Talked to someone associated with the Trojan football program this evening about Arizona's football hire. The notable quote: "Our division just got much, much tougher."
I imagine so. I think this is the perfect place for RichRod. It will be an easy transition for his offense.
I've just started reading John U. Bacon's book about Rich Rod's tenure in Ann Arbor. It becomes pretty obvious in short order that a lot of "Michigan Men" never wanted him and spent every waking moment undermining him. It was also just a bad fit for everyone involved. Rich Rod is a blue collar guy who unabashedly admits he's got a lot of hillbilly in him. Michigan is part of college football's white glove society. It's comparable to Billy Clyde trying to fit in with the blue bloods in Lexington.
They may well have been practicing "too much" or whatever, but it seems like that whole deal was probably part of the undermining process as well. Just a guess.
What do you think the ceiling is for Arizona? Can't imagine them being as successful as his days at WVU. I'll be rooting for him
USC is the only program in that league that I think a Rich Rod coached Arizona can't look straight in the eye once he gets the roster turned over. I've got serious doubts about Oregon's staying power and Stanford isn't built to last. I wouldn't be at all shocked to see Zona consistently in the 15-20 range, with the occasional foray into the Top 10.
I highly recommend the Rich Rod/Michigan book. It's incredibly long, but it's excellent. The coaching search that got him to Ann Arbor is some of the most insane stuff I've ever read about in college sports.
I absolutely hated team practices. I was the Allan Iverson of high school sports in that manner. I didn't mind working on things on my own, but if never see a soft toss drill again in my life it would still be too soon.
Went ahead and bought it today too. Been looking for a few new books to read, and that one was an easy decision being that cheap.
Its a good hire, bit ua has zero recruiting base and Tuscon is a bit of a shithole. I'd rather have the Ucla or Asu job if I was him.
Reading this while in the hotel tonight and two particular lines about athletic directors struck me, it fits the situation in Knoxville to a T... "if your football coach doesn't win, it doesn't matter how good a businessman you are." And the most damning, "they say it's more important nowadays to have a business background than an athletic one, I disagree. You have to have an athletic background first, or you don't understand what's going on. You cannot run a hospital without medical people. You cannot run an athletic department without sports people. You just don't know what to look for." Mikehamiltonfan has to hate the hell out of that.