Article was published after Rod left WVU and Michigan sent him off to Arizona eating humble pie.
Article quoting Rich after WVU and Michigan. I believe Rich.
Speaking about the Pitt loss:
"It makes me want to throw up,” he said. “I think I did watch it one time. I was so bad in calling that game. Pat [White] got hurt. We made some mistakes we never made. I played it too close to the vest. There’s a lot of things I would do over. I try not to think about that as much. But I try to think of the good things as opposed to that one terrible night.”
Rodriguez would change how he left West Virginia, though he doesn’t regret going to Michigan itself.
“Not digging into the whole exit, but I was advised not to have a press conference,” Rodriguez said. “Looking back, I should have had a press conference and stood before the great folks in West Virginia and explained why. People would have still been mad, and I understand that. But I could have told them a little bit what was going on. Even if they wouldn’t have understood it, there wouldn’t be as many crazy things floating around about that.”
Rodriguez said the departure was based on his thought that Michigan would have easier access to the financial resources needed to win a national championship than WVU.
“I don’t think I was unhappy,” he said. “I just thought it was a situation where I thought – I don’t want to say it would be easier to win a national championship at Michigan, but I thought there would be more of the resources.
“We were getting as much support in the state of West Virginia as you possibly could. I felt like we couldn’t keep asking for more, and to win a national championship we were going to need more. At Michigan you were going to have unlimited resources.”
So, this is Rich's version. I believe most of it. Yes, he was egotistical and overbearing but he also was a damn good coach. And he admits that he blew it in the way he coached the loss to Pitt. Ever hear of Rich admitting he was wrong much? I will ALWAYS be grateful to Rich for the great seasons he brough to my alma mater and me. I don't have time for being bitter and irrational. If Neal Brown does half as well as Rich then I'll be a NB fan, too, because anyone who does good for my alma mater, which did so much good for me, is A-OK in my book, no matter how they comb their hair, their skin pigmentation or their personality!
WVU WASN'T ABLE TO PAY FOR THE RESOURCES THAT RICH NEEDED TO WIN THE NATIONAL TITLE WITH THE MOUNTAINEERS. PERIOD. WHOSE FAULT WAS THAT? AD? BOOSTERS? DOESN'T MATTER. IT DROVE RICH FROM WVU. AND RICH HAS HAD A DOWNWARD COACHING CAREER EVER SINCE. RICH LOST. WVU LOST. HE WAS THE BEST WVU COACH IN MY LIFETIME. DON NEHLEN WAS A CLOSE SECOND. DOC SPEARS WITH THE ONLY UNBEATEN WVU TEAM IN HISTORY IN 1922 WAS #1 OVER BOTH #2 RICH AND #3 DON AND #4 BOWDEN.
Article quoting Rich after WVU and Michigan. I believe Rich.
Speaking about the Pitt loss:
"It makes me want to throw up,” he said. “I think I did watch it one time. I was so bad in calling that game. Pat [White] got hurt. We made some mistakes we never made. I played it too close to the vest. There’s a lot of things I would do over. I try not to think about that as much. But I try to think of the good things as opposed to that one terrible night.”
Rodriguez would change how he left West Virginia, though he doesn’t regret going to Michigan itself.
“Not digging into the whole exit, but I was advised not to have a press conference,” Rodriguez said. “Looking back, I should have had a press conference and stood before the great folks in West Virginia and explained why. People would have still been mad, and I understand that. But I could have told them a little bit what was going on. Even if they wouldn’t have understood it, there wouldn’t be as many crazy things floating around about that.”
Rodriguez said the departure was based on his thought that Michigan would have easier access to the financial resources needed to win a national championship than WVU.
“I don’t think I was unhappy,” he said. “I just thought it was a situation where I thought – I don’t want to say it would be easier to win a national championship at Michigan, but I thought there would be more of the resources.
“We were getting as much support in the state of West Virginia as you possibly could. I felt like we couldn’t keep asking for more, and to win a national championship we were going to need more. At Michigan you were going to have unlimited resources.”
So, this is Rich's version. I believe most of it. Yes, he was egotistical and overbearing but he also was a damn good coach. And he admits that he blew it in the way he coached the loss to Pitt. Ever hear of Rich admitting he was wrong much? I will ALWAYS be grateful to Rich for the great seasons he brough to my alma mater and me. I don't have time for being bitter and irrational. If Neal Brown does half as well as Rich then I'll be a NB fan, too, because anyone who does good for my alma mater, which did so much good for me, is A-OK in my book, no matter how they comb their hair, their skin pigmentation or their personality!
WVU WASN'T ABLE TO PAY FOR THE RESOURCES THAT RICH NEEDED TO WIN THE NATIONAL TITLE WITH THE MOUNTAINEERS. PERIOD. WHOSE FAULT WAS THAT? AD? BOOSTERS? DOESN'T MATTER. IT DROVE RICH FROM WVU. AND RICH HAS HAD A DOWNWARD COACHING CAREER EVER SINCE. RICH LOST. WVU LOST. HE WAS THE BEST WVU COACH IN MY LIFETIME. DON NEHLEN WAS A CLOSE SECOND. DOC SPEARS WITH THE ONLY UNBEATEN WVU TEAM IN HISTORY IN 1922 WAS #1 OVER BOTH #2 RICH AND #3 DON AND #4 BOWDEN.
