Rich Rodriguez was given just three years to succeed at Michigan. After going 15-22 and making just one bowl game, he was fired. But it takes time to change an entire team’s offensive system. It takes time to recruit. And it takes time to turn around a program.
In college football, you don’t get time. And Rodriguez wasn’t given enough of a chance with the Wolverines.
But Rodriguez has another opportunity: He was named the coach at Arizona on Monday. And he won’t be facing anything close to the expectations he had in Ann Arbor. The Wildcats are the only team from the former Pac-10 never to make a Rose Bowl.
Arizona gave Mike Stoops 7? seasons — going 41-50 — before firing him midway through the year, so Rodriguez likely will be given enough time to implement the spread offense that made him so successful in his seven-year tenure at West Virginia.
With low expectations and a five-year contract, maybe Arizona is the perfect fit for Rodriguez.
– Jeffrey Tomik
