I find it strange that in the NFL, there is an ant-tampering policy to prevent teams from contacting coaches for jobs in season. Yet in college football where the players are 18-22 year old student, not professionals, a bowl-bound coach is being faxed offers on the same day he is prepping "his" players for the bowl game.

Honestly, it seems a little ass backwards. In the NFL, the players are much more aware of the "business" aspect of football and a coach making other plans doesn't seem like it would be as big of a deal.

I have to say though that I like the way things are done in the NCAA. I think potential recruits and current players should have the right to as much information about possible changes that could seriously impact their futures. If I was a recruit signed to WVU, I'd be happy that I knew about his now, than if he was barred from saying anything until the new year and then options could be more limited. I just feel bad for the players that are currently at the school that got caught up in the mix. My senior year when we fired Tyrone, there was a big division among the players. Some wanted to go the bowl game, some wanted to reject the bid and no one was happy. A lot of seniors who probably could/would have come back for a 5th year did not because who knew what was going to happen.

Anyway, whatever...he did a bang up job with the Mountaineers, but if he leaves, coaching a [edit: previously] sanctioned SEC team with a proud history and impatient alumni might be a bit of a rude awakening...

Bama

Coach Rod is staying at W V U !!

I'll be damned! Good for him.

@ Bama!

I can empathize with Alabama though. It sucks to watch a once proud football program get repeatedly spurned by coaches of "lesser" programs. I mean lesser in the sense that it would be hard for an Alabama fan to see WVU as a superior team given the history of both. While that has no bearing on the present state of things, it still stings nonetheless.

I was less than thrilled when Urban Meyer turned us down. And just as unhappy when coaches like Stoops basically laughed at us when we were searching for Davie's replacement. It's a shot to your pride. And it is disheartening to have to go back to the drawing board and find someone else who was lower on your list.

But life goes on...

Great move by Rodriguez, 'Bama is a really, really crappy job opening at this point.

Why, whatever makes you say that?

Other than the absolute insanity of rabid Tide fans, I mean?

Oh, yes, do tell.

I'll let BlueFire defend himself, but I'd say that is not a worse job, but a harder one and quite probably one that would end badly for Rodriguez.

If you want to talk about a coach inheriting a Bama team that was a "really, really crappy job" at the time, then I'd point you to the guy who just got fired. Shula took on a team with serious sanctions against it and an NCAA committee that was just daring them to step out of line again. I'd say he did a pretty good job all things considered, but apparently it wasn't enough. The man did win 10 games last year, but the alumni didn't think that cut it. I liken it to the ND/Willingham situation.

I am speaking purely as an outsider to Alabama football, but I'd wager that the powers that guided Shula's firing can be paralleled very closely to those that bought out Willingham's contract in 2004. Maybe they saw Shula as a decent coach who had some good success given the circumstances, but he was never a guy who would get them back. But who knows?

I'd say that Alabama isn't as attractive as it once was simply for a few reasons.

1. Recent up and down record (obvious one)
2. Still shaking the stigma of 2 separate NCAA penalties since 1995.
3. The general consensus that the SEC is a slaughterhouse.

Having said that, they are free of the sanctions, have a ton of historical relevance and I read somewhere that their facilities are state-of-the-art. So it's not like this is the Miami job.

I think that Rodriguez feels that he has a better chance of winning a NATL title at WVU. His team will compete for (and most likely be favored to win) the Big East title every year and its automatic BCS bid. And he also has a decent chance to win every game on his schedule in most of those years. With Louisville's steady climb and Rutger's apparent arrival at a national level, WVU will face some good challenges. But that's nothing compared to what Alabama faces every year. Had he taken the job, I wouldn't bet on Rodriguez performing at such a level that in 3-4 years his job would still be safe.

I liken his decision to Urban Meyer's two years ago. I think Meyer saw Florida as an "easier" job than ND. They were already closer talent-wise, recruiting would be easier and pressure to win would be less severe. I think he took the easy way out. But obviously it is looking pretty good for him as he preps his team for their date in Glendale. Hopefully for him, Rodriguez will enjoy similar success.

But if I were an Alabama fan, I would be disappointed. But if he didn't take the job for the reasons I mentioned (and it is quite possible that every reason I gave is total bullsht) then I wouldn't want him.

Bart pretty much summed up my thoughts.

If I was Rodriguez, with the way my team is playing and the situation I'm in, I stay where I am until I get a job that is going to put me in a decently easy position to win.

It is "crappy" in the sense that right now I get the feeling that Alabama is a place where coaches like Rodriguez would have a much worse chance at winning than at WVU.

If I was Rodriguez, I wouldn't want a job where the odds were stacked against me, especially since I already have one where everything is in my favor.

Now, if it was, say, a hot OC/DC coordinator like Chizik or Shannon who was looking at it, then I'd say it is a pretty damn good opening and provides a better opportunity than most coordinators would receive.

How attractive and strong a job is, at least in the case of head coaches, is relative to their current position.

A harder job, no doubt.



Shula's won-loss record doesn't tell the whole story.



Shula was given the opportunity to stay the HC. All Shula needed to do was replace some people on his coaching staff. He refused, thinking all that was needed was to re-shuffle the duties and responsibilities.

As much as I would have loved for Shula to grow into his job (as the majority of Tide fans hoped), it was becoming pretty obvious that was never going to happen.

1) Indecisive in making decisions during a game
2) Clock management - terrible
3) Specifically this year, the red zone offense was &*^*&^*)*%#$@ putrid, yet nothing was done to correct the problem.
4) He was losing control of his players.



Cannot disagree with any of these points.



Again, cannot disagree, except for his job safety. At this point, most Tide fans want the following:

1) Stability brought back to the program (1-2 year time frame)
2) The team being competitive (would be expected in 2-3 years)

Do those two things, then the following will occur:
3) A couple of SEC West divisions champ.
4) A SEC Conference champ.

Focus and complete 1-4, at somepoint:
5) A national championship will come



Waking up Friday, I said to myself, I would not be surprised if Rodriguez turned down the offer (his was coaching his alma mater with successful results after all), and this was nothing more than another coach using the UA HC position as leverage at his present school.

Then I saw the reports where Rodgriguez was talking to the heads of WVU about his contract and other things.
At that point, I came to the conclusion he had no intentions of leaving WVU, and the UA offer was primarily being used as leverage. But, he could accept the offer as a Plan B if WVU wasn't willing to give him more concessions.

The only disappointment I feel is this constant need to use UA job as a reason to get more whatever from their present school. I saw it with Spurrier at South Carolina and now Rodriguez at WVU.

re: the Alabama coaching position..
Can Bama promote an assistant coach like U of Miami did ???
Just wondering....

As a fan of both of WV's Universities,,,WVU and Marshall, I am glad to see coach Rod stay. He got a bunch of moola from the boosters to stay, but that is just my speculation...

As far as I know, they can hire or promote anybody they want. (Looking for a job? Good pay. Outstanding facilities. Southern Belles.)

There is a small faction of fans that would like DC / Interim HC Joe Kines get a crack at the job, but apparently at some point in the past four years, Joe has stated he has no desire to be a HC.



From what I've read, he and his staff were going to get a raise (no where what Bama was offering, but an increase none the less), and WVU was going to get serious about updating their facilities.

How much of that is true? You got me.