Rich Rodriguez on The Herd
Coach Rod was a guest on The Herd on ESPN radio today yesterday (sorry, more important things came up yesterday to post about it then). Colin asked him the general questions you'd expect from someone who doesn't follow the program all that closely (i.e. respond to Boren comments, what will you do without Pryor, etc), to which the response was generally "I only like to talk about the guys who play for Michigan."
However, Colin did ask him one good question, about why he took the Michigan job when he passed over Alabama's head coaching vacancy just a year earlier. While Rodriguez said he couldn't talk too much about it while his lawsuit was ongoing, he did give one interesting comment.
Herd was very complimentary to Michigan, though he obviously was never a fan of Lloyd Carr. Nice to hear that the grudge against the program has ended. He also likes the way Michigan has scheduled in the past (with Notre Dame, Oregon, etc.), and hopes to see that continue. Rodriguez noted that the difficulty lies in getting people to come without promise of a return visit. Cowherd also told WVU to get over their Rodriguez grudge: he brought a "joke" program to prominence, and now they hate him for it.
Also, the word of the day was "tickled." I am not joking. Here's the full audio.
However, Colin did ask him one good question, about why he took the Michigan job when he passed over Alabama's head coaching vacancy just a year earlier. While Rodriguez said he couldn't talk too much about it while his lawsuit was ongoing, he did give one interesting comment.
"Alabama was a super situation. There's a lot of things that went on that I'd like to discuss, but I can't because I'm in the middle of this lawsuit, but the Alabama thing was very tough to turn down. I was happy at the time to stay at West Virginia, then things happened."This definitely gives credence to the theory that Rodriguez was looking to get out of Morgantown, wherever he ended up, rather than wanting to go to Michigan while not considering what it would mean to West Virginia. He doesn't know when the lawsuit will be wrapped up but (obviously) hopes it wraps up soon.
Herd was very complimentary to Michigan, though he obviously was never a fan of Lloyd Carr. Nice to hear that the grudge against the program has ended. He also likes the way Michigan has scheduled in the past (with Notre Dame, Oregon, etc.), and hopes to see that continue. Rodriguez noted that the difficulty lies in getting people to come without promise of a return visit. Cowherd also told WVU to get over their Rodriguez grudge: he brought a "joke" program to prominence, and now they hate him for it.
Also, the word of the day was "tickled." I am not joking. Here's the full audio.
Labels: audio, coaching, rich rodriguez
This entry was posted by Tim, on
Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
You can leave your response.
4/30/2008 09:08:00 AM
I listened to Colin Cowherd the other day and that's when I realized, he's a moron. He kept going on about how the Quarterback is the only position that means anything in the draft and how Matt Ryan was the only QB that could possibly be a good QB. He reminded me of Jim Rome.
4/30/2008 09:34:00 AM
Comparing Lloyd Carr to Bobby Knight doesn't exactly make sense. Lloyd Carr was soft with the players compared to Knight cranky with the media.
4/30/2008 09:35:00 AM
Cohwerd is entertaining. He makes some good points and sometimes he misses things.
Jim Rome is just irritating. He sounds like he's constipated and is in dire need to take a crap ALL THE TIME!
4/30/2008 09:41:00 AM
Tate is definitely still considering...He's not scared of competition...IMO he would be way ahead by starting during winter semester.
4/30/2008 10:33:00 AM
Listening to the audio [thanks for providing it!] invoked a question for me that I haven't yet thought of:
Will the aggregate transition of both new players and a new system make for a "whole is less than the sum of the parts" situation?
That is to say, while I'm sure the compounded issues will make for a more difficult transition than if the Wolverines had to endure only one or the other, perhaps the fact that the players are indeed "new" will help speed up the implementation of the new schemes.
Would you rather have Chad Henne step into the new offense after 4 years of being groomed in the old system, or Steven Threet (I won't use Feagin as an example since it's not really a fair comparison) take the reigns having not played a snap of college football in any other system? Henne is likely still the best bet, but the point is that the playing field is shifted in Threet's favor. Add Feagin into the equation and I think it becomes a dilemma that may even compel one to lean toward him and Threet.
While congruent comparisons are harder to draw with Mario Maningham, Adrian Arrington, and Mike Hart as their respective positions are more grounded in athleticism, they can still nonetheless be made.
4/30/2008 10:53:00 AM
Very interesting question, Max. I'll answer it in the next mailbag.