TSL Poll: Virginia Tech and Rich Rodriguez

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1. Well, the SEC is full coaches that are coaching against their SEC Alum school or previous schools they coached for. However, didn’t Rich leave WVA with recruiting violations. Michigan total failure. I haven’t seen any winning track record.

2. Whether they are justified or not, the extremely negative reactions to Rich Rod make it clear he should not be here. With all of the young, talented, and respected coaches out there, surely Tech can land a good one.

3. It’s all about what fits in at Tech. So far the Big Mouth Buzz has not impressed Me, but He’s still under study. I think Rich Rod would be a Great Hire. Too tired to go into details-He would be Perfect I think.

   1. WOW – now that is one comment I never saw coming…Buzz had a playing real basketball and RR has proven time and time again he is a prick – ly SOB

4. the pole is totally skewed by the way you have the choices. Why not just ask A (YEs) and B (No) to find out if fans want RR as next coach. You skewed the results by including the part about Bud staying as DC. First of all, I’d prefer Bud to be our next coach about a million times more than RR as our next coach. RR is a jerk. Bub is a Hokie! Nuff said

   1. poll

   2. Totally agree!

      NEVER TRUST ANYTHING RICH ROD SAYS OR PROMISES (WVU learned that lesson the hard way). He will say anything (including promises to keep Foster as the DC) to get hired. And before the ink is even dry Rich Rod will break those same promises.

      The poll should be YES or NO. Straight up….

5. I’ve spent some time with Rich Rod over the past few years and know one person in his inner circle. He has certainly been humbled by the events at WVU and Michigan and I think maturity has set in. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I would love to have him as our next coach.

   1. I can’t believe you are saying it either!! 😛

6. In addition to all the laudable things he has done, whit has rescheduled WVU in football and now has flirted with Rich Rod. I can’t stomach either one. He was on the staff at WVU in 2003 when that disaster occurred. I know it is popular now for people who weren’t even there to say “it was no big deal,” when those of us who were there know it was a big deal. A big horrible deal. Rather than come to his fan base with an explanation or at least an apology, we get WVU back on the schedule. If there is any evidence that anything has changed, I’d like to see it. There was the couple assaulted (I think from LSU, but that may be wrong); there have been multiple post game riots. Why would we go back there?? And now Rich Rod. I guess his flirtation with Michigan while his team was flirting with a national title game but lost it when even the officials couldn’t hold off a much worse Pitt squad. I just don’t get why we would lay down with this dog. Is he really the only coach out there?

7. Tough crowd here. I can understand why some don’t like Rich Rod given his past blanketed with WVU Blue and Gold during strong rivalry era with the Eers at that point, and perhaps a couple judgment errors he may have made at the time….and also his perceived “failure” at Michigan, which included charges of ‘extended’ practice time. I feel he would have been very successful at UM and they would be in much better shape the past several years if given the time to do so…but the Wolverine brass and fans were too arrogant to be patient and let him get his guys, plus he’s not a “Michigan” guy.

   Anyone consider the possibility that Rich Rod has changed a bit over the past 5-10 years and he may now be a model citizen, great coach and ambassador for a program, just like VT fans would like to hire? You with warts out there, me included: Are we the same person we were 10 yrs ago? I think it’s very possible he’s “matured” a bit as they say and could be a fantastic hire and fit at VT. Bring on the best candidate and if Rich Rod happens to be it, I’m all for it!

   1. It is also possible that RR is the same egotistical sleaze bag he was 10 years ago! Who screws over their own school like he did and then gets into a law suit over the $$$ that he clearly owed WVU for leaving earlier? I hate WVU, but after RR got done screwing them over, even I felt sorry for the ‘Er fans (at least a little….).

      You can’t tell me that RR is the best candidate out there to replace CFB, when that time comes. Why even take that chance? Are we really that desperate to win?

      Why can’t get win with honor instead of selling our sole to hire somebody like RR? The thought of RR being VT’s next HC makes me sick….

8. I’m really on the fence with Rich Rod as HC at VT. There’s a whole lot of opinion and maybe an anecdote or two already posted but no facts have been presented. So Chris, how about an article with some analytical data about his recruiting and offensive records?

   1. Make sure that article includes information on all of RR violations, broken promises, law suits, etc., etc., etc.

      Being a great HC is more than simply offensive statistics and a win-loss record. Don’t you think character should be a large part of that decision?

9. Chris:

   Can you please add the category “HELL NO…I’d rather Virginia Tech have a losing record for 10 years rather than have RR be its head coach!!”

   Seriously, RR is such a scumbag I would rather have Tech fail than have him as our head coach. Do we really want to win so badly that we would hire somebody with so little integrity and ethics?

   Please let this be a horrible rumor!!

   1. I agree… that’s how I would’ve voted.

   2. Just because you Holler negatives the loudest does Not mean you are Not in the Minority. Over 60% approve of RR as next coach so get a life dude.

   3. +1

10. Rich Rod… really? A WVU grad? Coaching at VT?

    Frank Mosley, Jerry Claiborne, and dozens of others would roll in their grave. Especially those of us who hated WVU as much as UVA back in the late 80’s through Big East days.

    Never liked the guy, and would hate it if he became head coach. Just hate it. I think we can do a lot better than that.

    I believe that Bud deserves to have a chance to be head coach. Let him hire an offensive guy and take a run at it. He’s earned it completely.

11. Maybe it is time to refresh everyone’s memory of the Rich Rod violation at Michigan.
    As I remember it he drove his players into the ground (and out of school) with excessive practice well beyond the allotted NCAA hours. Do we really want that approach?

    1. Practice? We talking about practice?

12. Babblecock is a mountaineer….It’s just that plan and simple

13. I like Bud for head coach. I find his candor shocking, refreshing and unique. Politically correct, he ain’t. He’s like the flip side of the Beamer coin. Whit fooled us all with the Buzz hire. I wonder if he would do something equally as shocking by hiring Bud if he could get a great coach to run the offense. History and my gut says Whit goes with a proven head coach and Bud will leave for the bigger bucks. Here’s an idea. Bud as HC, Rich Rod as OC! Bulletin board fodder for both sides of the ball!

14. Zero understanding of how CRR has managed recruiting, etc. but he has definitely done well with Arizona, given that they are in a remote location in a conference not dissimilar from the ACC. He has done well against Oregon, USC, UCLA and Stanford.

    1. And my comments do not include anything from before his time at Arizona (I did not know about him prior to that, other than he didn’t do well at Mich).

    2. Tucson has a population of just under 1 mil. It may seem remote to Virginia but it has a large population to draw from, esp when you add in Phoenix. And not that far from So Cal. I think many people would consider VT to be much more remote than UA. I would think you should be able to recruit pretty well at UA.

15. The other more relevant question is why in the He!! would anyone in 2015 do the whole “Coach in waiting” designation. That process is an utter failure, look at the number of schools it flat out failed. Florida, Texas, Maryland, off the top of my head and Florida St one could argue it eventually worked out but not before a lot of heartburn. Resorting to this type of provisional hire is pure folly, what other programs are doing it now ? . This is a terrible idea in general made even worse by the Rich Rod rumor.

    1. Who said anything about a coach in waiting deal? I haven’t seen that anywhere…

16. This would seem counter to everything VT stands for?

17. I’m sure glad all the negative people responding aren’t Jesus or we all would spend eternity in hell. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

    1. my sentiments Exactly—cry babies always holler the Loudest. What about the silent majority of Over 60%????

18. Been there. No Rich Rod!!!! If he wants the job, he will say whatever it takes to get it. There is something to be said for opting for a coach with ethics and this is not one of them. He has proved that more than once.134022Hokie

    1. Rich Rod is a dirt bag, ask the Michigan fans what they think of the hire. They will shake their head, going from Hall of fame, universally respected icon of the sport to a cheating, weasel isn’t progress.

19. If we hire Rich Rod, this Golden Hokies is gone and well as this season ticket holder since 1970. The “sleaze factor” fits Rich Rod 1000%.

    Let’s just hope this is a bad rumor gone worse.

    GFB…VT `63

20. Pretty big assumption that Bud would work for RR. Has anyone asked Bud? Maybe he would maybe he wouldn’t. To ask if we would accept RR as long as RR kept Bud or Bud stayed with RR –
    that’s a hypothetical on top of a hypothetical.

    1. I don’t think he’d be hired unless they could make it work with Bud.

       1. Rich Rod’s promise to keep Foster has the DC would last all of 10 seconds!!

          The guy can’t be trusted…ask any WUV fan.

21. I will quit as a Hokie champion if they bring that loser here

22. If ‘Eer fans hate him, he can’t be all bad.

    To those worried that RR, or any successor to Beamer, wouldn’t want to retain Bud, I’d say we should be more worried about whether or not Bud would stay at VT under a different big whistle.

23. While I’m not a big fan of Rich Rod, and I do believe he does bring a certain slime with him, I made my vote “yes, but only if Bud Foster is still the defensive coordinator”.

    My vote for that choice was based on “well, if Bud’s willing to work for/with the guy….maybe he’s not really that bad”, so a vote from Bud that he’s willing to stay sways my vote.

    So for me, this scenario isn’t about “Is Rich smart enough to keep Bud, and/or Do I want RR as coach”, but more of a “If Bud will give him a chance….then so will I”.

24. I will give up my 12 season tickets if he is the next coach. That is all.

    1. Might be plenty of folks just waiting for you to do that someday pretty soon.

25. It’s what you get with a baseball guy from JMU and WVU running the athletic dept and football program. Thus far, Babcock has shown an ability to spend money. Heck, my ex wife is good at that! Some here think he’s great, and may very well prove to be yet, but I really hope he’d have a more open search and keep his personal ties out of it. Rodrigue’s record is not too impressive in my book, and given the other baggage, feel we could do a LOT better. I remember Hokie fans making fun of Mich fans about him before the Sugar bowl. Hope the jokes not on us in the end.

26. Some of these fans are so irrational. The way Rich Rod does business is how a majority of good NCAA coaches work, including guys like Saban. We have been spoiled by Beamer and I for one is looking forward to us hiring a high caliber coach would hopefully wins but will also make the fanbase realize what we had in Beamer all these years. The guy won without being a sleaze and yet their is a portion of the fan base that screams for his head whenever we lost any big games. Reality is that college football is a multi-billion dollar industry and to win consistently these days you need to be a Saban or a Rich Rod, that is a fact.

    1. So what you are saying is that to be successful in modern college football your head coach has to be an egotistical sleaze?

27. A proven winner and an aggressive, offensive-minded coach. That’s exactly the combination we need in Beamer’s successor.

    1. a proven winner, an aggressive, offensive minded coach………….. yes, we need that, but Rich Rod is not it. We are better than that. We do not have to stoop to that level.

       1. No to what Rich Rod represents in how he left WVU for starters

          Please NO would be another way for a vote selection

28. Should put a no unless CBF does not want the job.

    1. not so sure BF is head coach material anyway. he is the one on D that lets All the top talent leave the state.

29. the ONLY good thing about this deal is that it would p!$$ off WVU, which is in itself a victory

30. I am beginning to think Whit likes the sleaze factor. Who can forget Buzz “Let’s Run Off Nine or So” Williams?

    1. You have no earthly concept of what “sleaze” is if you lump Buzz Williams into that category. Both men deserve better than that from our fan base.

31. I’ll not attend a single game or send the VTAD a single dime as long as Rich Rod is getting a paycheck from VT. And I mean that. Even if he’s hired and subsequently fired, if VT is still paying him after he’s gone, I’m still not supporting them. I will not have any part of a Rich Rod regime.

    1. Hate the sin, love the sinner. Hope you have led the perfect life. I have an open mind about RR and have to trust in Whit’s judgement. I will always support Virginia Tech…..period.

       1. I don’t need to have led a perfect life. I just know I will not support Rich Rodriguez in the least bit.

    2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0BTdo6qGwo

       I’ll continue to support the program no matter who succeeds Coach Beamer. I think Whit has a good understanding of the expectations at VT – on all fronts.

    3. Don’t punish the rest of the athletes just because you don’t like RichRod. I can’t stand him. You could designate my VTAD funds to go to other sports, so you are still helping our athletes without providing direct support for RR.

       1. No. My giving will all go to the R.B. Pamplin College of Business. Not one cent will go to the AD if Rich Rod is on the payroll.

32. If this were to happen, Hokie fans better stay home…

    “Rich Rodriguez could be the head coach of the 2017 Virginia Tech Hokies. Interestingly enough, this would be just in time for the Hokies to gear up against the Mountaineers who play each other September 2, 2017 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.”

    1. I understand what you’re saying but if this were to happen, there’s no way in Hades that Tech fans would stay home. That would be a monumental collision in VT’s backyard (NOVA is Tech’s backyard, though I wouldn’t want to mow it) and there would easily be 60k+ Tech fans there. I will be one of them. I wouldn’t go to Morgantown but I’m not going to let WVU fans intimidate me from going to FedEx.

33. Be a great Coach and Recruiter. He knows how to coach a offense and to get top notch players. He and Bud would match up very good, IMHO.

34. I don’t want Rich Rod under any circumstances and will communicate my feelings on the subject directly to Whit when he’s in NOVA at the end of the month.

    The guy’s a sleazeball. Who doesn’t remember the way he jacked up the WVU fan base in advance of the 2003 game, leveraged an offer from Alabama to enhance his contract w/WVU and then walked out on them a year later in favor of Michigan where he crashed and burned?

    Rich Rod is not the guy to replace Beamer.

    1. That sounds like the majority of coaches out there, that’s just playing the game. You’re not going to find another Frank Beamer, so you should be prepared to be disappointed.

       1. Leveraging offers into a better deal is how the coaching business works. Heck, Beamer himself did it.

          I think a lot of Hokie fans who have grown attached to Beamer’s way of doing things are in for a rude awakening when we have to compete in the open marketplace to find our subsequent football coaches. Beamer’s way of doing things is incredibly uncommon. Most coaches, simply by virtue of the business they are in, are basically mercenaries. They only stay in one job long enough to get themselves a better offer or fired, whichever comes first. And one or the other usually happens within 3-5 years.

          RR isn’t a sleazeball. He is just a good football coach. Those two things just happen to look a lot alike from afar when you are used to Beamer’s way of doing things.

          1. A well written comment. Beamer is to say the least unusual in today’s environment. We have to trust Whit on this.

          2. Lotta truth in that, Tafkam. Not only will the end of Frank’s Tech career be the end of an era, but it will mark the end of an era likely never to return to VT, and likely not to be recreated anywhere else.

             I was driving around thinking about Coach K today. Whatever you think of Coach K, pay attention, because his longetivy and accompanying record of success are not likely to EVER be repeated anywhere else in college athletics.

             1. And to think that Bobby Knight the crap slinging jerk, taught Coach K Basketball.

          3. You are so right. Coach Beamer is one of a kind.

    2. I’m sure Frank never flirted with Clemson, Alabama, or UNC, did he? … and his resulting contracts never included substantial pay increases…

       Truth is, Frank and RichRod are also good friends… I wouldn’t be surprised if Frank and Bud aren’t already in the loop.

    3. Beamer leverage his UNC offer to get a better offer from VT. That’s how the game is played. Personally, I believe it would have been a huge mistake for Beamer to leave & remember telling Shane that after a game once when the topic was active & Shane was still a player.

       I never understood why some on this board have a beef with RR. He seems like a good coach that players like. Whether or not Bud stays is between Bud, RR & Whit. You can’t force a head coach to have a certain Assisant though. They have to get along & want to make it work. Plus, RR will have his own loyalties already formed. All good coaches do.

       If he does come, I would hope all fans are on board & excited. Recruiting is difficult enough without have a divided fan base.

35. I hope to God this isn’t true. He would not be a good fit at Virginia Tech. I would seriously consider stop being a part of the Hokie Club/VT FB season ticket holder, if he’s the next head coach. I don’t care how much an “offensive genius” some consider him to be.

    I remember Rich Rod and his coaches flipping off the VT fans on the east side (where I was sitting at the time) after the 2002 WVU-VT game. 100% no class. Never been a fan of his and never will be. He didn’t fit at Michigan, and wouldn’t be a fit at Virginia Tech.

    Ugh. I hope this isn’t true.

    1. I remember. No Rich Rod!!!

36. Rich Rodriguez would be a fool not to keep Bud Foster at Tech. That would be his first bad move.

    1. To me, the interview process for our next head coach has a very simple gate they need to get through. Whit needs to ask them what their opinions on defensive coordinator are. If a head coaching candidate responds with anything other than “do whatever it takes to retain Foster,” he is immediately crossed off the list. We really don’t need a head coach who thinks they are that much smarter than they really are.

       1. That is a great combing process as far as I’m concerned!

       2. I think the better question is whether Bud will be willing to stay at VT if he isn’t given the head job. His loyalty to Frank has kept him here for a long time and I really do think it is his loyalty to Frank and not VT. When Frank decides to retire I have a hard time believing that Foster will stick around if VT decides to go in a different direction at head coach.

          With all that said, if Foster says he is willing to stick around if he isn’t the head coach then a head coach willing to retain Foster as the DC should be heavily weighted in the hiring process.

          1. Well said vtgreg. Bud’s defenses have been invaluable to the team over the years – we owe him a great deal too. Go Hokies!!

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