Audio only this week. Enjoy.

Posted under Recruiting

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.

“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.

Posted under Coaching

Full audio from Tuesday’s press conference.

Click me.

Also. Arist’s rendering of the new practice facility:

Posted under Coaching

Rich Rodriguez appeared on ESPN Radio’s Mike Tirico Show this afternoon. Clip Here. Highlights here:

• The biggest surprise to Rodriguez so far is the amount of money being poured into the football program soon, including the stadium renovations, new indoor facility, etc.
• In the next month, Rodriguez will put his staff together (last week through this week), work on recruiting, and determine transition plan.
• Difficult to fire all the old assistants. He is rehiring almost all of the support staff, and has rehired Fred Jackson, no word on whether any other UM assistants will be rehired. He cited loyalty to his WVU staffers as one reason to drag them around.
• The staff is expected to be complete by January 7th.
• The spread can be adapted to fit the offensive skill personnel. Shaun King, etc. have been Rodriguez system guys that have thrown a lot more. He has spoken to the Michigan receivers and quarterbacks about probably throwing it more than he has at WVU.
• Coach Rod understands that the UM/OSU rivalry is a big deal. However, Michigan State and Notre Dame are big rivalries, and the winningest team in college football history is EVERYONE’s biggest game. OSU is the most important each year, but for now, he is concerned about Michigan and Michigan only.
• Lloyd Carr has been very supportive of Rodriguez since he took the job. He will get information about the players from coach Carr.
• Capital One Bowl: Coach Rod will return to Ann Arbor next week, and has observed and evaluated the program and the players. He will attend the bowl game, but does not intend to be a big distraction to the team. No word on preparing his new team for the spread offense of the Gators.

Posted under Coaching