95]

stfu hik! wut i meant was...WVu was NOTHING until he came. Michigan beat WVU 130-0! NO JOKE! Worst loss for u in school history

[wheelingdowns]

What you meant was you don't know what you are talking about. WVU has been established for years and your response: "WVu was NOTHING until he came" ???? hahaha. The eers have had hundreds of wins, many many many weeks in the AP, a long list of pros and as I mentioned the head coach before Dick Rod for instance is in the NCAA Hall of Fame.

[wheelingdowns]

This is true, Michigan and WVU met one time and lost that big ....... in Flippin 1904!!! Kind of looked more like intramuaral rugby back then chief. You make a strong argument hahaha. Man, I think the Division 2 school where I did my undergraduate work would beat Michigan this year. Its QB ttransferred from APP St. so probably.

[themike95]

Michigan has the most all-tine wins in the sport of football b*tch! 868

[wheelingdowns]

Way to once again avoid the subject ... too bad one of those wins wasn't against App. St.