University of Michigan, Would You Still Hire Rich Rodriguez?

As the fans of West Virginia University's football program continue to get tossed around in the wake of Rich Rodriguez's departure from his alma mater and state he claims to love, there is a question that begs to be answered:

Would Michigan, which prides itself on employing only the classiest coaches in the industry, consider hiring Rich Rodriguez if they had to do it all over again?

Knowing what they know now, would Bill Martin, Michigan's Athletic Director, make that call to Coach Rodriguez on December 16th, if he knew that his future football coach was the lack-of-man he now knows he is?

I recently met a gentleman who attended the University of Michigan, a diehard football fan who graduated during the Schembechler days. When he learned of my connection with WVU, we began to talk about the ongoing saga of his new football coach.

His opening comment to me was, "I would be surprised if the U of M administration isn't completely disappointed and disgusted with their choice to replace Lloyd Carr now that they know who and what Rich Rodriguez is."

I would be surprised if this isn't the true feelings of most Wolverines.

What people must understand is that millions of personal dollars were raised 12 months ago specifically to help increase Rich Rodriguez's salary and keep him at WVU after he threatened to go to Alabama—plus millions more to improve the athletic program, a request of Coach Rod. Anyone who has a shred of compassion would understand that when hard-earned money is donated to a cause, the expectation is that the money will be put to good use.

In this case, the hard-earned money has been wasted on a cause that did not pay off.

Please don't be misled; we're not talking about a few dollars like that in which we donate to the local police department every year. We're talking millions.

Some individual boosters donated in excess of a million dollars to help keep, what WVU fans thought was, the future of the Mountaineers football program.

Not to mention the little matter of a four million buyout clause that was completely disregarded as a significant part of Rodriquez’s contract. The mere fact that anyone would completely disrespect the issue of upholding the integrity of a contractual arrangement that both parties agreed to, says a lot about his character and his reliability.

So, the question is, would the University of Michigan do it all over again, knowing what they know now? It's an interesting question. But one that continues to disturb many people involved.