Rich Rodriguez Still has to Prove Himself

Michigan fans seem to be excited about Rich Rodriguez and convinced that he will take the Wolverines back to the promised land. Therefore, fans have embraced him with open arms.

While I do support Rodriguez and will be patient for him to rebuild the program, I am not going to anoint him the next Bo Schembechler just yet. I am optimistic, but it is a cautious optimism.

Looking at his record, he certainly is a good college coach, but I am not sure he is at the same level as Urban Meyer, Mack Brown, or Pete Carroll. He did a good job at West Virginia. However, how many national championships did he win there? That is right—none.

Certainly he had the opportunity to contend the last two years at West Virginia, but Louisville and Pittsburgh changed their plans.

To be fair, it is not all on him. Players have to execute on the field. But the bottom line is, he got them close but he didn't finish the deal.

Regardless of what he previously did, he is now at Michigan. When Jim Tressel went from Bowling Green to Ohio State, he had to prove himself all over again. Just because he won in the MAC didn't mean he would win in the Big Ten.

The same is true for Urban Meyer when he went from Utah to Florida. The SEC is a huge upgrade from the Mountain West.

Let's face it, the Big East is only slightly above a mid-major conference—I am not even sure that the Big East is better than the Mountain West.

Although Meyer and Tressel succeeded after moving to a better conference, many others have failed. Therefore, there is no guarantee.

Another reason I am not sold on him is because he hasn't won in Ann Arbor yet. Sure, he is rebuilding it and implementing a new system. However, Meyer adjusted his philosophy to the players he had and actually won a title with players he didn't recruit.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, totally unloaded the players from the previous regime. That included Ryan Mallet who wasn't a fit for a Rodriguez type system. Having said that, Chris Leak didn't fit Meyer's system, but they made it work.

Rodriguez's plan to replace Mallet was Terelle Pryor. Well, he was unable to land him and the Wolverines were stuck with Threet and Sheridan. I am sorry, but that does make me question whether or not he can land the top recruits at Michigan.

It also makes me wonder whether or not he can get recruits away from Ohio State.

The other thing is the way we got him. He bailed out on his alma mater to come to Michigan. He left for greener pastures. The reality is that if he did that to them, he will do it to Michigan too.

What happens if in a couple years Urban Meyer goes to Notre Dame? That could happen. Florida will then need a coach. Do you think Rodriguez would leave Michigan for Florida or any other school where he thought the grass was greener?

I think he would.