Just Saying, Is All... | The Real Problem with Rich Rodriguez

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Be careful what you wish for.

Rich Rodriguez can’t get a break. He also can’t gripe about it. As his Wolverines continue to struggle on the field, Rodriguez is catching hell from his critics in the media—which would be less fair if the University of Michigan coach weren’t the architect of his own damnation.

Privilege means having your way.

Responsibility, on the other hand, means having to pay for it.

I’m not trying to dump on Rodriguez. Regime change is never easy, and it’s absurd to expect a spread-option revolution in a mere season-and-a-half. But absurd expectations are part of the job description at Michigan. In a program that worships historical excellence, there’s no more unforgivable sin than contemporary mediocrity.

You reap the harvest you sow.

You receive the cross you seek.

If Rodriguez is looking to lay blame for his crucifixion, he can start by cursing the self-made martyr in the mirror.

Elite college football coaches are victims of their own prestige. Charlie Weis, Bobby Bowden, Rich-Rod Himself—they’re hyper-visible scapegoats, guilty of nothing so much as occupying the spotlight. The irony, of course, is that the great ones are great because they covet the scrutiny. Conservative career consultants will argue that Rodriguez should have embraced his home-state hero status at West Virginia. I’d counter that no hero worthy of the title could resist the siren song of Michigan Stadium.

It’s bad to bite off what you can’t chew.

It’s worse to spit out what you can’t swallow.

Rodriguez may well leave Ann Arbor with a bitter taste in his mouth, but karma and contract law demand that he eat the meal he ordered from the menu.

Ambition is its own worst enemy. Those who dream huge always aim high; those who aim high often fall hard. The real problem with Rich Rodriguez is that which he created for himself, by daring to take his act to the Biggest House around. Every egomaniac is shameless in pursuing the fame he desires. The one who finds disgrace at center stage should be gracious in accepting the fate he deserves.

*

Jesus of Nazareth never called the shots on a Big Ten sideline, but he did know a thing or two about onerous blessings :

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Which doesn't bode well for a play-caller burdened by the keys of the kingdom.

Because there's no hotter seat than a messianic throne, and any monarch who requests authority without accountability is either reigning in Morgantown or only just saying, is all...

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?