All right I will chime in here....
As a coach there is no doubt that RR was pretty darn good.
He brought the WVU program up another level from where Don Nehlen had taken it.
He brought two BCS wins to WVU, one outright Big East title and three other shared Big East titles.
His teams were constantly ranked amongst the highest in the land in rushing and scoring.
He brought new innovations to the spread offense and has shown to be a great young mind in college football.
With that being said our problem is not with his coaching abilities.....his leaving for Michigan or even Michigan for wanting him. In fact I was somewhat of a closet Michigan fan before all of this and am disappointed that I will now have to root for the Suckeyes when they play the Wolverines.
What others from outside the state of WV will never get is that the way he left WVU was a slap in the face of all the great people of this state. It continues with a smear campaign that is seemingly coming from his agent.
The whole racist remarks concerning Magee are garbage.
If Rich hadn't held the University, it's fans and HIS fans as well hostage last year with the Bama job it might not have been so bad.
If Rich hadn't been so clandestine about his dealings with Michigan.
If Rich had simply explained his position, told us he was leaving and why and then paid his contractual obligations this would be done and over!
Notice I used the word HIS fans because as much as I was a fan of WVU I was also a fan of Rich Rodriguez. Heck he attended my High School for crying out loud. The fans of WVU became fans of Rich Rodriguez because he was one of us! He knew what it was like to watch your family members go to work and break their backs in the coal mines for little pay. He knew what it was like to grow up where neighbors knew each other by name and you didnt lock your doors at night. He knew what it was like to fight your way out of the shadow of the misguided "hillbilly" stereotypes that the rest of the country finds so easy to place upon us.
He was one of us and told us he would be one of us as long as we would have him. In his famous call to a statewide radio talkshow last year in wake of the Bama job he proclaimed he would be the coach of WVU for as long as we would have him and that would be for the rest of his career.
We bought into Rich and we were his fans. He is a native son and arguably had one of the most enviable jobs in our entire state. We wanted Rich but apperantly Rich didn't want us.
Yes the Michigan job is prestigious and brings with it years of history and folklore. Bo was a man of honor and Carr followed it up as well. They led that program in an honorable fashion. They built upon its success with new success.
But wouldn't the WVU job to a native West Virginian who grew up in the shadow of Morgantown only to walk on at WVU and play be a prestigious job! IF not to anyone else but to him. He is an alum and had the team primed to make another NC run next year. He was being paid close to 2 million a year in a state where that kind of money can allow you to live as comfortably as you so choose. Wouldn't the chance to become a legend in your home state and be remembered for years by being the most sucessful coach in WVU history and possibly bringing a NC to Morgantown be prestigious enough to keep him here.
Now instead of the legend he could have been and should have been he will be remembered as someone who didnt see us as we saw him.
The table was set and he decided he didnt want the second course. As a West Virginian I will never understand someone walking away from a position that would have allowed them to continue to elevate the University through its athletics and in return elevating the state itself through positive exposure! I think along the way Coach Rod lost sight of what it is to be from the state of West Virginia and not just coach West Virginia. IF not I guess my pride in the state runs a slight bit deeper than Coach Rods
