Michigan Hires Rich Rodriguez; Jim Grobe is From Huntington, WVa

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..I’m just saying…

Check out this link to the West Virginia message boards. Some fans are supporting former NC State assistant, Doc Holliday for the West Virginia job; and The Sporting News has their initial list of potential candidates already up.

Please feel free to use this entry to discuss other coaching items that are developing. For example, we haven’t discussed David Cutcliffe’s hiring at Duke.

There is no doubt that Cutcliffe is quite an improvement over Carl Franks and Ted Roof.

Cutcliffe went 44-29 and led Ole Miss in five bowl games from 1999-2004, and will remain with Tennessee for its Outback Bowl appearance next month against Wisconsin while also embracing the challenge of reversing the fortunes of a football program that has struggled mightily while most of Duke’s other teams have flourished.

Cutcliffe has longed for another head coaching opportunity ever since Ole Miss fired him following a 4-7 finish in 2004, a year after winning the Cotton Bowl and the first season of the post-Eli Manning era in Oxford.

Ole Miss was crazy to push out Cutcliffe, by the way.

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62 Responses to Michigan Hires Rich Rodriguez; Jim Grobe is From Huntington, WVa

  1. PacknSack 12/17/2007 at 9:56 AM #

    I’m with Mr. O on this one. Cutcliffe is considered a great QB, but the ones frequently referenced are Mannings! If ever two guys came into college ready for that level it was them. And it’s not like either won a Heisman or put up unforgettable numbers.

    Coaches can move because there is nothing backing their contracts other than the honor system. Players scholarships are regulated by the NCAA, pro contracts are based on union regulations and the CBA. Coaches have no third party of any sort setting ground rules for contracts.

    As an aside, the Wilmington paper has Nick Becton committing to Va Tech over the weekend. State was high on his list earlier this year, and I think he had verballed as a junior to Amato.

  2. Noah 12/17/2007 at 10:07 AM #

    “I just can’t help but think MI could have done better. RR hasn’t exactly won the house (especially his last game) and MI desperately wants someone, anyone who can beat the Vest. I am not convinced RR can do that with regularity.”

    Uhh…have you been following their coaching search? That they were able to find a coach and not have to settle on Ron English is a major accomplishment at this point.

    And for those that want coaches bound to a school during their contract, just re-write the deal to say that. GOod luck trying to get anyone to sign it.

  3. JimValvano 12/17/2007 at 10:16 AM #

    My point is that coaches are the only ones with such freedom to move about mid-season to another team if they so choose. I’m not real sure as to why they are being held to a different standard. I just find it odd that someone can sign their name, on a legally binding contract, agreeing to coach for x amount of years for x amount of salary, and then just up and leave whenever they want with no regard for the contract…which is legally binding. The whole thing, while I understand how and why it happens, I don’t understand why it is allowed to happen. It seems that the contract really doesn’t protect both parties. The NCAA and the NFL and NBA need to work together to rectify the current situation and structure of the contracts. Maybe that is called collusion, but you all get my drift.

  4. JimValvano 12/17/2007 at 10:18 AM #

    As far as my opinion on RR to Michigan. He fits. They said they were looking for someone that is like Lloyd Carr, and from what I have seen from RR…they are very similar. RR can’t win big games either.

  5. RAWFS 12/17/2007 at 10:26 AM #

    RBCCenter, *every* major job opening in FBS football will have mentions of Jim Grobe for the foreseeable future. It is not silly speculation, instead, it is reasonable, given the quality of coaching that Grobe and company have provided.

    One can also understand how WVU fans are a little chapped about this hire. Keep in mind that their basketball coach also departed in the offseason for…Michigan.

  6. EverettBeez 12/17/2007 at 10:45 AM #

    In Oxford, Miss, many folks – including myself – felt that Archie Manning pushed Ole Miss to hire Cutcliffe so Eli could play for the Rebels. The Manning family thought/thinks highly of Cutcliffe, esepcially after he coached Payton. We hired him, Eli came, we had a good run, and when Eli left the team looked awful, and we fired him. Wrongly I think. Too quick on the trigger.

    Going to Duke could be good, but I’ve got my doubts about Cutcliffe’s ability to recruit. A bigger doubt in my mind is the Administration & Faculty’s commitment to sports at Duke. I think many of the faculty only tolerate the basketball team, and more then a couple would like to get rid of that. If I was Cutcliffe, I would’ve insisted on some sort of assurances that the Administration would show decent support for the team in all instances – and not sell them down the river at the first sign of suspected trouble like they did to the LAX team. After all, the only things that have changed in Durham are the LAX Coach & the DA. All the other nut jobs or losers are still hanging working there.

    Still, it would benefit the conference over all if the weak sister could pull her own weight.

  7. Texpack 12/17/2007 at 10:59 AM #

    If the Division I AD’s wanted to block the plundering of all Division I coaches until after all of the bowl games were over each year they could do that tomorrow so you have to ask why they haven’t done it already. The reason is that it would create a log jam / domino scenario every year between the termination of coaches following the regular season and the hiring of new coaches in January. During that time every school that fired a coach would be at a major disadvantage in recruiting because of the uncertainty created. The athletic departments in D1 are so dependent on their two revenue sports, that they don’t want to risk those two lost recruits costing them a bowl bid and the $$ that go with it.

  8. EverettBeez 12/17/2007 at 11:17 AM #

    TxPack hits the nail on the head, I think. Its the recruiting that makes coaching changes before the bowls essential – or desirable. I don’t that anything can be done to stop that.

  9. BoKnowsNCS71 12/17/2007 at 11:18 AM #

    The fact that Grobe might be from West Virginia is also a pretty good reason for never ever wanting to go back.

    I guess WVa with all that buy out money coming in can pay a new coach a big salary (with a monster pay out clause). I never knew though that WVa was the trainign league for Michigan (2 coaches taken in less then a year — wow).

  10. Girlfriend in a Coma 12/17/2007 at 11:18 AM #

    You can’t force a coach to stay through the bowls because is not illegal to breach a contract. It happens all the time. You just have to pay the damages for the breach. In these cases with coaches, there are liquidated damage clauses so you don’t have to litigate that issue. Liquidated damage clauses in the NCAA coach paradigm are the “buyout” clauses.

    You can’t force anyone to perform a contract they want out of. You can force them (or someone) to pay the damages, which happens every time with these coaches.

  11. VaWolf82 12/17/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    First and foremost they shouldn’t be able to switch jobs before the season is over. They did sign the contract.

    I just can’t get worked up over what any coach does anymore. Schools can fire coaches in the middle of the season. Why shouldn’t coaches quit in the middle of the season.

    The key point of the quoted text is that there is a contract between two parties. It is understood by both parties that the length of the contract is meaningless. What is important is the pay, incentives, and the buyout clause.

    If both sides are committed to each other, then it will be reflected in the terms of the contract. If not, then that will also be reflected.

  12. Mr O 12/17/2007 at 11:45 AM #

    As long as buyouts are paid either to the coach who is fired or to the school that a coach leaves, then those contracts are being honored. Having a coach remain at a school for the length of the contract isn’t the only way for that contract to be fulfilled.

    Unless there is a clause written into the contract that doesn’t allow that particular coach to leave or a school to make a change until the season ends, a specific date, etc…then when a coach leaves or is fired is irrelevant to honoring the contract.

    I can never figure out why people believe the only way to honor contracts is to satisfy the term written into the contract.

  13. ncsumatman 12/17/2007 at 11:59 AM #

    Ole Miss may have been crazy to push out Cutcliffe, but not nearly as crazy as Arkansas pushing out Nutt. The Rebels will be further along in 5 years than if Cutcliffe stayed. Eli, ala numero 17 put that team on his back during his duration, sound familiar???

  14. MatSci94 12/17/2007 at 12:06 PM #

    Who was it that said “you can name your price, as long as I can name the terms”?

    Also on the Cutliffe firing from Ole Miss, the story on the radio was that after their bad season, he was told to make changes to his staff. When he declined to do so, he was fired.

  15. Noah 12/17/2007 at 12:07 PM #

    “I just find it odd that someone can sign their name, on a legally binding contract, agreeing to coach for x amount of years for x amount of salary, and then just up and leave whenever they want with no regard for the contract…which is legally binding.”

    Clearly, it’s not binding…as others have pointed out, you just have to pay the “damages.”

    If you really wanted someone to stay for a certain period of time, you could always put a no-compete clause in their contract. But, like I said earlier, good luck finding someone to sign it.

  16. bTHEredterror 12/17/2007 at 12:09 PM #

    Good points from many, another thing to remember is that the universities have the option of matching or surpassing the offer in an effort to keep their coach. A reality of the situation is some universities (Michigan among them) have more budget and prestige to work with, making that competition unlikely, but the option is there. If the ‘Neers love RR so much, then…..ante up.

    Grobe pulled a pseudo-Calipari with Arkansas, all his Assts got a raise before he turned down the job. I think he would have to ruminate on this one, but I fear he is built of different stuff than Petrino and will remain in WF for a while.

    I would love to be wrong and do enjoy the speculation. Thank you for exercising your first amendment rights, SFN. I think Tremayne would prolly be OK with it.

  17. JimValvano 12/17/2007 at 12:28 PM #

    Okay. I’m satisfied now. Thank you all for helping me through it. I guess what seems to be ethically correct isn’t always the generally accepted way of doing things. I’m not 100% sure about O’Brien yet, but I would like to see what he IS capable of doing. I hope he hangs around long enough that we can decide if he’s worth matching what other teams might offer.

    Personally, I hope that Grobe stays at Wake Forest for as long as Wake Forest wants him. I’ve heard a few say they’d like to see him go, but for me…the better the rest of the conference is the better off we will be when we finally win a conference title. The only team I like to see struggle is the Tarholes…so I’m hoping Butch will leave. It would be great if he’d wait so that all of the legitimate coaches that could replace him have already signed extensions or have jumped to their new teams.

  18. Mr O 12/17/2007 at 12:41 PM #

    A report says Saban’s agent has contacted W. Va. Surely that cannot be true. Says he is unhappy at Alabama and doesn’t need to make as much as Alabama is paying him, but wants not more than a 50% cut. Surely this can’t be true.

  19. Pack92 12/17/2007 at 12:44 PM #

    ^noah, I agree 100%. The going for MI has been extremely tough and the number of what we would call available “good” coaches has been limited. I think it really chaps MI that a guy from Youngstown St. has worn them out ever since he got to Ohio State and there is a sense of desperation in Ann Arbor – especially after the turndowns. Regardless of how “great” the Big East supposedly is in football I have never seen teams of RR play as consistently as those of Tressel – one NC game notwithstanding.

  20. Lunatic Fringe 12/17/2007 at 12:46 PM #

    Beilein was forced to pay his own buyout. Not sure about Rodriguez.

    ^^Do you really think Beilien is not being compensated by Michigan for the buyout? The terms of the contract are for Beilein to pay back the $1.5M to WVU in $300K installments each year.

    I am pretty sure that the $300K was taken into account when he agreed to the Michigan contract. One way or another, Michigan is paying for the buyouts.

  21. bTHEredterror 12/17/2007 at 12:57 PM #

    RR is smart in this sense as well. He runs a similar offense to the one that embarassed MI twice this year (App St and Oregon) and embarassed Ohio St twice(Fla and Ill). If you can’t beat ’em……

  22. choppack1 12/17/2007 at 1:04 PM #

    Regarding Duke – I don’t know about Cutcliffe. He seems more like a solid coach than the “mad scientest” type I believe Duke needs to go more than 5-7. Cutcliffe’s offenses are usually sound and rely on balance. I can’t see that kind of offense resulting in winning football for the Blue Devils.

    Regarding Grobe – I just wonder whether or not WVa is a good fit for him from a personality standpoint. I have no idea why those at Michigan and Nebraska supposedly hurt their opportunities by wanting to keep or have certain folks on their staff. (That rumor has been out there.) If I found out Lee did something like that to keep us from getting a great coach, I’d blow a gasket.

  23. Noah 12/17/2007 at 1:33 PM #

    Supposedly, Rich Rodriguez has a shot at Terrelle Pryor, the #1 player in the nation. He’s a 6-5, 221 pound spread QB. This year’s Xavier Lee (remember, he was supposed to the best thing ever, a 6-5 version of Ron Curry – who was supposed to the best thing ever).

  24. Girlfriend in a Coma 12/17/2007 at 1:35 PM #

    Covenants not to compete (or non-compete clauses) in contracts are only enforcible if “reasonable” in duration, scope, and location. IMO you would never be able to get one enforced outside of a coach’s conference for that reason. And maybe not even inside a conference depending on the current case law. When I was in law school the “C.A.B.” case was the one used to teach this concept.

    Those types of clauses are viewed as restraints of trade and are heavily scrutinized as a result.

  25. PackerInRussia 12/17/2007 at 1:38 PM #

    I wonder if having a playoff would have any effect on coaches staying through the end of the season. For some reason it seems like basketball coaches play through the tourney before switching jobs although I may be off-base with that. I know that the difference b/t b-ball and football would be the huge break b/t end of season and post-season in football, but I’m guessing they would have to start playing earlier if there was a playoff. In basketball there is a decent break between the end of the regular season and the actual end of the tournament. Perhaps a playoff could keep coaches through the end if there were large incentives for advancing to various rounds. Also, there is something more competitive about a playoff than a single bowl game. The most valuable aspect of a bowl game other than money is the practice time which a departing coach does not need. Of course I know that a football playoff does not include a ton of teams so that wouldn’t have a widespread effect if it had any at all. I know there’s a lot of flaws in this (reason-wise) and if I read it from someone else I’d be questioning most of what was said, but it’s just something to talk about. Main interest: would a playoff (which I’m not sold on) have any effect on coaches staying to the end of a season?

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