Oh my! Not only are players complaining, but their parents are getting into the act. Ol' Rich has his hands full. Bobda, any comment?
If you wind up with active roster players volunteering to offer some sort of testimony to the NCAA against their sitting head coach, heads will explode.
Richrod responds http://www.freep.com/article/20090829/SPORTS06/90829027/1318/ Which of course is another way of saying that "there are a number of liars on the team and their parents are liars too."
RR held a press conference today....he cried. Doesn't he know that only Dick Vermeil is allowed to cry in football? :twisted: The Big 10 is now looking into the situation as well. You know this is a big deal, UM paid his buyout of the WVA contract, so they are on the hook for a big amount of money with RR. Plus does anybody remember that RR shredded the WVA strength and conditioning files before he left for UM? You have to wonder what is going on in that locker room right now, you have a team in transition with the young players being RR's boys and the older players being Lloyds boys. Are they united or divided. I mean are the 10 guys who went to the Freep Lloyds boys or a mx? It could certainly serve to rally and close the wagons type of mentality and make they play more focused or they could be a fragile team with no ability to cope with adversity during a tough game. I wonder what is being said over on the Michigan boards?
That's an excellent point Doc. I remember the stink when it was originally discovered. WVa probably found out he was covering both his and their asses and dropped the matter. What do you do if you're the M administration? You've already pissed away millions paying off WVA for poaching this coach. And let's face it Michigan isn't rolling in dough these days. If you shitcan this tool you're on the hook for millions more. I'm guessing that there are some alums and boosters who are pulling for a divorce. Some may have helped get the article researched. Finding a new coach isn't easy for some schools as M found out the last time. However, Willingham is available.
TOK and Sid, Re the Michigan take, Mgoblog.com is the site I regularly visit to keep up on M news. Based on the postings there, there is a small minority of M fans who are concerned and suspect we will eventually get hit with loss of scholarships as San Diego State was when nailed for a similar violation. The larger majority view this as much ado about nothing... a Free Press vendetta.... everybody does this.... rally round the flag time. Since my Dad was a fireman, I am genetically inclined to be in the "where there is smoke there is fire" camp. I suspect there are more than a few schools who play games with the hours requirements but if what is stated is true, the attempts to game the system were not very subtle and go beyond the gray area. In looking at the stories, it appears that who spoke out were ex-players who preferred Lloyd over RR but the fact that they may be "disgruntled" does not mean what they say is untrue. Clearly, there were more than a few players on last year's team who were unhappy with RR's coaching methods versus Lloyd's. I suspect this year's team is less divided than last year's. Re what will happen to RR, considering the big hit the reputation of the school took after the basketball scandal, if it is established that NCAA violations took place, RR's job would be in jeopardy.
8 win season will help RR a lot no doubt. Bobda I visted a UM Scout site and the general opinion there confirms what you report. Most feel that everybody does it and the Freep is just muck raking. I have no doubt that the rules regarding workouts are not followed scrupulously at a lot of places. Some of what is being reported is pretty egregious though. I wonder how current players will respond when UM, B10 and NCAA investigators interview them. Even those complaining have a lot to lose if UM is hit with penalties. It might be tempting to soften your story now that the message is out there, if RR can contain this to a few "disgruntled" ex-players it will go along way combined with 8 wins to calm things down around the program. Terry
My question is: What is the difference in the star QB calling an extra workout with the receivers? You hear that openly but that isn't against the rules. So a coach could hype up the star QB telling him that with help from his receivers, post season accolades could be coming his way. That influences the QB to call the extra workouts. Why is that ok when it is not ok for the coach to directly run the workouts? If one is bad, they both are bad or at least a grey area that can't be overseen.
I think that while a lot of the workouts are technically voluntary there is also an understanding that if you want playing time you will participate. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing as far as the strength workouts go, as far as ten hours on Sunday that's over the top. Unless more comes out I'm kind of the school of much ado about nothing.
A good albeit detalied article on the situation: http://smartfootball.com/grab-bag/michigan-exceeded-practice-limits-what-might-the-ncaa-have-in-store Bill, re the 10 hours is over the top, an argument from Mgoblog (perhaps not an unbiased source): I think it is going to be a long season for me in Milwaukee. When I took Lloyd to the dog park this evening, I was greeted with "Hello Cheater" and " bet your glad you didn't rename your dog 'Richrod' after Carr retired....."
I'm still trying to come up with another reason why RR would destroy the strength and conditioning records of his players at WVa. I keep coming back to the same conclusion. They confirmed he was doing the same thing he's been doing at M.
When this story broke, he maintained that copies of the S&C records were supplied to all assistant coaches including the present head coach. I don't recall if his response was ever denied or not by WV. Record keeping may not have been a big deal at WV. At the same time this story broke, another story broke about the governor's daughter receiving a degree from WV even though she was roughly 20 short of graduation requirements. I would assume that the records were created on a computer and were recoverable if someone wanted to do some diagnostic work on the computers used by the coaching staff. Rodriguez does not strike me as fool so I would be surprised if the records, on their face, revealed conduct that violated NCAA rules. The records supposedly documented the conditioning program of every player. The existence of the records had to have been known to the players involved and the coaches. I would be stunned that he would run the risk of keeping records whose contents could destroy his career were they ever leaked by an unhappy player or coach to a newspaper or NCAA. But who knows. Nixon was one of the smartest and shrewdest presidents this county ever had but he did order the taping system that drove him out of office and, unlike RR, did not use a shredder. If a fire breaks out in the near future at Schembechler Hall, I guess I'll start rooting for Wayne State....
One of his former players at WVU lives nearby. I I run into him I'll see if I can get some inside info. 8)
Well RR can't catch a break. Now he and some partners are being sued for defaulting on a 4M dollar loan involving a real estate deal. RR Sued