WVU's RichRod gonna take the Bama job?

[Toddzilla]

Based on this quote (from ESPN.com), I think he's as good as gone:

"Rodriguez has made it clear that he wants to know soon if he must make a decision. West Virginia has a big recruiting weekend planned, the coach said, and he doesn't want his discussion with Alabama to drag well into next week."

C'mon. If you don't want the job, then you don't need to wait for Alabama. Say no and move on.

Just like Frank Beamer did with UNC. Wait, what? Nevermind....

Editorial Disclosure: I'm a Hokie. I hate the mountaineers. I think Rodriguez is one of the top 3-4 coaches in college football. If he left, it would plunge the WVU program and its fans into a tailspin which would please me to no end.

[Abe Sargent]

Editorial Disclosure: I'm a mountaineer, grad of WVU and love WVU. I was sad when VPI left the Big East because I miss them, and wish them well. I'd stilll like to see a regular conference game annually between WVU and VPI, because they were such a great rival. Ah well.

[Toddzilla]

I'd stilll like to see a regular non-conference game annually between WVU and VPI, because they were such a great rival. Ah well.True Dat.

[albionmoonlight]

I want as many spread option coaches as possible to move to the SEC just so I can watch SkyDog go slowly insane as he has to watch that offense infiltrate the conference he loves week-in and week-out.

That said, I don't know who in their right minds would take the 'Bama job right now. Overall, it is a program with good support and a great tradition, but right now the expectations of the fans so far outstrip the level of the program that it seems like the job is career suicide.

[Young Drachma]

Has a Big East team played BC, VPI or Miami since they left? In football, I mean.

[Butter]

Overall, it is a program with good support and a great tradition, but right now the expectations of the fans so far outstrip the level of the program that it seems like the job is career suicide.

Unless you have a large ego that believes that you are the man who can turn the program around and return it to the glory days.

[Young Drachma]

I want as many spread option coaches as possible to move to the SEC just so I can watch SkyDog go slowly insane as he has to watch that offense infiltrate the conference he loves week-in and week-out.

That said, I don't know who in their right minds would take the 'Bama job right now. Overall, it is a program with good support and a great tradition, but right now the expectations of the fans so far outstrip the level of the program that it seems like the job is career suicide.

Maybe he thinks the payday would be worth it. And Bama wants to hit a homerun so bad in this deal that they'd be willing to 'bout anything. Plus, Rodriguez might feel like he's got nowhere to go but up. He is a pretty young guy to be settling for a particular place for "rest of his career" so early.

I do like the idea of a guy putting down roots in a place and turning it into his own a la Duke in basketball or even Gonzaga now. But..we haven't really seen it done in basketball say over a decade or so to prove that it's something doable in today's climate.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Has a Big East team played BC, VPI or Miami since they left? In football, I mean.

Miami played South Florida last year & Louisville this year.
Va Tech played Cincinnati this year & WVU last year.
BC hasn't played anyone from the Big East in the past two seasons.

[VPI97]

Miami played South Florida last year & Louisville this year.
Va Tech played Cincinnati this year & WVU last year.
BC hasn't played anyone from the Big East in the past two seasons.
USF, L'ville & Cincy are new Big East teams...that distinction is probably relevant. The VT/WVU games from the last two seasons were likely the final two. I wouldn't want to reopen that series unless every game takes place on a neutral field.

[Swaggs]

Has a Big East team played BC, VPI or Miami since they left? In football, I mean.

VT beat WVU last year, 34-17. I suspect they will play again, sometime, in the not too distant future. Even if the fans despise one another, from what I have read the ADs are still on very good terms. VT played Cincy this season, as well.

[timmynausea]

It's looking more and more like he will take the job. It doesn't make much sense to me, but it is a lot of money.

This would be a set back for the program, but I think WVU will be fine either way. Imagine being the coach to inherit White and Slaton, both of whom will be juniors next year. Maybe we'll even come out of it with a legit defense.

[Swaggs]

Also, I believe Syracuse and BC agreed to a home and home in the near future.

[Passacaglia]

People don't really call him RichRod, do they?

[digamma]

Shouldn't Sportsdigs.com have already reported this?

In actuality, it appears that a Georgia fan is the true source on this...
mb30.scout.com/falabamafans48326frm1.showMessage?topicID=115414.topic (http://mb30.scout.com/falabamafans48326frm1.showMessage?topicID=115414.topic)

(20oz. Bulldog is something of a college football message board legend in the south. About once a year, he'll "invade" a school's board with his "demanding respect" post. Started six or seven years ago before a Georgia-Georgia Tech game and has taken off from there. I've never seen someone able to ruffle people's feathers in the way he does. Good times.)<!--EZCODE LINK END-->

[Swaggs]

It's looking more and more like he will take the job. It doesn't make much sense to me, but it is a lot of money.

This would be a set back for the program, but I think WVU will be fine either way. Imagine being the coach to inherit White and Slaton, both of whom will be juniors next year. Maybe we'll even come out of it with a legit defense.

I've gone back and forth on this and have been glued to the B&G News, but I'm thinking he stays.

Unlike some and as much as I love Coach Rod, I'm not willing to believe that Alabama is willing to make him the highest paid coach in the SEC and one of the top 2-3 coaches in the nation and that is what he would be if he gets this reported 7 year/$23M offer. I'm guessing he will get an offer that will be closer to $2-2.5M per year, which I think we can come close enough to matching for us to keep him. He also has a $600K annuity that kicks in in 2011that he would completely lose if he leaves before then.

I think he is just letting our AD know that he will not let his loyalty be taken advantage of and that he wants overall improvements to the program, particularly for assistant coaches and support staff (strength and conditioning all the way down to secretaries), as well as getting the funding for the academic center that they promised him last year. He reportedly donated $250K of his own towards the academic center, by the way.

I think he stays. He and his wife are an alums, both of their families live nearby, and his children have been in school in one town for six years now (after moving around a lot as he was moving up the coaching chain). He has White for two more years and Slaton for potentially two more years. The recruiting class is shaping up to be among the highest rated that WVU has ever seen (if not on stars, then at least in terms of him getting the players he wants, as evidenced by how early a bunch of them committed). Next season, WVU has Louisville and Pitt at home and their toughest road games will be at Rutgers and Maryland, so the schedule is there to go undefeated.

[Swaggs]

Shouldn't Sportsdigs.com have already reported this?

In actuality, it appears that a Georgia fan is the true source on this...
mb30.scout.com/falabamafans48326frm1.showMessage?topicID=115414.topic (http://mb30.scout.com/falabamafans48326frm1.showMessage?topicID=115414.topic)

(20oz. Bulldog is something of a college football message board legend in the south. About once a year, he'll "invade" a school's board with his "demanding respect" post. Started six or seven years ago before a Georgia-Georgia Tech game and has taken off from there. I've never seen someone able to ruffle people's feathers in the way he does. Good times.)<!--EZCODE LINK END-->

20oz Bulldog made his journey to the Blue and Gold News site before we played Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last season and created one of the most legendary threads I have ever seen, since no one seemed to catch on for about 30 pages. :)

[VPI97]

VT beat WVU last year, 34-17. I suspect they will play again, sometime, in the not too distant future. Even if the fans despise one another, from what I have read the ADs are still on very good terms.
It's not up to the AD's. At least not on the VT side of things.

[MJ4H]

People around here hope he doesn't because they are delusional and think Houston Nutt will be the next Alabama coach if RichRod isn't. And, yes, people here want Nutt out badly enough to be thinking insanities like that.

[st.cronin]

People around here hope he doesn't because they are delusional and think Houston Nutt will be the next Alabama coach if RichRod isn't. And, yes, people here want Nutt out badly enough to be thinking insanities like that.

What? Hasn't he done a pretty good job?

[Crapshoot]

Someone explain to me why the Coach making $24 million is Kosher while the kid playing for him isn't allowed a penny.

[MJ4H]

What? Hasn't he done a pretty good job?

He has done ok. Arkansas fans are tired of mediocrity, though. They really don't think he can go any higher (and attribute the moderate success of this season to Gus Malzahn and Reggie Herring --and obviously Darren McFadden).

EDIT: Lot of fans see him as an ego-maniac. They think that's why he played Casey Dick over Mitch Mustain this season. They also think that either Mitch Mustain/Gus Malzahn or Houston Nutt will be gone after this season. I'm not really sure what to think, but to see the names of the people making some of these claims (guys with some inside routes, media types) I am tending to be a little worried about this off-season. If Gus/Mustain go, this program is in deep trouble, so I am almost willing to hope someone picks off Nutt while his name is somewhat hot just to keep this program from disintegrating.

Then a lot of this could just be message board hype/rumors. Still has me pretty uneasy.

[Bee]

He has done ok. Arkansas fans are tired of mediocrity, though. They really don't think he can go any higher (and attribute the moderate success of this season to Gus Malzahn and Reggie Herring --and obviously Darren McFadden).


If they are tired of mediocrity maybe they should move out of Arkansas...

[MJ4H]

Uh, good one?

[st.cronin]

He has done ok. Arkansas fans are tired of mediocrity, though. They really don't think he can go any higher (and attribute the moderate success of this season to Gus Malzahn and Reggie Herring --and obviously Darren McFadden).

EDIT: Lot of fans see him as an ego-maniac. They think that's why he played Casey Dick over Mitch Mustain this season. They also think that either Mitch Mustain/Gus Malzahn or Houston Nutt will be gone after this season. I'm not really sure what to think, but to see the names of the people making some of these claims (guys with some inside routes, media types) I am tending to be a little worried about this off-season. If Gus/Mustain go, this program is in deep trouble, so I am almost willing to hope someone picks off Nutt while his name is somewhat hot just to keep this program from disintegrating.

Then a lot of this could just be message board hype/rumors. Still has me pretty uneasy.


Nutt has been a hot name in other off-seasons, though, too. I don't really pay attention to Arkansas, but I've known about Nutt for several years, and nationally, I think he's pretty well respected.

[timmynausea]

A TV station in Mobile is reporting that Nick Saban interviewed for the Alabama job today.

http://www.fox10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5778816&nav=menu489_5

Would a guy really leave an NFL job midseason to coach at Alabama?

[duckman]

Someone explain to me why the Coach making $24 million is Kosher while the kid playing for him isn't allowed a penny.
Except for getting that free education thing.

[WVUFAN]

Except for getting that free education thing.

Ok, then. Everyone who gets a non-athletic scholarship should have limitations on outside jobs as well.

Oops, they don't do they? Either hold all scholarships to the same standard, or none. After all, they're getting free education too, only they're not making millions for the school in doing it.

[duckman]

Ok, then. Everyone who gets a non-athletic scholarship should have limitations on outside jobs as well.

Oops, they don't do they? Either hold all scholarships to the same standard, or none. After all, they're getting free education too, only they're not making millions for the school in doing it.

They're (regular students) not making millions for the schools? Every successful graduate is a potential donor to their school. Plus, every successful graduate opens up another student for institutions to draw funds from.

If assholes would quit breaking rules with paying players for work they don't perform, there wouldn't be limitations on how much student athletes make. Those students aren't stupid. They know what they are getting into when they sign up. I'm not going to muster up any sympathy when there are thousands of deserving students who can't even get adequate student loans/grants to get finish their educations.

[Klinglerware]

Except for getting that free education thing.

I see the scholarship athlete as somewhat akin to that other great serfdom at research universities: the doctoral arts & sciences grad student.

Ph.D students generally get a monthly stipend in addition to their tuition. Scholarship athletes should also receive stipends for their service to the university. (I would also argue that an athlete's stipend should not exceed that of a grad student's, especially since at most schools, research grant money generated tends to be more incremental to a university's overall bottom line than athletic revenues).

[MJ4H]

On the subject of student athletes:

Florida recruit says a little too much:

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/?p=2913

For sheer recruiting-corruption-in-a-single-quote power, though, we might have a new winner: Chris Rainey, a top Florida running back and Gator verbal commit who may have scotched his amateur status in a single clumsy excerpt from a Miami Herald article.

Chris Rainey, Lakeland’s star senior running back, told The Miami Herald he received sports jerseys and jewelry from a Lakeland clothing vendor in exchange for an autograph. He also said he received cash from an unknown elderly woman. (HT: Mike, AUAlum, Chris, Elkon, and the fifteen other people who saw this before we did.)

‘’I didn’t even count it,'’ Rainey said in a story published Tuesday. ‘When I walk around, people are buying me food, giving me money. I’m like, `D---, I’m glad I’m Chris Rainey. It’s real nice to be me.’ ‘’

[duckman]

See, I can agree with giving a stipend like a grad student, but there are some that want to give student athletes salaries comparable to semi-pro (even pro) players.

A college education is not cheap. I should know since I'm going through it right now. And when I see fellow students who can't go full-time because they can't get reasonable grants/loans while students athletes get full rides is pathetic.

[Klinglerware]

See, I can agree with giving a stipend like a grad student, but there are some that want to give student athletes salaries comparable to semi-pro (even pro) players.



I agree that scholarship athletes should not be paid more than a stipend, especially since athletic programs generally are not as profitable as many people think.

[Crapshoot]

See, I can agree with giving a stipend like a grad student, but there are some that want to give student athletes salaries comparable to semi-pro (even pro) players.

A college education is not cheap. I should know since I'm going through it right now. And when I see fellow students who can't go full-time because they can't get reasonable grants/loans while students athletes get full rides is pathetic.

Its a business Duck. I understand your situation, but the schools and the coaches make big bucks about these guys - unlike regular students, they're more than justifying the money that is being spent on them - in fact, that's wh the restrictions are unfair. No one is stopping you from getting another job - but Joe Schmoe on the team is.

[Swaggs]

Nutt has been a hot name in other off-seasons, though, too. I don't really pay attention to Arkansas, but I've known about Nutt for several years, and nationally, I think he's pretty well respected.

I read something (I believe it was in the Sporting News, but may have been in an ESPN chat) that said that Nutt's agent is very proactive with the press and that he often puts out the early word that Nutt is "not interested" in high profile jobs in order to make it seem like he is in high demand, regardless of whether or not schools are interested in him.

[General Mike]

A TV station in Mobile is reporting that Nick Saban interviewed for the Alabama job today.

http://www.fox10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5778816&nav=menu489_5

Would a guy really leave an NFL job midseason to coach at Alabama?

Al Groh left the Jets before the season was over to take the Virginia job. He probably would have been fired tho.

[duckman]

Its a business Duck. I understand your situation, but the schools and the coaches make big bucks about these guys - unlike regular students, they're more than justifying the money that is being spent on them - in fact, that's wh the restrictions are unfair. No one is stopping you from getting another job - but Joe Schmoe on the team is.

It's true that Joe Schmoe can go get a job a lot easier than a student athlete, but Joe Schmoe is not getting paid for work they are not performing or higher than what the job actually entails. If dumbass boosters would stop doing shit like that, student athletes would not have the restrictions that they have on them.

[Logan]

USF, L'ville & Cincy are new Big East teams...that distinction is probably relevant. The VT/WVU games from the last two seasons were likely the final two. I wouldn't want to reopen that series unless every game takes place on a neutral field.

The (remaining) Big East ADs all decided that they wouldn't schedule games with the traitor schools who left the conference for the ACC. BC was supposedly given even less consideration for future games, since they initially stuck around and banded together with the BE schools. But then when even more $$$ came into play, they bailed too.

And then as Swaggs pointed out, Syracuse has such a pathetic program right now that they are desperate for friends and any additional exposure, so they struck a deal with BC. Rest of the BE isn't happy.

[Atocep]

According to several newspapers Alabama has officially offered him the job, although they aren't commenting yet.



I think he is just letting our AD know that he will not let his loyalty be taken advantage of and that he wants overall improvements to the program, particularly for assistant coaches and support staff (strength and conditioning all the way down to secretaries), as well as getting the funding for the academic center that they promised him last year. He reportedly donated $250K of his own towards the academic center, by the way.




I think this is definitely the case, he met with the WVU AD a couple days ago to talk about new facilities and general improvements. He's telling people close to him that he wants to stay, but I don't think he's a fool. If WVU won't do what it takes to take the the program to the next level, he can easily go somewhere else that will right now.

As a WVU fan and someone from West Virginia originally, I was ecstatic when the school hired Coach Rod. He was the perfect hire for WVU fans because he's almost the complete opposite of what Nehlen was and what WVU fans had grown tired of. If he decides to take the Alabama job I hope people realize its not for the money, its because WVU wouldn't do the things they promised to do.