Rich Rodriguez hire rated as second-best

Arizona’s hire of Rich Rodriguez was one of the first to
happen, as he was named Arizona’s new head coach before
the final game of the regular season.

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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