By Rock Westfall
Rich Rodriguez has some Curt Cignetti in him.
If you Google Rich Rod, like Cignetti, you’ll discover that he wins. Everywhere he has ever been, including in the end at Michigan, where he was never fully accepted nor given the full faith and credit of a winning coach trying to transform a program stuck in the 1940’s into the new millennium.
Rich Rodriguez is a native of Grant Town, WV, and an alum of West Virginia, where he played defensive back for the Mountaineers. As a favorite son, he returned to lead his alma mater to glory as head coach from 2001 through 2007.
In that final season in Morgantown, Rich Rod had the Mounties in position for the national championship before a gut-wrenching home loss in the Backyard Brawl as heavy favorites against the hated and outclassed rival Pitt Panthers. It was the final game Rodriguez coached at West Virginia. He departed for Michigan as the hottest coaching prospect in the land and with a record of 60-26, including 32-5 in his final three seasons.
Since that fateful night, Rodriguez has been the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Arizona Wildcats, and currently the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
On Wednesday night, Rodriguez handed celebrated Liberty Flames head coach Jamey Chadwell his jock in a 31-21 win to improve to 5-3 overall, 4-0 in Conference USA, with bigger things likely ahead.
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Meanwhile, Rich Rod’s alma mater, West Virginia, is plodding along with an unsatisfying 4-4 campaign to nowhere and with a coach, Neal Brown, whom the locals have never fully accepted and now want to run out of town on a rail.
Could Rich Rodriguez take the country roads of West Virginia back home to where it all began?
https://twitter.com/dawgsports/status/1851814898021323207
A Winner Everywhere He Has Been
Rich Rodriguez had success at every head coaching stop along the way. Sadly, he is best known for his days in Michigan, where he was a square peg in a round hole. Still, Rodriguez led the Wolverines to a 7-6 record and a bowl berth in his final season.
Subsequently, Brady Hoke inherited Rich Rod’s loaded roster and led them to an 11-2 Sugar Bowl campaign the year after Rodriguez was fired. It is fair to wonder what would have happened if Rich Rod had been given that extra season in Ann Arbor.
Instead, Rodriguez took on the always-tough job at Arizona, a basketball school with a limited recruiting footprint, budget, and history. In his fourth season, Rich Rod took the Wildcats to the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Fiesta Bowl, earning Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors.
After that 2014 campaign, all seemed possible for the Cats. Instead, Rodriguez failed to build on his success, going 7-6, 3-9, and 7-6 in his final three years.
While the Arizona losses mounted on the field, Rich Rod faced a sexual harassment lawsuit for millions of dollars (later dismissed) while having an unrelated extramarital affair. Rodriguez was fired in total humiliation and with a significant loss of credibility.
Still, Rodriguez departed Arizona with a record of 43-35 and five bowl berths in six years. He left with the best winning percentage of an Arizona coach in 17 years and the second-best since 1986. Subsequently, he served as an assistant at Ole Miss and Louisiana-Monroe.
On November 30, 2021, Rodriguez was named head coach of Jacksonville State, a virtual expansion program. Rich Rod was tasked with successfully leading the Gamecocks out of FCS into the FBS.
https://twitter.com/TimmyGwinn/status/1851812103859933262
Will Immediate Success Lead Him Back to the Country Roads of West Virginia?
Last year, Jacksonville State’s first season in FBS, Rodriguez led the Gamecocks to a 9-4 record and a win in the New Orleans Bowl. This year, Rich Rod has kept the momentum going. After a home loss to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and road losses to the Louisville Cardinals and the Eastern Michigan Eagles in double overtime, the Gamecocks have ripped off five straight wins.
On Wednesday at Liberty, against a coach and program touted as the class of Conference USA, Rodriguez and his Gamecocks won 31-21, outgaining the Flames 459-421, including an astounding 364 yards rushing.
Earlier this week, I wrote of the absurd extension contracts that athletic directors handcuff themselves with. In that piece, West Virginia AD Wren Baker was named one of the culprits for extending Brown last year.
With Mountaineer fans beyond fed up with Brown, would it make sense to bite the estimated $10 million buyout and bring home a proven prodigal son?
Certainly, West Virginia could do no worse.
