RichRod Update

Note: if you didn't read my "Almost heaven..." post from January 18, start there to get brought up to speed.


The West Virginia Jihad. More coverage and analysis from Brian at MGoBlog:

"West F-in' Jihad: Day VII" - Monday, January 21, 2008

"West F-in' Jihad: Day IX" - Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The upshot. As Brian puts it:

Assumptions going forward: the shredding thing was much ado about precisely nothing, Rodriguez is neither Satan or Carr, and no one should particularly care about the outcome of the WVU-Rodriguez lawsuit.

The coach. Newly hired WVU football coach Bill Stewart couldn't agree more and said as much to The Charleston Gazette:

Stewart has had enough of it. Tuesday night, though, he became one of the few principles involved to say enough is enough, at least without slinging more mud in the process.

In fact, if he slung anything it was rose petals.

"He's the football coach at Michigan and I'm the football coach at West Virginia and that's what we need to be doing," Stewart told the Gazette late Tuesday night. "The wounds need to heal. We need to go on."

Seriously. Stewart has a job to do and wants to get down to business--something WVU fans would probably find in their best interest:

...as for the he-said, she-said mess that has been created by all of the collateral issues--from Rodriguez calling WVU recruits, shredding files and generally leaving in a huff to new accusations from Rodriguez's camp of racial prejudice in the search for his successor--Stewart said he wishes it would just all go away so that both universities can focus on the future rather than the past.

"Who is any of this helping? It's certainly not helping West Virginia University or Michigan. It's not helping Billy Stewart or Rich Rodriguez," Stewart said. "I understand there are issues and a lot of them have to be dealt with. But hasn't it just all gotten ridiculous? How did we get to this point?"

The simple answer... West Virginians are crazy. Unfortunately, irrational fan backlash is the price an institution must be willing to pay when it enters into a high-profile coaching search. Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News makes some great points to that effect:

People are so wounded in West Virginia, there allegedly has been vandalism to Rodriguez's property and threats to his family. Internet sites are finding all sorts of ways to defile Rodriguez, a West Virginia alum who plummeted from state hero to state heretic.

He knew some of this was coming, and Michigan should have expected it. There's no reason for athletic director Bill Martin or president Mary Sue Coleman to get squeamish now. If they have the stomach to authorize a $226 million renovation of Michigan Stadium, and the boldness to swipe one of college football's best coaches for $2 million-plus per season, they better have the strength to deal with the ugly side.

Martin declined comment Thursday, but Rodriguez said his boss backs him fully. Asked if he wanted to apologize to West Virginia for anything, Rodriguez sounded puzzled.

"Apologize for what?" he said. "I know their feelings are hurt. I changed jobs, this is America. I don't know what the agenda is, but I'd like for everybody to move forward."

...

Rodriguez was so ingrained at West Virginia, his departure was going to anger people no matter how he left, or where he went. If this makes folks in Ann Arbor uneasy, they're probably pining for a college football world that doesn't exist anymore. Four decades of promoting from within made Michigan one of the most stable programs, and one of the most insulated.

Bottom line. Feelings were hurt, poo was flung, rabid college football fans acted like rabid college football fans, Michigan knew what it was in for (or should have) when it entered the football arms race, the courts and lawyers will deal with the buyout, both fanbases need to move on and focus on 2008.

Barwis The Destroyer

I was trying to explain to someone that hiring Rich Rodriguez, unquestionably one of the top coaches in all of college football, was not Michigan's most significant off-season upgrade. My argument was limp and unconvincing, largely because I didn't have the right backup. Thankfully, the internet is here to help out. I'll start with this piece from the Times West Virginian:

It is not meant to belittle the effect of the defection of West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez to Michigan, but if I were to tell you that his departure may not be the most difficult for the school's athletic department to withstand you may think that I spent a little too much time this week in Kentucky with my old friend Jack Daniels.

Yet that may be the case. As much as Rodriguez was the architect of the revival of WVU football, converting it into a national power, there was someone on his staff who may have laid the foundation not only for the football renaissance but for the rise of the school's other sports programs.

That person was Mike Barwis, who served as the director of strength and conditioning at the school, which meant that he supervised the entire Mountaineer strength program.

Okay, so big deal. Right? Wrong. Before I go any further, I need to note the fact that Michigan has been using the same S&C program it ran when Bo Schembechler was hired; only one other program in the country still uses it, and I doubt you'll be surprised when I tell you that it's Penn State, coached by octogenarian Joe Paterno. Anyway, the same article does a good job of explaining why S&C (and Barwis, specifically) is so important:

Let us first understand that in the field of athletics in this modern era, it is the strength coach who becomes closest to the athletes. In truth, [Barwis] spends far more time with them than does the head coach, who has duties recruiting and raising funds in the off-season while Barwis is running them up law school hill or devising other devilish programs that are meant to build both physical and mental strength.

But Barwis always finds time to reach each player on a personal level. He is a brother to some, father to other, priest to those who need some spiritual guidance and warden, if necessary.

It is difficult to imagine what it is like to be cooped up in a weight room with Barwis, who is hard as granite and wound so tight that he literally can't take a break from his routine. If you think you get a jolt out of 5-Hour Energy Drink, get yourself a transfusion of Barwis' blood, if you can get him to lie still on a table long enough to part with it.

Those are some strong words. But you know what's crazy? They don't do the guy justice. Upon being hired by Michigan, Barwis answered questions at his introductory presser about the changes he would implement...





Whoa. Intensity in ten cities, as Wayne Campbell would say. The Freep abides:

When Rich Rodriguez interviewed for the Michigan football coaching job, he knew little about the Wolverines' inner workings.

Yet, despite scant firsthand knowledge of the strength-and-conditioning program, he asked for and received a significant amount of money to improve it.

That's why the weight room downstairs in Schembechler Hall was virtually empty Friday -- new equipment is en route -- and upstairs, new strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis was holding court on his relentless approach.

"I hope none of us scare them off," said Barwis, who leads a staff of six. "I hope all the kids here want to be a part of the program and work to achieve their goals. ...I love them all like they're my children, but I'm going to be hard on them -- I'm hard on my children.

Tip of the iceberg, people. Here's Barwis The Destroyer amping up the Mountaineers before their thrashing of Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl [ed. note: it's not as long as the last clip, which was a full press conference]:





Jeebus. I cream my pants every time I watch footage of Mike Barwis. I wish I had that clip on hand when I was trying to make my point the other day. Although, things might have gotten messy.


UPDATE (8:36 PM): I forgot to include one related quote regarding the coaching transition and a subject of major worry to me (former players feeling welcome and comfortable with the new regime). Leave it to RichRod to assuage my concern:

In an effort to introduce himself and his staff to former Michigan players, Rodriguez plans to host an event in Ann Arbor in February.

"I want to meet all the guys that played here. I didn't play here, so I didn't know a lot of them. But I know how much pride they have in this place, and I want to meet 'em and talk to 'em, and I want to make sure all the former players feel welcome coming back here, and I think they will once they meet all the staff members."

Music to my ears.

Almost heaven...

...pretty damn close to hell.

[The Shredder]

A lot of people have been asking me about this whole Rich Rodriguez/West Virginia bru ha ha for a few days now. While I am more than happy to field your UofM queries, Brian at MGoBlog has been following the situation with a magnifying glass and fine-toothed comb all week long, making him a far better arbiter of truth. As such, here are the links (in chronological order) to his running analysis:

"Oklahoma's Defense or Paper?" - Tuesday, January 15, 2008

"West F-in' Jihad: Day II" - Wednesday, January 16, 2008

"West F-in' Jihad: Day III" - Thursday, January 17, 2008

"West F-in' Jihad: Day IV" - Friday, January 18, 2008

Not only does Brian do a comprehensive job of covering the nitty-gritty and debunking vindictive spin, he also happens to be quite entertaining. I highly recommend reading those posts.

Moving away from the blogosphere, but keeping with the Rodriguez/WVU spat, the following MSM article responding to the disjointed and irrational outcry is a must-read:

"WVU's juvenile behavior toward Rodriguez must stop" - Friday, January 18, 2008

I'll try to provide more updates as things develop. Stay tuned.