Post by elp525 on May 29, 2010 10:43:42 GMT -5
May 28, 2010
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
MORGANTOWN - The more I consider the evidence, the more convinced I become that perhaps Rich Rodriguez's greatest fault as a football coach is a tendency to try to outsmart himself.
Oh, sure, a majority of West Virginians would probably disagree. They would likely cite things like loyalty, greed and arrogance, the latter not necessarily linked to personality (your call, not mine) but rather an arrogance that his way was the right way, be it in his coaching style or the type of plays and schemes he runs.
Consider the facts, though, in regard to just about everything that has gotten Rodriguez, Michigan and, by association, West Virginia in such a state of NCAA limbo these days.
At West Virginia, some of the former football coach's complaints - the ones that he claims led to a culture of "no'' concerning his requests and ultimately his decision to leave for Michigan in 2007 - had everything to do with Rodriguez trying to do things that had never been done, be it at WVU or anywhere:
His request for extra graduate assistants on his staff.
His desire to start his own Web site.
His request to allow players to keep their textbooks and, presumably, sell them for profit.
His need to control who was given sideline passes and, therefore, access to the program.
In almost every instance the requests seemed fairly benign, or at least in comparison to the hostage-taking demands (i.e., money hand over fist) of some coaches these days. Much of the sympathy Rodriguez elicited from supporters in the days and months after he left WVU was from those who couldn't believe that the two sides had created such a gaping schism over such seemingly minor issues.
Remember Ken Kendrick? He was ready to just write the checks and get it done, right? But West Virginia said no.
The school said no, not because it wasn't willing to make relatively minor investments in such things, but because in so many instances when Rodriguez wanted something he was tiptoeing on the edge of NCAA rules.
Two more grad assistants who wouldn't be directly assigned to football coaching duties? Well, the NCAA has limits on the number of GAs, and to add to that number by assigning them to non-traditional roles is probably a grey area.
Starting his own Web site? See Dennis Franchione and his
troubles with selling inside information at Texas A&M to finance his Web site.
Players keeping textbooks and selling them? Uh, let's think this one through, huh? How could that possibly go bad?
And controlling access? Is Rodriguez then going to be personally responsible for making sure that agents or the like don't seep through the cracks?
We bring all of this up because earlier this week Michigan and Rodriguez answered charges from the NCAA regarding violations in the Wolverines' football program. The school grudgingly admitted guilt in regard to four of the five charges leveled by the NCAA, all stemming from conducting too many - and in some cases too supervised - workouts, both in and out of season.
One of the accusations involved non-coaching graduate assistants at practice. Does anyone really need a road map to see how that relates to Rodriguez's request for extra grad assistants at WVU?
The fact is, be it with the issue of GAs or textbooks or access or anything else, Rodriguez has always tried to push the envelope. It's always been his style.
The guy did essentially the same thing on the field with his X's and O's, looking at situations and asking why he couldn't do things in a different way. On the field, though, there's a more immediate response. If you're doing something illegal an official will drop a flag and tell you you can't do that. When it comes to bending the rules or pushing the envelope in regard to NCAA rules, well, you'd better be a little more careful.
That's where Rodriguez outsmarted himself, thinking he'd found ways around regulations when in fact he had not. Or at least the NCAA is now maintaining he did not.
As for the response to the five major rules violations at Michigan, Rodriguez can no longer try to skirt the issue. He and the school admitted to four of them and self-imposed their own penalties. The NCAA may add more later. In short, the school and Rodriguez said they made mistakes, but they weren't intentional. They played the "oops" card.
It seems the question most asked, though, is how the school could possibly deny the one that it didn't own up to - that Rodriguez "failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program.'' After all, if the university admits to four major rules violations, isn't the fifth one obvious?
Well, of course it is. Here's the sticking point, though. If the school admits that Rodriguez failed to promote that atmosphere of compliance, it can hardly argue that the more specific violations were merely mistakes or errors in judgment. In an atmosphere of non-compliance, the commission of those violations would portray Rodriguez's program as out of control.
Ah, but if Michigan steadfastly stands behind Rodriguez and maintains that he was at all times trying to run a clean program - i.e., promoting an atmosphere of compliance - well, then all of those other issues can be explained away with that simple, "Oops.''
The trouble is, it is that fifth allegation that is the most serious and the one the NCAA is no doubt looking at the hardest. It is also the reason the NCAA paid a visit to West Virginia last winter, digging into how things were done when Rodriguez was here.
From WVU's point of view, of course, it would be best if the NCAA uncovered nothing during its foray to Morgantown; that it establishes that things were done properly. The school no doubt went to great lengths during the NCAA's visit to explain how it so often denied Rodriguez in his requests to do things that seemed borderline nefarious.
From Rodriguez's point of view, though, it would actually seem almost beneficial if the NCAA uncovered evidence of violations at WVU similar to those that are being charged at Michigan. Rodriguez would then have a much easier time explaining away the Michigan "mistakes'' if they were ones he had committed elsewhere, giving him the ability to say, "Well, I didn't know. That's the way I've always done it.''
How will it all pan out when the NCAA's Committee on Infractions meets in mid-August to consider the Michigan case? Who knows? But the bottom line is that Rodriguez is probably past the point of being able to outsmart anyone on these points.
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
MORGANTOWN - The more I consider the evidence, the more convinced I become that perhaps Rich Rodriguez's greatest fault as a football coach is a tendency to try to outsmart himself.
Oh, sure, a majority of West Virginians would probably disagree. They would likely cite things like loyalty, greed and arrogance, the latter not necessarily linked to personality (your call, not mine) but rather an arrogance that his way was the right way, be it in his coaching style or the type of plays and schemes he runs.
Consider the facts, though, in regard to just about everything that has gotten Rodriguez, Michigan and, by association, West Virginia in such a state of NCAA limbo these days.
At West Virginia, some of the former football coach's complaints - the ones that he claims led to a culture of "no'' concerning his requests and ultimately his decision to leave for Michigan in 2007 - had everything to do with Rodriguez trying to do things that had never been done, be it at WVU or anywhere:
His request for extra graduate assistants on his staff.
His desire to start his own Web site.
His request to allow players to keep their textbooks and, presumably, sell them for profit.
His need to control who was given sideline passes and, therefore, access to the program.
In almost every instance the requests seemed fairly benign, or at least in comparison to the hostage-taking demands (i.e., money hand over fist) of some coaches these days. Much of the sympathy Rodriguez elicited from supporters in the days and months after he left WVU was from those who couldn't believe that the two sides had created such a gaping schism over such seemingly minor issues.
Remember Ken Kendrick? He was ready to just write the checks and get it done, right? But West Virginia said no.
The school said no, not because it wasn't willing to make relatively minor investments in such things, but because in so many instances when Rodriguez wanted something he was tiptoeing on the edge of NCAA rules.
Two more grad assistants who wouldn't be directly assigned to football coaching duties? Well, the NCAA has limits on the number of GAs, and to add to that number by assigning them to non-traditional roles is probably a grey area.
Starting his own Web site? See Dennis Franchione and his
troubles with selling inside information at Texas A&M to finance his Web site.
Players keeping textbooks and selling them? Uh, let's think this one through, huh? How could that possibly go bad?
And controlling access? Is Rodriguez then going to be personally responsible for making sure that agents or the like don't seep through the cracks?
We bring all of this up because earlier this week Michigan and Rodriguez answered charges from the NCAA regarding violations in the Wolverines' football program. The school grudgingly admitted guilt in regard to four of the five charges leveled by the NCAA, all stemming from conducting too many - and in some cases too supervised - workouts, both in and out of season.
One of the accusations involved non-coaching graduate assistants at practice. Does anyone really need a road map to see how that relates to Rodriguez's request for extra grad assistants at WVU?
The fact is, be it with the issue of GAs or textbooks or access or anything else, Rodriguez has always tried to push the envelope. It's always been his style.
The guy did essentially the same thing on the field with his X's and O's, looking at situations and asking why he couldn't do things in a different way. On the field, though, there's a more immediate response. If you're doing something illegal an official will drop a flag and tell you you can't do that. When it comes to bending the rules or pushing the envelope in regard to NCAA rules, well, you'd better be a little more careful.
That's where Rodriguez outsmarted himself, thinking he'd found ways around regulations when in fact he had not. Or at least the NCAA is now maintaining he did not.
As for the response to the five major rules violations at Michigan, Rodriguez can no longer try to skirt the issue. He and the school admitted to four of them and self-imposed their own penalties. The NCAA may add more later. In short, the school and Rodriguez said they made mistakes, but they weren't intentional. They played the "oops" card.
It seems the question most asked, though, is how the school could possibly deny the one that it didn't own up to - that Rodriguez "failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program.'' After all, if the university admits to four major rules violations, isn't the fifth one obvious?
Well, of course it is. Here's the sticking point, though. If the school admits that Rodriguez failed to promote that atmosphere of compliance, it can hardly argue that the more specific violations were merely mistakes or errors in judgment. In an atmosphere of non-compliance, the commission of those violations would portray Rodriguez's program as out of control.
Ah, but if Michigan steadfastly stands behind Rodriguez and maintains that he was at all times trying to run a clean program - i.e., promoting an atmosphere of compliance - well, then all of those other issues can be explained away with that simple, "Oops.''
The trouble is, it is that fifth allegation that is the most serious and the one the NCAA is no doubt looking at the hardest. It is also the reason the NCAA paid a visit to West Virginia last winter, digging into how things were done when Rodriguez was here.
From WVU's point of view, of course, it would be best if the NCAA uncovered nothing during its foray to Morgantown; that it establishes that things were done properly. The school no doubt went to great lengths during the NCAA's visit to explain how it so often denied Rodriguez in his requests to do things that seemed borderline nefarious.
From Rodriguez's point of view, though, it would actually seem almost beneficial if the NCAA uncovered evidence of violations at WVU similar to those that are being charged at Michigan. Rodriguez would then have a much easier time explaining away the Michigan "mistakes'' if they were ones he had committed elsewhere, giving him the ability to say, "Well, I didn't know. That's the way I've always done it.''
How will it all pan out when the NCAA's Committee on Infractions meets in mid-August to consider the Michigan case? Who knows? But the bottom line is that Rodriguez is probably past the point of being able to outsmart anyone on these points.
