Isn't anyone gonna mention Rich? (Morgantown, Fairmont: appointed, home, buy)

[mswva]

I feel so betrayed by coach Rod! I use to be proud to tell people he was my drivers ED teacher in high school...now I'm ashamed to say he's from my county and state...

[g_massie]

Yes I will....But come on home Terry Bowden its where you belong

[snorpus]

Well, if it weren't for the fact that he is leaving WVU, we'd probably all be proud of the local boy who made good.

I'm disappointed, since I was hoping he would take the Joe Paterno route, and become a fixture in Morgantown. But we all have to make life's decisions as we feel is best, and I wish him great success at Michigan. If he gets that Pryor kid out of Jeannette PA to come with him, Big 10 games are going to be a lot more interesting.

[ourkidzrmylife]

I feel bad for the team that almost got him to a National Championship. Those boys worked so hard and did so well and he is not even coaching them in a Bowl that they earned together. Personally, I do not think highly of RR but he does his job well. I think he disappointed alot of loyal fans and a talented team of players. I am not an Ohio State Fan at all but will be cheering for them to beat Michigan!

[73mountaineer]

Originally Posted by ourkidzrmylife

I feel bad for the team that almost got him to a National Championship. Those boys worked so hard and did so well and he is not even coaching them in a Bowl that they earned together. Personally, I do not think highly of RR but he does his job well. I think he disappointed alot of loyal fans and a talented team of players. I am not an Ohio State Fan at all but will be cheering for them to beat Michigan!

Not to mention the under-reported fact that he set his official resignation date as Jan 3rd in his letter of resignation, effectively prohibiting WVU from hiring or naming another coach before that date. Why did he do this? Leverage against the university of course! He now still has some bargaining power against WVU to reduce the amount that he actually has to pay for his buy out. Michigan has already said that they will pay $3 million and the traitor is responsible for the other $1 million. Anyone want to bet that he only has to pay $3-3.5 million? He won't sign his contract with Michigan until after the Fiesta Bowl and he is still officially the head coach at WVU. WVU can't fire him because he will then not have to pay the buy out and they will also owe him money because he is under contract. Slick huh? Not only did he jump ship, he is still holding the cards until after Jan 3rd.

I hope Michigan loses every game next year & I wish him nothing but failure.

Bitter? Yes, I am. This is no native son makes good story, this is a native son makes a big name for himself and then turns his back on us story of betrayal. I could have predicted this years ago when I got my first glimpse of his "flashy" personality. He came to WVU driving a minivan, then, as customary in Morgantown, he was given a brand-new car, a Chrysler 300, donated from a local dealership. That car lasted through his first season I think and then there was a brand new black Mercedes in his spot. I never saw anything but a Mercedes parked in his spot from that day forward. I suspected then that he wasn't the right guy for us & would leave for $$$ and more prestige someday. Granted, it was just one example, but it came to fruition.

I have no respect for the man. Did he leave a lot of talent for us to continue forward with? Yes, but he also made sure that we couldn't move forward immediately by not officially turning over the reigns until after the bowl game.

Just my 2 cents.

- Steve

[Big_Al]

At least he'll preserve the colors They call'em Maze'n'blue in MI.

[SteelersFan09]

I really feel bad for the high school kids who committed to play for WVU under him and were recruited by him and are now going to be in a situation that they are completley unfamiliar with. It's one of the biggest decisions of their lives and I'm sure they feel betrayed just as much if not more so than us as fans. It seems silly that these kids are locked into moving somewhere many miles away from home with no option and money-hungry,classless traitors like Rodriguez can jump ship as they please. I'm certainly NOT implying that Morgantown isn't a great place to go, I love the school and program as I'm sure many of you do, but it's something to think about.

[snorpus]

Before you put all the blame on Rich, you might want to read this article from today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Link The wealthy donors who were going to fund all those improvements tied to Rich's last contract are saying it's the administration that's at fault here.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see why WVU couldn't offer the job to a new coach, with a hire-date of Jan. 4th. Every time I've received an offer letter, the hiring date has been some time in the future.

[73mountaineer]

Originally Posted by snorpus

Before you put all the blame on Rich, you might want to read this article from today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Link The wealthy donors who were going to fund all those improvements tied to Rich's last contract are saying it's the administration that's at fault here.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see why WVU couldn't offer the job to a new coach, with a hire-date of Jan. 4th. Every time I've received an offer letter, the hiring date has been some time in the future.

Maybe so, but have you resigned your previous position with a resignation date in the future and then immediately went ahead to your next job?

I don't put ALL of the blame on the traitor, but I am sure that the administration got tired of throwing more money at him and the facilities every time a high profile job opened up. I don't blame them for letting him go. It has also been implied that he & Michigan handled this very poorly, with Michigan possibly not asking permission from WVU to talk to him and also him not informing WVU that he was meeting with them. The guy wanted to go & he can make any excuses that he wants to for the reasons that he left, but the fact remains that WVU's facilities have improved by leaps and bounds in every year that he has been the head coach. He doesn't have a leg to stand on if he wants to say that WVU hasn't committed to building their football program into one of the best in the nation.

The boosters only want success, they don't care if the coach is holding a gun to the school's head every time he has a chance to jump ship. They donate money, they DON'T run the institution.

- Steve

[Love2LiveNCities]

i just came from Fairmont/morgantown area. Mountaineers are not my favorite team but they are up there. I had no idea who RichRod was before then. But personally someone has to worry about themselves and only themselves. Michigan is a better school and a more memorable football school that WVU. I love WVU without a doubt...but when i went to Florida...people thought it was a school in Western Virginia. Had no idea who they were or what they did. But you can go anywhere and everyone knows Michigan. Yeah he made a big name for himself but this could potentially make a bigger one. The only thing i despise is his hypocritical statements too the guy that left a few months ago. And now he does it. No one should ever feel bad for bettering themselves regardless of the "state" he left behind.