AD may have opening to fire RichRod

[Fitz66]

 

Is the end near for Rich Rodriguez? If incoming athletic director Dave Brandon has ever had any doubts about Rodriguez (Pete Bigelow of AnnArbor.com writes that in too many instances, "Rodriguez has written his own reality to the detriment of his program and the university"), this could be his opportunity to fire the coach, who can be terminated with cause (and no buyout) if he is found to have committed major NCAA violations or been aware of them and failed to report them promptly.

The NCAA infractions committee's final decision is expected to be announced in mid-October, when everyone should have a good idea how the Wolverines' 2010 season will turn out. If Michigan is found to have committed major violations, Brandon could fire Rodriguez immediately and close out the season with an interim coach (hello, Lloyd Carr?); were Brandon to wait until after another subpar season, Rodriguez could probably challenge the reason that he was being fired and win at least some of his buyout.

The upshot is, it's hard to envision Rodriguez keeping his job unless he wins eight or more games. (Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News points out that this was probably the case even without these allegations.) So keep an eye on the middle of October. If Brandon is thinking about making a move, Michigan fans just hope he's already reached out to Stanford's Jim Harbaugh to make sure he is willing to drop everything and return to Ann Arbor.


Michigan addresses NCAA allegations

 Adam Rittenberg   "I'll repeat what I've said all along: Rich Rodriguez's fate ultimately comes down to whether or not he wins games, not what the NCAA decides in August."

[matt]

It's always a good idea to link something that is not something you originally wrote...

I believe this thread is misnamed, because if they had wanted to fire Rodriguez for this nonsense, they would have done so already. Incoming AD Dave Brandon was asked if their would be a coaching change and he emphatically stated that Rich Rodriguez would be the Michigan coach for 2010. He needs to make a bowl this season, but he needed that whether the investigation had happened or not as Wojo from the Detroit News stated in his column. I think Michigan will be greatly improved. They were a few plays away from making a bowl and winning 8+ games last year. Rich finally has a full roster, a majority of which was recruited by him and his staff.

The bigger story is that, while some potential violations were uncovered, this was nowhere near what the Freep claimed. The day that paper goes out of business can not come soon enough. They wasted enough man hours on this whole thing and all that was uncovered was that Michigan misused Quality Control staff. That claim was an afterthought in their story. They claimed that Michigan was going over the weekly limits by 20 hours. There was an instance of 20 MINUTES which included stretching that the staff thought was not countable time. The reason that Michael Rosenberg undertook this process was that he does not like the fact that Rich is Michigan's coach. This had been established by his previous columns trashing Rodriguez. It isn't a surprise that the ethically-bankrupt Free Press would allow an opinion columnist to do investigative journalism.

[Fitz66]

It's always a good idea to link something that is not something you originally wrote...

I would but its an ESPN Insider column...

[Fitz66]

I'd take him back, Stew is horrible.

haha, there would be riots.

[Fitz66]

More bad news for RichRod
3:39PM ET
Michigan Wolverines
Top Email

Michigan could face loss of practice time if the school is found guilty of violating NCAA rules in August. The NCAA is accusing the Wolverine of five major rule violations, the most serious of which are two "failure-to-monitor" counts against Michigan and coach Rich Rodriguez. And this could result in a loss of practice time, AnnArbor.com reports.

Basically, that means Rodriguez didn't make proper effort to be in compliance with NCAA bylaws.

We know Rodriguez is already on the hot seat and another poor season could spell the end of him in Ann Arbor. Athletic Director Dave Brandon has said he won't fire Rodriguez only based on record, but with this dirt on the program -- much of it Rodriguez's fault -- the coach better have one heckuva season for Brandon to keep him around.

It won't be easy if they lose practice time, since their offense will be led by a young QB, whether it's Tate Forcier or Devin Gardner.

[matt]

It's always a good idea to link something that is not something you originally wrote...

I would but its an ESPN Insider column...

You pay for that nonsense?

As for the AnnArbor.com onslaught of articles on Sunday, there was nothing new there from an analysis posted on mgoblog.com (and linked to by A2.com) the day after the Brandon/Coleman/Rodriguez presser. A2.com publishes a print edition on Sunday and Thursday. Instead of extensively previewing spring practice (which started yesterday), they decided to re-package previously presented material, which implies they have questionable motives. The Michigan football beatwriter, Dave Birkett, also took a swipe at Michigan recruit Demar Dorsey in a live chat on the site, which led to this apology:

AnnArbor.com has high standards for its journalists, and an incident occurred Monday that did not meet our standards.

During a live chat on the site, University of Michigan football reporter Dave Birkett made an inappropriate remark relating to a player recruited to play for the Wolverines.

The comment involved Demar Dorsey, a blue-chip high school player from Florida who was arrested for burglaries during his teen-age years, but never convicted of any crime. He comes to Michigan with no criminal record and deserves to be treated as such.

During Monday's live chat, Birkett briefly left the discussion to allow a repairman into his home. When he returned, he explained why he was away. A participant in the chat, using the screen name "Demar'' made a joking remark about planning to come over to Birkett's home. The comment was screened, and did not appear in the chat. But Birkett thought it was being posted in the chat and responded: "And thanks Demar, I'll see you here shortly. No need to bring your crowbar.''

The fact that people following the chat did not see the comment from "Demar'' made Birkett's comment seem even more inappropriate, but it was inappropriate in any case.

Birkett is a veteran journalist with significant experience covering major college and professional sports. This remark was not typical of him, and does not reflect the good judgment that we want our journalists to demonstrate. AnnArbor.com regrets the remark and does not expect something like this to occur again.

To add further context, Birkett is a Michigan State grad, who has developed a recent propensity to ask Rich Rodriguez assinine questions the last few months. The general thought is that Birkett is pissed that media access is being severely curtailed to a level that it was at before Rodriguez was here.

As for this year's team, I think Michigan will get the traditional year two Rodriguez bounce. A lot of the players who are going to contribute are in their second and third years in the program.

[Fitz66]

Yeah, I get ESPN the Mag for roughly $6 a year.  Figured I've been doing well, saving properly, paying my taxes on time - I might splurge just this once.

The general thought is that Birkett is pissed that media access is being severely curtailed to a level that it was at before Rodriguez was here.

Heh, now we know why...

[Fitz66]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5081772

This guy is the gift that keeps on giving...

[matt]

One of two things is happening here:

1) The NCAA is doing it's due diligence to see if Rich went slightly over practice time limits at WVU, or

2) WVU is being investigated and they are trying to spin it as Rich's fault

I'm 99% sure its option 1. Regardless, this nonsense should not have any effect on Rich or Michigan.

[Fitz66]

No, it won't have any affect on Rich or Michigan.

By itself...

C'mon - you have to admit that this guy's digging his own grave up there.  I mean I can't stand our coach and his record isn't all that bad - how can you still defend this guy?

[matt]

C'mon - you have to admit that this guy's digging his own grave up there. I mean I can't stand our coach and his record isn't all that bad - how can you still defend this guy?

When he starts to win, this will all go away. I don't believe there has been any true wrongdoing. As a Michigan fan, I will always hope the team is successful, and once this program gets rolling, I believe Rich can take them to new heights. Michigan had been on the decline the last three years under Carr and a revitalization of the program was necessary. 2008 was a complete nightmare of a season due to a) graduation of long time offensive starters, b) the transition to a whole new offensive system without the parts needed to run said system, and c) players who could have contributed leaving the program. The general consensus among program insiders is that Michigan will have a very good season this year. 8-9 wins would make most of the garbage go away.

[Fitz66]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5195445

He's the Energizer bunny of reasons to get fired...

[ranman]

2376!!!   Please keep RichRod.