Rich Rodriguez (official thread)

[billmac91]

Originally Posted by HailToMichigan

Yes, exactly. Look at it like this: If the shorter practices were related to RR leaving, then one of two things must be true. Either RR used the extra time to his benefit to do something about the Michigan job, or he did not.

I can not think of what he could have done related to the Michigan job outside of extra phone time with Bill Martin, which, again, we'd have known about since they published the phone records.

So if he did not, that would be a lazy, half-assed thing to do - use his impending departure as an excuse to slough off for the day. (Which also assumes that he pretty much already knew he was leaving - before he flew to Toledo on the 14th.) Did a coach who in five years worked his way up from Division II to the head-coaching job at a D-IA BCS school suddenly turn that lazy? Really?

Maybe he was just pre-occupied and the players could tell???

Is it that unplausible?

If I'm considering a move that is going to forever change my life, I may consider cutting down on wind sprints at the end of practice.

[NastyDogg72]

Originally Posted by HailToMichigan

Half-assing was NF's word, not Reynaud's. If you think I'm questioning Reynaud's judgment, I am. It seems like a very big leap to make. A few practices were shorter, so Coach is going to Michigan? Practices might be shorter for any one of a myriad of reasons, which may or may not be known to the players, so guessing as to the reason is pure speculation on their part. Sounds to me like linking two completely unrelated phenomena, because, as I've asked, what benefit is there for RR, especially as related to Michigan, from shortening West Virginia's practice? Are we guessing that it was for no other reason than pure spite?

Everything posted here on this situation is just speculation, we are all free to draw our own conclusions. The quotes attributed to Reynaud are from someone who was involved in the situation first hand. He is quoted as saying that they, the players, pretty much knew that RR was leaving. Now the only example of why they felt that way he gave was the shortened practices, I'm sure there were other things that happened to give the players cause to think this.

Why would RR shorten practices and what benefit would there be for him? It could have nothing to do with any benefit to him, if he knew he was leaving is it so far fetched to believe that he simply didn't care anymore? Why would I put forth any effort if I'm not going to be here in a week could be all it was about. And no, just doing it out of spite can't be eliminated from the equation. If nothing else some of his other actions in leaving have shown that there is certainly bad blood on both sides and it has been discussed in length here that both sides are out to disgrace the other.

WVU fans were disappointed in the performance against Pitt and were very vocal about it and openly questioned RR and he was understandably disgusted with some of the criticism. When the opportunity to get out of Morgantown and become the next coach at TSUN came he took it and may have just decided that I'm done giving WVU any effort. I think it shows a little lack of loyalty but I don't think it was any sinister effort to sabotage WVU's game against Oklahoma. After all if the players knew what they claim they knew they could have taken it upon themselves to practice and work out on their own. Fact is they went out and beat Oklahoma so any small character issues aside it is simply water under the bridge, at some point the past has to be left to be just that. The past.

[osugrad21]

Originally Posted by HailToMichigan

Yes, exactly. Look at it like this: If the shorter practices were related to RR leaving, then one of two things must be true. Either RR used the extra time to his benefit to do something about the Michigan job, or he did not.

I can not think of what he could have done related to the Michigan job outside of extra phone time with Bill Martin, which, again, we'd have known about since they published the phone records.

So if he did not, that would be a lazy, half-assed thing to do - use his impending departure as an excuse to slough off for the day. (Which also assumes that he pretty much already knew he was leaving - before he flew to Toledo on the 14th.) Did a coach who in five years worked his way up from Division II to the head-coaching job at a D-IA BCS school suddenly turn that lazy? Really?

I can absolutely see that as a possibility...but I can also see exactly where NF took his conclusion.

[HailToMichigan]

Originally Posted by billmac91

Maybe he was just pre-occupied and the players could tell???

Is it that unplausible?

If I'm considering a move that is going to forever change my life, I may consider cutting down on wind sprints at the end of practice.

No, that's perfectly plausible, and I'd buy that, but Reynaud didn't mention that.

Why would RR shorten practices and what benefit would there be for him? It could have nothing to do with any benefit to him, if he knew he was leaving is it so far fetched to believe that he simply didn't care anymore? Why would I put forth any effort if I'm not going to be here in a week could be all it was about. And no, just doing it out of spite can't be eliminated from the equation.

Here's where my own assumptions take over. Rodriguez started off in 1990 at dinky little Glenville State, in Division II. A decade later he was at the helm of a Division I-A, BCS team, with two other promotions in between. He then proceeded to take that team to the apex of its historical achievements - thanks to Rodriguez's coaching, the West Virginia Mountaineers have never been more successful in their history. What's the point? To me, that's not the career of a lazy person. People who work that hard don't suddenly get that lazy. And if he had been that way in the past, then it wouldn't be all that extraordinary for the practices to be shorter and the players wouldn't really have noticed.

To add to that, RR would have had to know he was taking the job, otherwise why risk botching a bowl you might be coaching in? He couldn't have known he was going to leave until the evening of the 14th at the very earliest, after his talk in Toledo, which would leave him only Saturday's practice to shorten up, because he was out the door by Sunday's practice.

Finally - and most blazingly important - you don't schedule practice willy-nilly the day before or the day of. Nor are the practice agendas decided as they go. The entire week's practice schedule would have been posted earlier. If RR had to go take care of business related to the job at Michigan, the obvious course of action is to turn to Bill Stewart and say "finish up here for me, I have some stuff to do." I believe it would have made the news before now if Rodriguez had repeatedly turned to his assistants the week before he left for Michigan and said, "OK guys, we're cutting this short, forget the wind sprints." Somebody would have said something. So clearly (to me), the practices were scheduled to be shorter - a schedule which would have been written well before there was any meaningful contact at all between RR and Michigan.

[billmac91]

Originally Posted by HailToMichigan

No, that's perfectly plausible, and I'd buy that, but Reynaud didn't mention that.


Here's where my own assumptions take over. Rodriguez started off in 1990 at dinky little Glenville State, in Division II. A decade later he was at the helm of a Division I-A, BCS team, with two other promotions in between. He then proceeded to take that team to the apex of its historical achievements - thanks to Rodriguez's coaching, the West Virginia Mountaineers have never been more successful in their history. What's the point? To me, that's not the career of a lazy person. People who work that hard don't suddenly get that lazy. And if he had been that way in the past, then it wouldn't be all that extraordinary for the practices to be shorter and the players wouldn't really have noticed.

To add to that, RR would have had to know he was taking the job, otherwise why risk botching a bowl you might be coaching in? He couldn't have known he was going to leave until the evening of the 14th at the very earliest, after his talk in Toledo, which would leave him only Saturday's practice to shorten up, because he was out the door by Sunday's practice.

Finally - and most blazingly important - you don't schedule practice willy-nilly the day before or the day of. Nor are the practice agendas decided as they go. The entire week's practice schedule would have been posted earlier. If RR had to go take care of business related to the job at Michigan, the obvious course of action is to turn to Bill Stewart and say "finish up here for me, I have some stuff to do." I believe it would have made the news before now if Rodriguez had repeatedly turned to his assistants the week before he left for Michigan and said, "OK guys, we're cutting this short, forget the wind sprints." Somebody would have said something. So clearly (to me), the practices were scheduled to be shorter - a schedule which would have been written well before there was any meaningful contact at all between RR and Michigan.

But Reynaud did say that....I'm not sure where the confusion is???

"We kind of figured he was going to leave because toward the end, things started changing around with him," Reynaud said. "We kind of figured something was up and we thought he was going to take the job at Michigan.

"Practice started becoming shorter. We weren't conditioning a lot. So we knew something was up."

Reynaud says he could tell Rodriguez was leaving b/c practices got easier/shorter. Posters point out htis may be a sleazy thing to do and you come in and defend Rodriguez on cue.

Reynaud is just one of the many who are going out of there way to paint Rodriguez in a poor light obviously....

[BUCKYLE]

Maybe he was just pouting because of the fan backlash over the 'neers performance vs Pitt.

We all know RR can be...emotional.