How Much Trouble Is Rich Rod In?
With the latest news making the rounds regarding Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines, one has to wonder just how much the school administration is willing to put up with. Last week, the NCAA revealed that “major infractions” had taken place under the head Rodriguez’s watch. Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated has more on the subject:
But after reading the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations — which, to the school’s credit, it released in its entirety to the public — Michigan fans’ greatest cause for concern isn’t the impermissible practices themselves; it’s the NCAA’s rather blunt assessment of Rodriguez and other school officials’ handling of the matter.
There are five allegations of major violations contained in the letter, only two of which address the actual practice-time violations. In one, graduate assistant Alex Herron is accused of providing misleading information to investigators. Ask Dez Bryant how the NCAA feels about misleading investigators.
Of more import, the NCAA says Rodriguez “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program.” That’s not exactly a cap in the feather for a guy already saddled with an 8-16 record. On top of that, Michigan’s athletic department allegedly “failed to adequately monitor its football program.” The school avoided the dreaded “lack of institutional control” tag, but “failure to monitor” is the next step down.
Mandel goes on to say that:
The party with the most to lose is clearly Rodriguez, whose 26-month stint in Ann Arbor must seem like an eternity at this point both to him and the school’s followers. As if the indignity of overseeing the Wolverines’ first losing seasons since 1967 wasn’t enough, he now stands accused of allowing the first major violations in the program’s history.
That’s the million dollar question that many of the Michigan faithful are surely wondering. There’s no question whether or not Rodriguez is a good coach because he’s already proven himself at West Virginia University, but the fans in Ann Arbor could care less about RichRod’s record anywhere else. Former Head Coach Lloyd Carr ran a clean program and kept the Wolverines in the national limelight on a consistent basis for many years. Rodriguez needs something to go right this season to win the school’s rabid fanbase back over to his side.
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