Rich Rodriguez is my Hero

[javadoc]

Think about it.

After our 2003 jilting, the Big East was on life support. RRod saved our cash stream by making the BE tolerable, at a time when we might almost have abandoned football. That Sugar Bowl game against Georgia pretty much guaranteed that we would draw a paycheck for the next couple years.

Then he goes to Michigan, and somehow persuades up-and-coming DC Scott Shafer to leave Stanford, and the tutelage of the great Jim Harbaugh (!!! seriously !!!), to go to Michigan. And promptly forces him to fail, putting him back on the market... where Doug Marrone scoops him up.

Four years later, Warlord Scott Shafer is our head coach, and we are in the ACC.

Rich Rodriguez, you win the "butterfly effect" award for Syracuse Football resurgence.

P.S. he also hired Greg Robinson after one of the most epic fails in organized sports history, which has to count for something.

 

[HtownOrange]

Think about it.

After our 2003 jilting, the Big East was on life support. RRod saved our cash stream by making the BE tolerable, at a time when we might almost have abandoned football. That Sugar Bowl game against Georgia pretty much guaranteed that we would draw a paycheck for the next couple years.

Then he goes to Michigan, and somehow persuades up-and-coming DC Scott Shafer to leave Stanford, and the tutelage of the great Jim Harbaugh (!!! seriously !!!), to go to Michigan. And promptly forces him to fail, putting him back on the market... where Doug Marrone scoops him up.

Four years later, Warlord Scott Shafer is our head coach, and we are in the ACC.

Rich Rodriguez, you win the "butterfly effect" award for Syracuse Football resurgence.

P.S. he also hired Greg Robinson after one of the most epic fails in organized sports history, which has to count for something.

I read the title and though you might have had some bad mushrooms or something, but after reading the post, it makes sense. Good job.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Dick Rod FTW

 

[atcar]

The WVU win over Georgia was huge for the BE.

 

[Old hank]

I am an Arizona alumni and I have no complaints about RichRod at UofA. However, this was year one.

 

[Tobias Funke]

I nominate this for the Most unexpected thread title award. Ottoingrotto do you second this? (I have to imagine you are on the committee for made up awards for the board)

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I actually like RichRod, He was a horrible fit at Michigan but I like the guy and think he is a pretty good coach for the right team

 

[Townie72]

I actually like RichRod, He was a horrible fit at Michigan but I like the guy and think he is a pretty good coach for the right team

He certainly did a great job at WVU.

People forget that for most of the tenure in the BE, WVU was good but certainly not very good. Miami and VT and SU (Before our fall from grace) pushed them around.

 

[Marsh01]

He should have never left WVU.

 

[Ozcuse]

Eagerly awaiting NASA to come in and tell you to go to hell.

 

[OrangePA]

I actually like RichRod, He was a horrible fit at Michigan but I like the guy and think he is a pretty good coach for the right team

I agree.

And I agree that that win was a huge moment.

 

[Chip]

He certainly did a great job at WVU.

People forget that for most of the tenure in the BE, WVU was good but certainly not very good. Miami and VT and SU (Before our fall from grace) pushed them around.

Nehlen had this every 5 year thing going with WVU (87, 93, 98). Then they basically fell apart. RichRod not only brought them back, but he made them consistently good. If we credit Deleone as one of the godfathers of the athletic QB, you have to credit RichRod with modernizing it to neutralize faster defenses.

His problem in Michigan was that his idea of defense just didn't work. It was some of the worst defense the long time Ann Arbor fans had ever seen.

 

[dinosaurbbq]

Dick Rod is and was a douche. I don't like him. He wasn't a nice guy. There were so many things he did wrong in the process of leaving for Michigan. Anyone who thinks he is a good guy doesnt know the facts. i do, personally. Everyone can understand why he would leave WVU for Michigan. it wasnt a good move for him, but you can certainly understand it. WVU fans felt jilted just like we just did with Doug leaving, but they understood his reasoning.

in no particular order, here are some of the things he did wrong:
He used his WVU university issued phone to call recruits to steer them to his new school before telling his old players or administrators he was leaving.
He refused to pay WVU his buyout even though Michigan was paying for it as part of his deal because he didn't want to have to pay taxes on it. So he got sued and ended up paying every dime when it was better later on for his tax treatment.
He suggested Assistant Coach Calvin Magee make an untrue baseless allegation of racial discrimination against WVU and a former coach to assist Coach Dick Rod in the defense of that lawsuit.
When NCAA investigated Michigan for too many minutes of practice time, Dick Rod suggested they investigate WVU for the same practice which he said he violated much more extensively at WVU.
He destroyed records at WVU upon leaving to assist him in defense of his lawsuit.

Dick Rod didn't save the Big East. Pat White saved the Big East. Dick Rod owes his public acclamation to Pat White. Also, they didn't just beat Georgia--a game I watched in person. They beat back to back to back years Georgia, Georgia Tech and the crowning jewel-- Oklahoma after Dick Rod left. Oklahoma was bigger than Georgia.

 

[Cusefan95]

Dick Rod didn't save the Big East. Pat White saved the Big East. Dick Rod owes his public acclamation to Pat White. Also, they didn't just beat Georgia--a game I watched in person. They beat back to back to back years Georgia, Georgia Tech and the crowning jewel-- Oklahoma after Dick Rod left. Oklahoma was bigger than Georgia.

Doesn't matter how much bigger/better Oklahoma was - Georgia was orders of magnitude bigger for the perception of the Big East. The media before that Sugar Bowl was talking about how the Big East should be stripped of its AQ status...very few persisted after West Virginia won. Doesn't really matter to me who gets the credit, I just agree with the OP - that win bought Syracuse what was needed most - time.

 

[xc84]

Dick Rod didn't save the Big East. Pat White saved the Big East.

Thanks goodness for Pat White. The Big East is saved! Alleluia!

 

[atcar]

Doesn't matter how much bigger/better Oklahoma was - Georgia was orders of magnitude bigger for the perception of the Big East. The media before that Sugar Bowl was talking about how the Big East should be stripped of its AQ status...very few persisted after West Virginia won. Doesn't really matter to me who gets the credit, I just agree with the OP - that win bought Syracuse what was needed most - time.

Yep, I just remember some of the pre and post game media how a BE WVU took down a SEC Georgia and you are correct, it was at a time when the BE AQ was being questioned by many critics so the timing of that victory was key.

 

[javadoc]

Yep, I just remember some of the pre and post game media how a BE WVU took down a SEC Georgia and you are correct, it was at a time when the BE AQ was being questioned by many critics so the timing of that victory was key.

And that wasn't a fluke either, it was kind of like this year's Ville beatdown of Florida. Slaton and White looked like the world's fastest men in the first half of that game, really just embarrassed the UGa defense. UGa eventually kept it close if I recall, but they were definitely punch-drunk for a while.

 

[sdhusky]

He certainly did a great job at WVU.

People forget that for most of the tenure in the BE, WVU was good but certainly not very good. Miami and VT and SU (Before our fall from grace) pushed them around.

No.

WVU went up to another level. Period.

UCONN zoomed by SU because SU fell, but WVU zoomed past SU because they got a lot better.

3 BCS blowout wins.