Wolverines get their Man
Holy shit. There was nothing since Lloyd Carr announced his retirement that would suggest Michigan was going to go out and try to hire one of the top coaches in college football. Michigan did the obvious and gave current coordinators Ron English and Mike DeBord cursory interviews. They also interviewed a solid candidate like Rutgers’ coach and wood-chopper Greg Schiano. They even made a half-hearted attempt to extend Bo Schembechler’s lineage by hiring Les Miles, who turned them down not once but twice - likely due to the fact his LSU Tigers will play for the BCS championship next month.
As a result of those rejections the University of Michigan was lampooned for their efforts to replace Lloyd Carr. On the surface this really didn’t make much sense since Bill Martin stated that he’d hoped to have a coach in place by the end of the year.
But after the meandering yachtsman appeared to fumble the ball that was the biggest responsibility he had as Michigan’s AD, university president Mary Sue Coleman scooped it up and became more directly involved in the search process. She was involved in the second attempt to land Les Miles and she was present when Michigan hammered out the lion’s share of the agreement that would bring Rich Rodriguez to Ann Arbor. She is one of the highest paid university presidents and she proved her mettle in this coaching search.
Les Miles would have been a solid hire, especially if he came in a package deal with John Tenuta. But he’s not one of the top x’s and o’s coaches in the country. Rich Rodriguez clearly is, and he will rejigger a Michigan offense that has become ossified over the past 15 years. This New York Times piece - posted by Brian over at MGoBlog - has a nice rememberance by the first QB to run Rodriguez’ spread attack.
The numbers are hard to dispute. In the past decade and a half Coach Rodriguez’ system has demonstrated an unparalleled ability to burn the offensive candle at both ends. In 1998, with Rodriguez as offensive coordinator, Tulane averaged more than 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing per game for an entire season. Show me another offensive system boasting a resume that includes 500-yard passing performances (Coach Rodriguez’ quarterbacks produced three such games at Glenville State), as well as games with over 500 yards in team rushing (two times to date at W.V.U., including last week against Connecticut).
Show me another scheme that has produced a quarterback with 38 touchdown passes in a season (Shaun King under Coach Rod’s tutelage at Tulane in 1998), and a quarterback with no fewer than three 200-yard rushing performances (White at West Virginia). For that matter, can you cite another offense that stakes claim to a 300-yard single-game receiving performance (Chris George at Glenville State in 1994), and a 300-yard rusher (Kay Jay Harris at West Virginia in 2004)?
There have been questions about Ryan Mallet’s relevance in Rodriguez’ spread attack that he has used at West Virginia. This is where Shaun King’s 1998 season at Tulane provides some guidance. Rodriguez was the offensive coordinator who guided King as he led Tulane to an undefeated season while setting an NCAA record with a passer rating of 183.3. So there’s plenty of reason to think Rodriguez could implement an offense that would allow Ryan Mallet to thrive.
While Rodriguez doesn’t have the direct ties to the Michigan program that Les Miles has, a Bo Schembechler protegee who preceeded Rodriguez at West Virginia gave his full support to the former Mountaineer coach to head north to Ann Arbor. Angelique Chengelis from the Detroit News was able to get this quote from Don Nehlen:
Nehlen said he met with Rodriguez over the weekend and offered his advice on the job opportunity.
“I thought it would be great for him,” said Nehlen, West Virginia’s coach for 21 seasons. “These opportunities don’t come around very often. Rich has found a place that’s just special. If you’re a football coach it’s a dream come true. I’m certainly not belittling West Virginia. It’s just different at Michigan.”
West Virginia provided the University of Michigan with Fielding Yost; Michigan provided the Mountaineers with Don Nehlen; and now WVU sends Rich Rodriguez to Michigan. If the new football coach can at least be reasonably compared with his two predecessors then he will have been an excellent hire by Bill Martin and Mary Sue Coleman.
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