STRIKE IT RICH: West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez accepts Wolverines job

By MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

December 16, 2007

Michigan has a new football coach.

West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez, who met with U-M president Mary Sue Coleman and athletic director Bill Martin on Friday in Toledo, has accepted the Michigan coaching job, replacing retiring coach Lloyd Carr.

Associate athletic director Bruce Madej confirmed to a Free Press report this afternoon that Rodriguez would be the Wolverines' 17th football coach.

U-M has scheduled a news conference for 9 a.m. Monday on campus.

Rodriguez had a 10-minute meeting with his team early this afternoon, told the 11th-ranked Mountaineers that he was leaving for Michigan and went back to his office, according to West Virginia media reports.

His players had little comment but looked downtrodden.

Also, the country's top quarterbacking prospect told Superprep.com this afternoon that Rodriguez had called with similar news.

“I just spoke to Coach Rodriguez about 10 minutes ago and he told me he is going to Michigan,” the QB, Terrelle Pryor, told Superprep.com. “He said they made him an offer he can't refuse.”

Pryor, from Jeannette, Pa., told the recruiting site that he wanted to add Michigan to his list of finalists. West Virginia had been on the list.

Rodriguez's decision came after nearly two days of pondering Friday's discussion and, according to the Charleston Gazette, two meetings with West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong on Saturday.

Although Rodriguez did not comment about the U-M job at his previously scheduled Saturday morning news conference, instead talking about his team's impeding Fiesta Bowl date against Oklahoma, his lack of a denial kept hope alive for many Wolverines fans. Combined with his decision to cancel an afternoon practice, a move seemed possible.

Rodriguez made nearly $1.8 million this season, according to a recent USA Today survey of college coaches.

A 44-year-old coach who has won at least 10 games in each of the past three seasons, including two BCS bowl trips, seemed to fit many of Martin's criteria.

He recruits the Midwest well, he is young enough that he could be a long-term fixture at U-M and brings the dynamic spread offense that has thrived everywhere he has been as a coordinator (Tulane and Clemson) and a head coach (Glenville State and, since 2001, West Virginia.)

His 60-26 record at West Virginia is sterling, although procuring him appeared costly with a $4 million buyout added in a contract amendment signed in August 2007.

Carr is still expected to coach Michigan in the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl against ninth-ranked Florida.

Martin attended the Michigan basketball game Saturday but refused comment on anything related to the search, which began officially when Carr announced his retirement on Nov. 19.

Rodriguez's acceptance would brings to an end the long and winding process to replace Carr.

Michigan had reached deep discussions with Rutgers coach Greg Schiano before he pulled out of the race on Dec. 7. There were extensive discussions between LSU coach Les Miles' representatives and U-M. Miles officially spoke to Coleman and Martin on Dec. 7, although released a statement saying it was just in an advisory capacity.

Like Schiano, Rodriguez was in his second major job flirtation in 12 months, having spurned Alabama last December.

Rodriguez also has a tenuous tie to Ann Arbor in his former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, who was one of Bo Schemebchler's assistants before leaving to build the Mountaineers' program.

There have been 16 Division I-A coaching changes since the regular season ended and Michigan was one of three - UCLA and SMU - that had not been filled.

University of Michigan Stadium Dedication 1927

Dedication Day, Oct. 22, 1927, UM vs. Ohio State

Article source: Bentley Historical Library

Michigan played in the dedication game of Ohio State's new stadium in 1922, and behind the running and kicking of Harry Kipke spoiled the Buckeye's celebration with a convincing 19-0 victory. The Ohioans came to Ann Arbor in 1927 hoping to return the favor. Michigan was undefeated and unscored on in its first three games, home victories over Ohio Wesleyan and Michigan State and a road win over Wisconsin. All-American end Bennie Oosterbaan led a potent Michigan offense that also featured elusive halfback Louis Gilbert and rugged fullback George Rich. The line was anchored by tackle Ray Baer and guard Otto Pommerening - who would earn All-American honors in 1928.

Unlike the rainy weather which kept the crowd for the opening game against Ohio Wesleyan well below capacity, conditions on dedication day were near perfect. Temporary wooden bleachers (that would, in fact, remain in place until 1949) had been erected around the top of the stadium to provide an additional 10,000 seats in anticipation of a capacity crowd.

The game had sold out well in advance, but hundreds showed up hoping to find a ticket. As the Detroit Free Press reporter told it, "To those within the field, you can add doleful hundreds outside who, a few minutes after the game started had reached the hysterical point where they were asking one another if they didn't have just one ticket to sell. ... One latecomer today was asked and paid $16 for a pair of tickets, or $10 over the printed price."

General admission tickets sold for three dollars. The 11,114 student ticket purchaser had to pay a fifty cent surcharge on the normal $2.50 price for this and the other "big games" of the year. The box seats in the lower rows went for four and five dollars. More than 17,000 tickets were sold at Ohio State.

Nearly one thousand Boy Scouts, from all over Michigan, plus a few from Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus, were on hand to usher the ticket holders to their seats. A crowd of nearly 85, 000 was on hand as the dedication ceremonies got under way at 2:00.

As a football spectacle, of course, the day wholly surpassed anything in Michigan history. As the Michigan Alumnus writer noted "Ann Arbor flung open its gates to a horde of visitors nearly triple the size of its own population - and the new stadium swallowed them by two o-clock in the afternoon." The dedication ceremony itself was simple. Michigan Governor Fred W. Green and his Ohio counterpart Vince Donahey, and Presidents C.C. Little of Michigan and George W. Rightmire of Ohio, led the massed bands of the two universities onto the field from the east tunnel. The bands paraded to the flag pole where the national ensign was raised and the vast throng stood bareheaded during the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner" and "The Yellow and Blue." The Detroit Free Press carried a particularly colorful account of the ceremonies. With the formalities completed, the Stadium was turned over to the use for which it was built.

Among those in attendance on dedication day were "Bennie" and "Biff" the two live wolverine mascots Fielding Yost had acquired after a long search. For a number of years they were brought to the stadium for all the big games. The wolverines lived for a time at a small zoo near the Natural History Museum, but eventually became too vicious to remain on campus and were moved to the Detroit Zoo.

The unquestioned star of Michigan's 21-0 victory was halfback Louis Gilbert. He scored all of Michigan's touchdowns - two on long passes from Oosterbaan featuring elaborate deception in the backfield and the third on a short run off a lateral from Oosterbaan and kicked the extra points. Despite the score, the Buckeyes gave the Wolverines a good game. The Michigan Daily and Michigan Alumnus accounts of the game praised Ohio's efforts. Only an outstanding defensive effort led by Oosterbaan held the powerful Ohio ground game in check.

Both of the remaining home games for 1927 were sellouts. A crowd of 83,650 saw the Wolverines defeat a tough Navy squad 27-12. In the season finale, a homecoming crowd of 84,243 looked on as Michigan dropped a 6-13 decision, and custody of the Little Brown Jug, to Minnesota.

Michigan finished the stadium's inaugural season with a 6-2 overall record; 3-2 in the conference, 4-1 in the "Big House."

Source: Bentley Historical Library http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/stadium/stadtext/dediday.htm