Rich Rodriguez Legacy at WVU Continues to Be Tarnished

On February 23 of this year, Michigan held a news conference responding to allegations of an ongoing NCAA investigation.

The cause of the investigation centered on an article by the Detroit Free Press alleging Michigan had exceeded the practice time that the NCAA allotted for student athletes.

The allegations were subsequently found to be true, thus the need for the aforementioned press conference.

Michigan has until May 24 to file a formal response to the NCAA regarding the findings of their investigation.

Now the NCAA has questioned officials of the WVU athletic department concerning unspecified issues centered on Rich Rodriguez’ time as head football coach.

As Mountaineer fans, this development should be less than shocking; when a departing coach spends hours shredding documents, very few positives can be derived.

“Shredder Gate”, as it has come to be called in the hills of West Virginia, could become a central point in the investigation.

At the very least, it raises the question of impropriety by Rodriquez at WVU. As fans have since the incident, investigators will certainly question the intentions of the action, as well as the contents of the destroyed documentation.

The Mountaineers' athletic department has had ample time to research Rodriguez and his time as head coach at WVU. Rest assured the WVU administration has applied due diligence to this issue.

Since WVU did not file a self-report to the NCAA, fans can breathe a sigh of relief. One can speculate that no evidence exists of NCAA violations at WVU during Rich’s tenure, which is not to say that violations were not committed by Rich at WVU. Again, the documentation may not exist to verify quilt or innocence.

Further condemning Rodriguez is the call he placed to current Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor informing him of his switch from WVU to Michigan. Pryor, at the time, was a potential Mountaineer recruit.

As with “Shredder Gate”, Rodriguez paved a questionable path in regards to his decisions immediately following his choice to leave WVU.

By his actions, it was more important to destroy documents and contact potential recruits than to inform his current players and fans of his decision to depart WVU.

Retiring Athletic Director Ed Pastilong was accused by Rodriguez of establishing a policy of “no”, which became the premise for Rich’s departure from WVU.

At the time, Pastilong endured tremendous grief from WVU fans concerning Rich’s departure.

It is often stated that hindsight is 20/20; Pastilong’s vision was excellent regarding his policies toward his head coach. It is time for Mountaineer Nation to recognize the work Pastilong did to protect WVU athletics.

To state that Rodriguez has questionable morals is undoubtedly an understatement. Further, it is safe to say that Pastilong recognized this shortcoming in Rodriguez and protected WVU from it.

Rich Rodriguez put together arguably the best football teams that WVU has ever fielded on a consistent basis.

As a life long Mountaineer football fan, I am thankful for the memories of those seasons and the players that made those seasons possible. Unfortunately, the deeper individuals probe into Rich Rodriguez the less impressive his accomplishments as a coach become.

Eventually, as all things do, the soap opera associated with Rodriguez will pass—an eventuality I pine for as a WVU fan.

Currently, this is a fluid situation whose legs continue to grow as I type. Where those legs carry the outcome is anybody's guess. It seems the only constant is more developments will follow.

For WVU and its fans, the worst is probably over.

For Rich Rodriguez, his raincoat is wearing thin and his ability to purchase a replacement is long gone. That ability was shredded in December of 2007.