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Michigan should offer to pay whatever administrative costs it takes for WVU to land a new coach - hiring search firms, travel and expense, relocation, etc.

It's unprecedented, but so too is hiring away two top coaches from the same university within 8 months of each other. Doubt it will happen, but it would be a great gesture on the part of my university.

Kraz | 12/17/07, 08:14 AM

Kraz I understand your comments, but the fact is the contracts drawn up by the University's must have more "bite" to them if they want to protect their coach's. Michigan is paying 4 mil to get Rodriguez. Rodriguez had commited to a contract until 2013 with WV, maybe if WV had a bigger buy out Rodriguez would still be there.

flgator | 12/17/07, 09:21 AM

No, not Graham, he has kept Tulsa going in the right direction after the incredible job by Steve Kragthorpe!

rhymeister | 12/17/07, 09:36 AM

Kraz, what are your thoughts concerning the hire? I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Also, the hiring of two coaches in eight months is not totally unprecedented. In the 50's Northwestern hired the football coach then the basketball coach away from Miami O.

slipperyrock | 12/17/07, 10:02 AM

Call Bobby Petrino..

jj730 | 12/17/07, 10:09 AM

Gus Mulzahn would be a great choice. He already runs the spread, and Tulsa's offense is pretty dynamic.

J. HOVA: MISTER UNTOUCHABLE | 12/17/07, 10:10 AM

Bobby Petrino!! "I am leaving for West Virginia to instill my very special brand of integrity. A little thing I like to call, self-centeredness."

1Hawkeye1 is client #9 | 12/17/07, 11:18 AM

Brian Kelly would be a good hire for WVU. He would of been a good hire at UofM, but they decided to steal another WVU coach. Hopefully Rodriguez doesn't find it has hard as Beilien has found it to coach a UofM team.

Brian Kelly is and has been a winner every where he has coached. Grand Valley is still winning the way Kelly won, CMU is still one of the top teams in the MAC, and look at what he did at Cincinnati his first year in the league and with less talent than WVU. I thought that Kelly should of been MSU's coach last year and UofM missed out this year. As a UT fan who grew up in Michigan and watched GVSU, Kelly would be a great replacement for Mack Brown when he decides to hang it up.

Another coach on the list should be Mike Leach. He is a great spread coach and has been up for the big jobs this year. He is a Texas guy though, it may be hard to pull him away from the state.

Lucky #16 | 12/17/07, 11:28 AM

Les Miles is going to replace him at WV of course. God I hate sports reporters

geauxtigersLSU6661 | 12/17/07, 11:45 AM

flgator - contracts mean almost nothing. You can re-write them to include buyout/penalties of $100M dollars and they will still mean almost nothing. If a coach wants to leave the administration is powerless to do anything about it. Welcome to contract law in the US. Bottom line is if the relationship isn't in the best interests for both parties it is best for those parties to work out an exit plan. The only question is who initiates it.

This is why the NCAA needs to adopt some sort of black-out period for coaching changes or negotiations (just like the NFL already employs) and also needs to change the recruiting schedule to better coincide with the new coaching change windows. This stuff is just out of hand.

slipperyrock - This isn't the thread so much to go into all that but I'll just say that I'm reasonably pleased with the hire though I have some concerns/reservations about it as well. I think the first year is going to be pretty rocky on the field. My hope is that by year 2 we start reaping the rewards. Defense is going to be an issue. Off the field I believe he will lead the program with class and character and be a top notch recruiter and I really like that aspect. So, I can easily say that I have mixed feelings.

Kraz | 12/17/07, 11:56 AM

This is a very interesting hire...on both sides. As a Pitt guy...I am familiar with Rich Rod.

He has to be BANKING on landing Terrelle Pryor. BTW....fellow conference rivals OSU & PSU are pushing hard trying to land him too. There is no way Ryan Mallette runs the spread offense. None that I can see anyway. UM fans better brace for some turmoil and losing just in case. Rod wants to radically change your offense. That is not easily done. You need the right personnel for the spread...from the linemen to the QB. Even if he lands the better recruits at UM...it still takes some time to implement the system. If RR can pull it off immediately...he is a better coach than I figure. He will also need to keep on an even keel with players he did not recruit...alot of them not spread offense oriented.

Just wondering...how much losing will UM tolerate if the transition does not go smoothly?

Have we talked about RR's 3-3-5 defense yet. There's another subject.

Last Call | 12/17/07, 11:59 AM

Class & character Kraz? Don't count on that. His backdoor maneuvering through the move to UM was classic classless. The first person he told of his hire was Terrelle Pryor. Not his own players. Not the administration. Not the kids that had commited to WVU this year to play for him. But a kid he was recruiting hard for the Mounties.

BTW...Pryor is terrific talent...but his head appears to be as big as his body. He is entrenched in a prima donna status and enjoys it. What 18 year old wouldn't? I'm just wondering if it will affect his standing with his teammates. UM ain't lower class high school.

Last Call | 12/17/07, 12:10 PM

This was MICH's best move under the circumstances.

George W. Watson | 12/17/07, 12:11 PM

I know Last Call. I know. The same fans who had no idea who Appalachian State was until the TUESDAY AFTER they beat us (90% of the blue fans) have not thought about any of this yet. All they care about was a name coach who ran the spread. They don't even realize what the spread is all about. They just see it on TV and see people running the spread against us and say, "ooooooh.... ahhhhh, ...woooooooah. Look at the pretty colors.... shiny objects... oooooh" and now want the spread at Michigan.

I've been one of the few people barking about not hiring a die-hard spread system guy because there is no talent at Michigan ready to run it. Also because I prefer guys that know how to run many systems based on what is best to beat any given opponent.

Alas, it is what it is now. Can't wait to see what happens.

Kraz | 12/17/07, 12:13 PM

I hope Michigan at least bought West Virginia dinner, and a movie they raped them for both of there coach's it is funny though oh well Carr will still beat the h#$* out of Rodriguez.

bender | 12/17/07, 12:15 PM

Year in and Year out though if he can get his team in there RR's got a chance though Michigan needs more speed to run the spread. Don't forget football is win now or go home.

bender | 12/17/07, 12:17 PM

Last Call... You know all of this insider information... how? Sure I have heard these rumors, too. But until its proven as fact I would be careful spewing that stuff. I would be more apt to believe that he contacted Pryor to see that, if he took the job, would he be interested in being recruited by Michigan. Because he knows there's nobody at Michigan that can run his offense. Once he knew he could continue to recruit him, that was another reason for Rodriguez to consider taking the job.

Further, all coaching changes in D1 football are backroom/backdoor/backchannel politics. So, count that statement out right there.

What I want to see is, once he is in Ann Arbor full time, that he runs our program with class and character. And I have no doubt that he will.

Kraz | 12/17/07, 12:23 PM

Kraz...I hope things work out for the Blue.

Whatever happens....just keep smacking around Penn State.

Last Call | 12/17/07, 12:26 PM

According to Pryor:

http://www.pittsburgh.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=751822

He had already accepted the UM post.

RichRod squeezed the WVU folks for more money last year by dangling the Alabama job offer at them. OK. OK. Some of this stuff is becoming common among coaches. Just because my neighbor cheats on his taxes and has more money doesn't make it right for me to do the same thing.

Last Call | 12/17/07, 12:35 PM

I think we will. However, I'd trade half of these past PSU wins for a couple wins over OSU.

Kraz | 12/17/07, 12:37 PM