Who Is Rich Rodriguez?

Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

What a perfectly applicable quote to the situation Michigan fans have found themselves in today.  The Michigan faithful have fissured over the hire of Rich Rodriguez.  Some welcome the change, others deplore it.  In two years Rich Rod has successfully demolished this program - ending 33 consecutive bowl appearances, first losing season(s) since the 1960s, and continued losses to that school down south.

It's comforting, then, to know that this is exactly how the story is supposed to go.

It's easy for people to sit behind a computer and type comments on the internet - where else can you be a jackass while remaining (virtually) anonymous?  It's easy to type about how poor Michigan is doing, how much Rich Rod sucks, call him "Dick Rod", etc.  But that is not going to get us anywhere.  What we need is unity.  Athletic Director David Brandon knows this well, as he said the following:

“All I can do as athletic director is make one thing perfectly clear over and over and over again. Rich Rodriguez is the coach at the University of Michigan football team. He’s our coach. He’s my coach. He should be everybody’s coach. We should respect him. We should respect the position that he holds, and we should support him and help him in every way we can to be successful, and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

I will attempt to answer the question "Who is Rich Rod?" in this article, and to help you understand why David Brandon is giving relentless support to Rich Rod - I assure you, there is a reason.

Richard Rodriguez graduated in 1986 with a degree in physical education from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.  During the 1985-1986 season, he served as student assistant coach under head coach Don Nehlen.

He moved to Salem College (now Salem International university) where he was the special teams coordinator and secondary coach.  In 1987 he became the defensive coordinator and in 1988 took over as head coach.  At 25 years old, Rich Rodriguez was the youngest college head coach in the country.  He went 2-8 in his first year at the helm before Salem scrapped their football program the following year.

In 1989 he returned to WVU as a volunteer assistant, working with the outside linebackers.  After the 1989-1990 season, he left WVU to take the head coaching job at Glenville State College.

In 1990 he lead the Pioneers to a 1-7 record.  In 1991, he improved to 4-5-1.  In 1992, there was improvement to 6-4.  In 1993, Glenville State posted a 10-3 record as West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions and appeared in the 1993 NAIA national championship game.  The following years he finished 8-3, 8-2, and then 6-4 in 1996.  GSC was WVIAC Co-Champions each of these three years.

At Glenville State, Rich Rod compiled a 43-28-3 record and was named WVIAC coach of the year in 1993 and 1994, NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1993, and West Virginia State College Coach of the Year in 1993.  The 4 WVIAC championships from 1993-1996 were the first for the school since 1959, and his players set 5 Division II records, and three of them earned WVIAC Player of the Year honors.

At the end of the 1996 season, Rich Rod left Glenville State for Tulane.  He served as assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and QB coach during Tulane's 12-0 season.  When Tulane's head coach Tommy Bowden was hired by Clemson, Bowden took Rodriguez with him - with the Tigers appearing in the Peach Bowl (Chick-Fil-A Bowl) and the Gator Bowl.

After his time with Clemson, the West Virginia Mountaineers announced Rich Rodriguez would replace legendary coach Don Nehlen as head coach.

In 2001, the Mountaineers limped to a 3-8 (1-6) record [sound familiar?].  In 2002, Rich Rod performed the biggest turnaround in Big East History - finishing 9-4 and 2nd overall in the Big East with a loss in the Continental Tire Bowl.  His team still ended up #20 in the coaches poll and #25 in the AP poll.

In 2003, Rich Rod led WVU to an 8-5 (6-1) record, good for a tie for 1st place in the Big East and a Gator Bowl berth.

In 2004, Rich Rod led the Mountaineers to an 8-4 (4-2) record, a Big East Co-Championship, and a Gator Bowl berth.

In 2005, Rich Rod led the Mountaineers to an 11-1 (7-0) record with their only loss against #3 Virginia Tech.  WVU went on to win the Sugar Bowl against Georgia, 38-35.  Undefeated Big East Champions, ranked 6th in the coaches poll and 5th in the AP poll.

In 2006, Rich Rod led the Mountaineers to an 11-2 (5-2) record, tied for 2nd in the conference, and won the Gator Bowl.  He finished the season with his team ranked 10th in both major polls.

In 2007, Rich Rod led WVU to a 10-2 (5-2) record, Big East Co-Championship, and a win in the Fiesta Bowl vs Oklahoma (though he did not coach the Fiesta bowl as he left for Michigan, but I still credit his coaching throughout the season as the reason they won).  The Mountaineers ended up ranked 9th in the coaches poll and 11th in the AP poll.

From 2001-2007, he compiled a respectable 60-26 overall record, going 34-14 in conference play.  Good for a 0.698 win percent overall and .701 win percent in the Big East.  Oh, and conference champs 4 of 7 years is pretty sweet too.

So why did I just give you his life history?  It's simple, I want everyone to know that Richard Rodriguez has had success everywhere he went.  The only exception is at Salem after his 2-8 season, but the school had dropped their football program, so he could not work his turnaround magic.

David Brandon sees it.  Mary Sue Coleman sees it.  I see it.  There's no reason to believe his stay at Michigan won't follow the pattern it did at GSC and WVU, which means there is no reason to think Michigan won't be seeing 10-2, 11-1, or even 12-0 seasons.  His offense is flashy, high-octane, and fun to watch.  He has two BCS bowl wins (consider that Michigan has gone 1-3 in BCS bowls).

In order to understand where we are going, we must understand where we've been. 

Rich Rod has been successful at every level, at every school.  It only follows that we will soon find success.

Go Blue!