Coach: Rich Rodriguez — In a previous iteration of Batting Around, I felt a sizable shred of remorse for Michigan football and their coaching situation. But it appears Michigan athletic director Bill Martin did not heed my advice to hire Grand Valley State coach Chuck Martin. And after chasing the tail of LSU's Les Miles and Rutgers' Greg Schiano, only to come up with a dust cloud of disappointment, they finally struck gold in them thar' uncultivated hills of West Virginia.
Remorse retracted.
It took a $4 million buyout, but Rodriguez is now leaving his cherished alma mater in the dead of the night to man the helm of Ann Arbor's finest. Obviously the Wolverine faithful are ecstatic about the move, but in another sense I feel extremely sorry — more so than I ever did with Michigan this season — for the West Virginia Mountaineers. UWV was one quarterback thumb away, presumably, from playing in the BCS championship game against Ohio State, and now they are "settling" for the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma without the man who transformed Morgantown's area football team into a national contender.
Granted, there are no signs to indicate Michigan will necessarily fail under the RichRod era, but now those couches burning throughout the night in West Virginia now act as a never-ending vigil to commemorate the loss of their favorite son. But I'm sure by next Tuesday the vigil will transition seamlessly into a effigy.
God, I hope Michigan meets up with West Virginia in a bowl game next year. That would be amazing.
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Article comments
1 - alessandro
You mispelled Kaka. It's caca. What's the name of your editor?
2 - Matthew T. Sussman
Gaga.
3 - RJ Elliott
So, Herm Edwards next week?
4 - Chris McVetta
So, Herm Edwards NEVER!
First, the Indians lose out on Miguel Cabrera, now Dan Haren. There is a lump of coal in my Tribe stocking. Adam Miller better ROCK!
5 - Matthew T. Sussman
You will settle for Erik Bedard and like it.
6 - Douglas Mays
Yeah, holy cow! Trying to blame Jessica???!! come on! Ever hear of the phrase "on any Sunday..."? It happens, OK? With or without Jessica.
Me, being a Seahawks fan, there was no Jessica to blame when Romo fumbled the hold for the x-tra point last season that proved very favorable for the Seahawks in the playoff quest.
best,
DM