New Michigan AD: Football success is critical

(Dave) Brandon had a lot on his calendar Monday, his first day as Michigan’s athletic director, but acknowledged nothing on his list of things to do was more important than his plan for Rich Rodriguez and college football’s winningest program. “It’s critical,” Brandon said. “If you look at the annual revenues that drive this department, football is three-quarters of who we are. It’s essential for that program be successful if our entire athletic department is going to be successful. “I will continue to spend a lot of time with Rich and all of the people associated with the football program to understand it really well and to hopefully make an impact in terms of how we precede going further.” Michigan’s once-proud team has been embarrassed on and off the field lately. The NCAA notified Rodriguez and school officials two weeks ago that the football program is facing five potentially major rules violations in part because its report said Rodriguez “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program” in regards to time spent on practice and football-related activities. Brandon backed his coach then and on Monday reiterated his support for Rodriguez. “He’s our coach for this season,” Brandon said. “There’s nothing within the framework of the NCAA allegations that led me to believe that it should change his status as our coach.” – Record- Eagle

Rich Rodriguez won’t be judged on just wins, losses at Michigan

Incoming Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said he’s seen improvements in the football program under Rich Rodriguez and won’t mandate a number of wins Rodriguez needs to keep his job. So how will Brandon evaluate Rodriguez’s performance after the season? “Much like your boss, there’s a lot of different things you look at,” he told AnnArbor.com last month. “Certainly you need to see progress and some of that’s measured by wins and losses, but it’s also measured a lot of other ways. And when I’m in a position where I can evaluate as closely as I need to and I want to, all those metrics and all those measures will be clear between the coach and me.” Michigan is 8-16 in two seasons under Rodriguez and coming off a year in which it tied for last place in the Big Ten. – AnnArbor.com

After NCAA ruling, pressure is on Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez to win now

This was not a good day for Michigan and Rich Rodriguez, that’s for sure. There were dour expressions and serious tones, although tinged with the slightest wisp of relief that nothing crushing or unexpected was delivered. Michigan broke rules, according to the NCAA, and however it’s spun in either direction, that’s a stain. The NCAA didn’t accuse Rodriguez’s program of breaking the biggest rules, and Michigan officials said they don’t believe it was done maliciously. And no, Rodriguez won’t lose his job over this, not now. But for Michigan football, previously untainted by the NCAA, any allegation is embarrassing. For Rodriguez, it doesn’t help his cause, but it doesn’t really change much either. The truth is, Rodriguez is under the same amount of heat today as he was before the report. He’s 8-16 in two seasons and there’s a new, aggressive, impressive athletic director, David Brandon, taking over. Rodriguez had to show progress this season whether the NCAA found nothing, or all sorts of nasty stuff. – Detroit News

Legally Speaking, Now Is Time to Fire Rich Rodriguez

In two seasons, Rich Rod has racked up a 8-16 overall record, beaten down the Michigan fan base to such a degree that Ohio State scarlet and gray filled up many of the best seats in the Big House this past Saturday, and left my wife, a Michigan alum, refusing to watch their games on television. “I’m already over Rich Rod,” she’s said on many occasions. Now as Michigan enters the long, difficult winter of Wolverine discontent, there’s a real issue that has to be decided. If you don’t think Rich Rod is going to get it done at the school, you need to fire him now, before the next season commences. Why? Because you have a legal hook that can significantly lessen the blow of the firing — you can argue that Rich Rodriguez breached the terms of his contract by violating NCAA rules. Bang. Meet Michigan’s own stimulus plan for the athletic department, firing Rich Rod for cause. A bit of a legal primer: All NCAA contracts contain a contractual provision allowing a school to end their relationship with a coach “for cause.” Think of it is as the school’s parachute in the event the plane is going down. Unlike a golden parachute where a coach is fired but receives millions to end the contract, firing someone “for cause” effectively wipes away the buyout provisions in a contract. Rather than face a multi-million dollar obligation for a buyout, something Michigan fans are all too familiar with after the negotiations between Rich Rod and West Virginia, the school can allege a major violation of NCAA rules or intentional misconduct and show him to the door. Given that the NCAA and Michigan are already investigating Rodriguez and the football program over the amount of hours that players have spent playing or practicing football each week, the door would appear to be open to push Rich Rod out. – Fan House

Michigan should fire Rodriguez, Hire Harbaugh

Through it all — the most wins of any team in college football history (872), 42 Big Ten championships, 11 national titles and 40 bowl appearances — the University of Michigan has prided itself on doing things, “the right way.” Not once in the years since the University of Michigan began playing football in 1891 has the school been found in violation of NCAA regulations. But the past two years have not been kind to Michigan football. After Saturday’s 21-10 loss to archrival Ohio State in front of a stadium half-full with Buckeye fans instead of Wolverine faithful, the question needs to be asked: Is Rich Rodriguez the right man for the job as the head coach? Of equal importance, should university president Mary Sue Coleman and outgoing athletic director Bill Martin be held accountable for the hiring of Rodriguez and the situation the school’s football program finds itself in today? The answers: No and yes… Michigan should cut its losses and look for a way to return the program to its roots. Hire a coach with close ties to the old program. Former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh has done wonders with the program at Stanford, beating highly touted USC and Oregon this year. Harbaugh’s contract expires this year. Michigan would be well-advised to pick up the phone and call the man who once guaranteed and delivered on a promise to beat Ohio State. – The Oakland Press

Rich Rodriguez running short on time?

Rich Rodriguez strongly believes his program is growing and progress is occurring. He said again Saturday he has no fears of losing his job, and athletic director Bill Martin stood firmly behind him, saying Rodriguez “will be here next year — no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Still, no matter how difficult the transition, the record is inexcusable. And there can be no doubt now, Rodriguez doesn’t get a ton of time to show more. Rodriguez is aware of factions, inside and outside the program, working against him. Massive change, especially when executed by a confident young “outsider,” stirs controversy. – Detroit News

Rodriguez likely okay at Michigan, but what if he’s not?

I agree, he’s not a good fit. From nearly the day Rodriguez arrived in Ann Arbor, a significant faction of Wolverines fans simply hasn’t liked him, whether because he’s not a “Michigan Man” like Les Miles, or because he runs that new-fangled spread offense, or because he’s got a “twang.” Throw in all the backlash from West Virginia, the lawsuits, the potential NCAA infractions, and it’s clear there was only one way he could have won people over: to start winning, and in a hurry. That has not happened. That said, I’m still 90 percent certain he’ll get another year. AD Bill Martin has been outspoken in his support, albeit in sometimes bizarre context. (Paul Johnson? Not a good comparison. Though SI appreciates Martin’s readership.) Martin has already announced he’s retiring next September, and I doubt he or school president Mary Sue Coleman will want to stick his successor with a brand-new coach not of that person’s choosing. Furthermore, many of Michigan’s present problems can be directly attributed to the high amount of attrition that occurred during the transition from Lloyd Carr to Rodriguez. Another coaching change would only prompt more defections. As for Harbaugh, there’s no doubt he’d be a great hire, but I’m hearing the Michigan brass hasn’t yet forgiven him for taking shots at his alma mater’s academic standards two years ago. However, if this time next year Michigan still sits in the bottom half of the Big Ten, a call will almost certainly go out to one of its own — if not Harbaugh, then the formerly coveted Miles, who, in SEC life-span years, may well have worn out his welcome at LSU by then. – SI.com

Agent: Michigan president backs Rich Rodriguez

According to Rich Rodriguez’s agent, Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman supports Rodriguez “100%.” Mike Brown told the Free Press that the pair met on Monday — he said he wasn’t sure what the meeting was about or how it arose — and that’s what she told Rodriguez. – Detroit Free Press

Wilbon: Charlie Weis, Rich Rodriguez Likely Done

Rich Rodriguez’s days may be numbered as the Michigan football coach, at least according to ESPN’s Michael Wilbon. Monday on Tony Kornheiser’s radio show, Wilbon said Rodriguez and Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis are finished at the end of this season. “I had a solo conversation with someone who is affiliated with the current coach at Michigan, and he does not believe for a second that he’ll be back,” Wilbon said. Kornheiser said surely Rodriguez would return for another year, but Wilbon was steadfast. – Charleston Gazette

A turn for the worse at Michigan

For those who think Michigan’s slide since September has hurt coach Rich Rodriguez in Ann Arbor, it’s about to get much, much worse. The Detroit News reported that the Michigan program in 2008 failed to file required logs used to keep track of how many hours players practiced and worked out. An internal university audit revealed the CARA (countable athletically related activities) logs—which the university uses to stay in compliance with NCAA rules—were missing. The NCAA, of course, is investigating allegations made by players that Rodriguez and his staff worked players beyond the NCAA’s 20-hour limit. The missing logs won’t bode well for Rodriguez—with the NCAA or the university. Connect the dots, and it starts to look ugly for Rodriguez—a lot worse than the six losses in the last seven games. When he left West Virginia two years ago, he and his staff were accused of shredding player personnel documents. Here’s the problem: In his contract with Michigan, it specifically states that if Rodriguez commits an NCAA violation, he can be fired for cause. And that means Michigan owes him nothing. Now how big does the Ohio State game look? Win, and the joy of beating your rival for the first time since 2003 salves the wounds. Lose, and Rodriguez might not make it to his third year in Ann Arbor. – Sporting News

A person familiar with the process says that Michigan’s compliance department might be to blame for failing to monitor the filing of practice logs. The Detroit News reported Monday that Michigan coaches failed to file the required monthly logs that keep track of time spent practicing and working out. Michigan is being investigated by the NCAA for possible violations of the maximum 20-work week for football players. The person, a veteran major-college administrator, said that it is typically the duty of a compliance person to keep track of each players’ time spent playing, practicing and working out. “That’s on compliance. If it’s Auburn, LSU, Florida or some other school if you didn’t have practice logs filed then that’s on compliance,” the person said. “It’s compliance’s job to make sure to get them in.” The person said that he was personally responsible for counting the individual hours of each player, by month, then turning the documents into the compliance department. – CBS Sports

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