Rich Rodriguez hire rated as second-best
Originally published: Feb 10, 2012 - 12:25 pm
And, according to the staff at CBSSports.com it was also the second-best hire by any school.
Trailing only Urban Meyer in the "Most likely to succeed" category, it's clear Rodriguez's success at West Virginia was enough to convince the panel to somewhat overlook his struggles at Michigan.
In seven years at West Virginia, Rodriguez won 61 games, reached two BCS bowls and lost only 26 games. In three years at Michigan he lost 22 games. So which Rodriguez does Arizona get? Either way, one thing is certain: He will bring an entertaining, high-scoring offense to Tucson -- and even higher expectations. "When you watch us play it won't be boring," Rodriguez said. "I want to win the Rose Bowl at the University of Arizona. I want to be in the top 10 in the country every year. Why not Arizona? Why not us? Why can't we win it all?" Rodriguez has an 18-year coaching record of 120-84-2, including 75-48 at West Virginia and Michigan. This will be Rodriguez's third FBS head coaching job -- and, he says, his last. "This is my final coaching stop," Rodriguez said. "I hope to be able to do this another 12-15 years."
Rodriguez was ranked as high as number one on two ballots and as low as number four, and his second-place finish is just ahead of Mike Leach and significantly better than UCLA's Jim Mora and ASU's Todd Graham, who ranked 15th and 18th, respectively.
In fact, Graham earned two votes for "Most overrated hire" and Arizona State earned three votes in the "Which school took the biggest gamble" category.
What does this all mean? For now, nothing. But while Graham's recruiting class has been praised compared to Rodriguez's, it seems as if the media has more faith in Arizona's new boss.
Of course, all that matters is wins, and the victories on the field matter a lot more than the triumphs in the media.
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