ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan fired coach Rich Rodriguez on
Wednesday, ending a disappointing three-year tenure marred by too many
losses and NCAA violations at college football’s winningest program.
Athletic
director Dave Brandon announced the decision after meeting with
Rodriguez on Tuesday and again Wednesday morning. He said the two had an
"open, honest and direct exchange."
"I believe this is the best
decision for the future of Michigan football," Brandon said. "We have
not achieved at the level that I expect."
Rodriguez was just 6-18 in Big Ten play and 11-11 at home.
"Rich
is a good person and coach," Brandon said. "It’s unfortunate that it
didn’t work out at Michigan, but I’m sure that Rich and his staff will
find opportunities at other institutions. I wish Rich and his family all
the best in the future."
Brandon said he will immediately begin a
national search for a replacement amid speculation that Stanford coach
Jim Harbaugh, a former Wolverines quarterback, and former Michigan
assistant Brady Hoke, now San Diego State’s head coach, are possible
candidates.
Brandon said he has talked with Harbaugh and "will continue to talk" with him.
"I personally believe that Jim Harbaugh is headed to the NFL, that’s my opinion," Brandon said.
Rodriguez,
who was the head coach at West Virginia when he was lured to Ann Arbor,
finishes 15-22 at Michigan. The school can buy out the final three
years of his contract for $2.5 million.
Rodriguez was not
immediately available for comment. He and his wife, Rita, drove past TV
satellite trucks and reporters camped out near Schembechler Hall’s main
entrance Wednesday and entered the back door of the indoor practice
facility. A team meeting was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Rodriguez’s final season was pivotal and it didn’t go well on or off the field.
He
helped the Wolverines win seven games to earn a postseason bid, then
stood helplessly on the sideline on New Year’s Day as Mississippi State
handed them their worst bowl beating — a 38-point drubbing — in a Gator
Bowl loss that looked all too familiar.
Michigan’s young defense,
which ranked among the nation’s worst, was overmatched and quarterback
Denard Robinson couldn’t consistently make the sensational plays he did
during a jaw-dropping start.
Rodriguez finished 7-6, but lost six
of the last eight games. The improvement wasn’t enough from his 5-7
finish last year and the Michigan-record nine losses in his debut season
in Ann Arbor.
He was 1-11 against ranked teams and 0-6 combined against rivals Ohio State and Michigan State.
The season had clearly weighed on Rodriguez.
He
surprised supporters and his players at the team’s banquet when he
broke down and cried, talking about the toll his job had on his family,
then quoted the Bible and Josh Groban and played a song from the
musician in a surreal scene.
"I truly want to be a Michigan man," Rodriguez declared.
Michigan
lured Rodriguez away from West Virginia in messy fashion after the 2007
season. The school Rodriguez had played for and rooted for as a kid had
extended his contract a year earlier, and he didn’t want to pay a $4
million buyout.
The saga was finally settled when Michigan agreed to pay West Virginia $2.5 million, leaving Rodriguez to
take care of the rest.
From
the beginning and until the end, he struggled to be accepted. Some
wanted LSU’s Les Miles to return to Ann Arbor, where he was an assistant
for the late Bo Schembechler.
On the field, Rodriguez didn’t
inherit a roster full of talent from Lloyd Carr. Quarterback Ryan
Mallett transferred to Arkansas and offensive guard Justin Boren left
for Ohio State, making his transition even more challenging.
The
Wolverines took pride in winning with class and by the rules for
three-plus decades under Schembechler, Carr and Gary Moeller.
Under Rodriguez, the program was hit by the kind of news it dreaded.
Just
before the 2009 season, anonymous players told the Detroit Free Press
that the Rodriguez-led program was exceeding NCAA limits on practice and
training time.
"We know the rules, and we follow the rules," an emotional Rodriguez declared a day after the
report was published.
The
school, though, later acknowledged that it was guilty of four
violations. It was put on three years of probation, though Rodriguez and
the school avoided major penalties in part because the NCAA agreed that
the coach didn’t fail to promote an atmosphere and compliance in his
program.
Still, Paul Dee, chair of the Division I infractions committee, compared the coach’s role to that of
being captain of the ship.
"The
coach is ultimately responsible, but that doesn’t mean that the coach
is involved in all of the activities that occurred," Dee said. "Some of
the things that did occur did not get all the way to the coach, but
ultimately, the coach bears a responsibility for the program."
Rodriguez often insisted the off-the-field news — calling it "drama" — didn’t affect his team.
"I
just think there’s a faction — and certainly I wouldn’t accuse any of
you all — of creating a negative type of environment that wants to
create drama and wants to see people point fingers," Rodriguez once
said.
Rodriguez is widely considered one of the architects of the
spread offense that has become the rage in college football, creating
his version of three- and four-receiver sets at tiny Glenville State in
1990.
Rodriguez recruited two freshmen who could lead his offense —
Robinson and Tate Forcier — and they helped the 2009 team get off to a
strong start that put Michigan on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Toward
the end of the collapsing 2009 season, Rodriguez took a few
not-to-subtle shots at Carr and his staff in terms of recruiting talent
to Ann Arbor.
"The last three Februarys, or four Februarys, have
hurt us a little bit," Rodriguez said less than two years after Michigan
hired him. "The next two or three Februarys will be very critical.
That’s where it starts."
Rodriguez, though, didn’t get a chance to finish what he started.
