We knew that the day would come when Rich Rodriguez would head back to the sidelines. It appears that Rich Rod will reappear in a football stadium near you west coast readers in 2012.
Our friend Bruce Feldman (we can call him that, right?), is reporting that Arizona will hire Rodriguez to ultimately replace Mike Stoops as their football coach, and it is expected that many of his previous staff members will be joining him (Greg Robinson likely not included, but hopefully they have someone with a stop watch for those practices sessions, eh?).
If Feldman is reporting it, it’s probably safe to say this is a reality. Not only is Feldman among the best in the business but he also works for CBS Sports. Rodriguez has done tv work for CBS Sports this season so we can consider this a very dependable report for many reasons.
Rodriguez was fired after three seasons as the head coach at Michigan after going 15-22, just one bowl trip (a blowout loss) and three consecutive losses to Ohio State. His offensive game plan never fully developed but showed signs of progress each season. The biggest detractor for Rodriguez in Ann Arbor was his lack of defense. Will that improve at Arizona? For his sake, let’s hope so.
Rodriguez is a good coach and it was certainly only a matter of time before he was back doing what he does best. The Pac-12 will be a good fit for him with plenty of offense and a laid back style as opposed to the higher demands of a program like Michigan.
Rich Rodriguez vs. Chip Kelly? Let’s give Rodriguez a couple years to get his system implemented but I thinkw e can all agree that could be fun to watch.
Game. On.
