I laughed out loud literally at this. At the end of the article he says Alabama was a better fit for him than Michigan. Hard to believe that West Va was in better shape than Alabama at the time.
Gazing around at Alabama's grandiose football digs, Rodriguez couldn't help himself and quipped, "Where's my statue?"
This is some serious karma. We should make him a tiny statue for not coming here.
1) We have a statute of a ghost - it's that invisible one between Stallings and Saban.
2) WVA wasn't "really" in better shape than we were.
WVA's "success", well, let's look when RRod starts in 2001.
2001: 3-8
2002: 9-4
2003: 8-5
And then what happens? Miami and Va Tech, two of the best teams in the Big East, leave.
2004: 8-4 (VT is still on the schedule and beats WVA, who also gets blown out by Boston College
And then? BC, who is 2-2 against RRod, also goes to the ACC.
With VT, Miami, and BC gone, WVA miraculously transforms from an 8-4 team to an 11-1 team....though to be fair, they DID play VT in 2005 and beat them.
2005: 11-1
They play a horrific schedule that cannot be reasonably called good under ANY circumstances, but then they get lucky and draw the Mark Richt era Jawja - who naturally chokes and turns RRod into a major coaching candidate based on the illusion of progression plus beating the SEC champ.
2006: they play a mid-level schedule at best, only 3 teams with 8 or more wins (and naturally they lose one of those) and go 11-2
2007: sitting at 11-1 and a national title game (BCS) just four quarters away, they lose to 28-point underdog Pitt. AT HOME. RRod cashes in on his fame and then WVA screws up when his successor wins a blowout against the other big NCAA choker, Choke-la-homa (aka Overrated U).
I'm sorry, but there is simply no way WVA was "really" better than Alabama was in 2005. Keep in mind that Mike Shula - for all his flaws - was fielding a team absolutely crippled beyond explanation thanks to sanctions he had nothing to do with, and despite losing the one game breaker on the team (Prothro), he still went 10-3 against a much tougher slate than RRod faced in 2005.
In 2006, a LOT of folks forget that while it's true that we were 6-7, we:
a) lost to Arky thanks to a kicking game collapse
b) lost to Florida on a pick six in the closing minutes (where we'd fought)
c) lost to the Vols by 3 (yet again)
d) lost to 11-2 Auburn by a TD
I've long said it was the MSU game as opposed to Auburn that got Shula sent out the door.
Now sure - WVA DID have a better record and they DID beat MSU, but they also failed to achieve what was expected, and the proof that Rod's success is because of convenience rather than coaching is proven by how inept he's been since the day he left the Big East. I'm not so sure, though, that WVA was better.
Let me put it this way, whom would you take in a winner-take-all game even before his legend status:
a) Saban with the 2007 team that probably beats LSU if not for Textbook Gate
b) RRod with the 2007 WVA team
There wasn't a "lot" of difference between 2006 and 2007 Alabama, so if we subtract the two coaches, was WVA "really" in better shape than UA?
I don't think so. It just looked that way based on records. The year 2006 turned Schiano, RRod, and Petrino into "the next good coach," and quite frankly, NONE of them turned out as well as that flash in the pan year made it look.
