ESPN REPORT: The West Virginia Mountaineers football Head Coach is Being Fired Due to…
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan has hired West Virginia’s Rich
Rodriguez as its next football coach following a search that
featured two other top prospects deciding to stay put.
Rodriguez, whose Mountaineers (No. 9 BCS, No. 11 AP) are preparing for their
second BCS game in three seasons, will take over Michigan’s program
from Lloyd Carr, Michigan athletic department spokesman Bruce Madej
said Sunday.
“I am thrilled to have Rich Rodriguez as Michigan’s new
coach,” athletic director Bill Martin wrote in an e-mail to The
Associated Press on Sunday. “Rich brings an exciting brand of
football to Michigan Stadium. We welcome the entire Rodriguez
family to Ann Arbor.”
A source told ESPN’s John Buccigross that the primary reason for Rodriguez leaving West Virginia was his deteriorating relationship with the athletic department. Sources also told Buccigross that former Auburn coach and West Virginia native Terry Bowden, who played for the Mountaineers and who was a graduate assistant there, has been in contact with WVU about the Mountaineers’ head coaching position.
Former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, who coached Rodriguez
when he played for the Mountaineers and was on Bo Schembechler’s
staff at Michigan, endorsed the move.
“I felt it was a great opportunity for Rich,” Nehlen told the
AP in a telephone interview from Morgantown, W.Va. “There are not
many Michigans around.”
Rodriguez, who informed his players at a 1:30 p.m. ET meeting Sunday that he was leaving for Michigan, will formally be introduced by the Wolverines at a 9 a.m. ET news conference on Monday morning at the Junge Family Champions Center on campus. WVU recruiting coordinator Tony Gibson and offensive coordinator Calvin Magee flew to Ann Arbor on Sunday evening with Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was extremely emotional in the meeting with his West Virginia players that lasted less than 10 minutes Sunday, a person at the meeting told ESPN. He had difficulty telling his team, “Others have contacted me but this one I had to listen.”
A source close to Rodriguez told ESPN that the Michigan deal will average in the range of $2.5 million per year, which would be more than a half-million per year raise from his West Virginia salary.
“The players are upset because he said he’s going to leave before the bowl game,” James Dykes, the father of West Virginia defensive tackle Keilen Dykes told ESPN’s Joe Schad. “At least coach them in the bowl game. James just called to tell us and I know he is very upset about this.”
Assistant head coach Bill Stewart and Magee ran West Virginia’s one-hour practice on Sunday. Rodriguez was not present. “We tried to be excited,” Keilen Dykes said. “We’re all hurting right now, but we can’t cry.”
There was no immediate word on who would coach West Virginia in the Jan. 2 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma (No. 4 BCS, No. 3 AP) in Glendale, Ariz.
Michigan’s reputation seemed to take a hit during
constant coverage of its first coaching search since hiring
Schembechler nearly four decades ago. The school had permission to
talk to LSU coach Les Miles, who played for Schembechler and also
was an assistant under him, but couldn’t bring him back to Ann
Arbor. It also talked with Greg Schiano, who decided to stay at
Rutgers.
The 44-year-old Rodriguez seems to be much more than a
consolation prize.
He built West Virginia (10-2) into a Big East power, winning the
conference championship this year for the fourth time in five
seasons and going 60-26 overall.
“I’m pretty sure the next guy will do a good job but Coach Rod was West Virginia,” Running back Steve Slaton said. “It’s a business. He has to think of his family first. He’ll have emotions. But I can’t be mad at him because he gave me a chance.”
Carr plans to coach the Wolverines in the Capital One Bowl on
Jan. 1 against No. 9 Florida.
Rodriguez’s West Virginia contract, which ran through the 2013
season, had a $4 million buyout clause if he left before next
September. After several days last year, Rodriguez turned down
Alabama’s reported six-year, $12 million offer after the
Mountaineers gave him a one-year contract extension.
When Michigan lured basketball coach John Beilein away from West
Virginia last April, Beilein’s contract had a $2.5 million buyout
clause. Under an agreement with West Virginia, he paid
$1.5 million to the WVU Foundation.
Madej said he did not know how the
school and Rodriguez would handle his buyout.
“Honestly I don’t know why he chose Michigan instead of Alabama,” Slaton said. ” I’m still going to go through the decision [with the NFL draft]. I have to make a big decision for me.
“Learning another system and having another coach would be hard. But I’m not sure yet.”
Freshman Ryan Mallett gained experience this year with the
Wolverines, filling in for banged-up Chad Henne, and his father
said people shouldn’t assume his son is transferring because he
might not fit into Rodriguez’s offense that features a mobile
quarterback.
“I talked to Ryan today and he’s going to keep an open mind and
is looking forward to hearing what coach Rodriguez’s plans are,”
Jim Mallett told the AP. “So, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Mallett’s decision might be easier if Terrelle Pryor decides to
commit to Rodriguez and the Wolverines.
The star QB from Jeannette, Pa., said he informed Rodriguez that
Michigan became one of the five schools he was considering when the
coach told him he was going to lead the Wolverines.
“We talked at 10 a.m. this morning and I told him Michigan just
got on my list,” Pryor told the AP on Sunday night.
Pryor is also considering Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Florida.
After watching Pryor play on tape, Nehlen said he reminds him of
Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young.
“If that kid comes, he’s probably more important than Rich,”
Nehlen joked.
Rodriguez met with Martin on Friday to talk about the Wolverines’ coaching job.
Rodriguez, 44, was
back in Morgantown on Friday after taking a flight from Ohio, and he was
unwilling to talk about any possible interest in the Michigan job.
“Going to practice. I’m going to practice,” he told The Associated Press on Friday,
getting into his car after a trip to Toledo.
Rodriguez
again refused to discuss Michigan’s vacant coaching job on
Saturday.
At the opening of a previously scheduled news conference about
West Virginia’s trip to the Fiesta Bowl, Rodriguez said he
would only talk about the game against Oklahoma.
