When the topic of Rich Rodriguez comes up, any Mountaineer fan (rightfully so) immediately gets angry. As far as I am concerned, he threw that infamous Pitt game in December of 2007, knowing he had meetings in Toledo, OH with Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman and then Athletic Director Bill Martin in the upcoming week. After he officially bolted on Sunday, December 16th (press conference that next morning, televised on ESPN), chaos ensued within Mountaineer Nation. At first, Rich Rod tendered his resignation to be the day after the Fiesta Bowl. Whether it was done on purpose or not is up for debate (I think it was). Then there was the controversy of shredding all of the team’s documents before he left. I could go on and on, but it’s painful for me to re-live.
During my nap, a story popped up at ESPN.com pertaining to the NCAA interviewing WVU for what went on during his 7 years in Morgantown.
Oh doggies.
Yes, the NCAA has interviewed WVU about Rich Rod’s time in Morgantown. WVU officials weren’t offering specifics (unfortunately. Don’t they realize we need juice for our stories!?) Michigan has been nailed with 5 (potentially major) violations stemming from practicing too long to too many coaches monitoring the players. They also failed to keep track of the times the players were practicing. Wonder if they shredded those documents too?
Nobody would comment on this article; not even current AD Ed Pastilong or head coach Bill Stewart. Stewart was the QB coach under Rodriguez’ tenure. I wonder when Stew will slip up and reveal some very juicy details about some stuff that happened there during RRod’s tenure, just like he slipped up about a possible disbanding of the Big East Conference? In the words of Judge Smails, “Well, we’re waiting!”
I personally don’t think the NCAA will bust WVU for any violations. I even asked several friends who at one point or another worked for the football team during the Rodriguez tenure, and they said they didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary as far as NCAA violations go. WVU will be fine, and Michigan will continue to rue the day Mike Brown shopped Product Rodriguez to Ann Arbor and they bought in.
Original Story:
http://hailwv.com/2010/04/13/rich-rod...
