Rich Rodriguez in the Coaching Mix?

Twitter has given us the pleasure of dozens of unsubstantiated rumors over the past few weeks surrounding Maryland football, especially when it comes to the coaching situation. We’ve heard rumors of Sean Salisbury joining Mike Leach as his offensive coordinator, Leach’s candidacy losing steam, Leach going to Oklahoma State as an offensive coordinator, and now this – fbrumormill tweeted “Strong rumors this morning linking Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez to Maryland.”

First of all, as TT pointed out “Rumor Mill” is their name, so don’t freak out just yet.

My first reaction? I think it was something along the lines of “Oh please for the love of god no!” Rodriguez also runs a spread offense, like Leach, but his is a run heavy system (he had the Pat White/Steve Slaton/Owen Schmitt/Darius Reynaud group of old). In other words, if you were worried Danny O’Brien might have trouble adjusting to Leach’s offense, that’s nothing compared to Rodriguez’s.

After four straight conference titles at Glenville State, RichRod was the offensive coordinator for both Tulane and Clemson before being hired at WVU. In seven years there, he went 60-26, winning or holding a share of four conference titles and defeating Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl. He was hired by Michigan in 2008 to the chagrin of Mountaineer fans, and has proceeded to put up records of 3-9, 5-7, and 7-5 with the Wolverines, including a conference record of 6-18.

Here’s a basic breakdown – Rodriguez acted like a dick when leaving WVU, has made at least four major rules violations at Michigan, and has a system that has yet to translate to success at Michigan. This would be a disastrous hire.

The bottom line is when you end up deciding if Sean Salisbury or Rich Rodriguez would be better, you’re boned either way.