RichRod to UNC? It could happen

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, November 02, 2006  |  Comments( 12 )

West Virginia Mountaineers
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Why do colleges do this? Why do they fire their football coaches in the middle of the season?

For one thing, it makes it even more difficult for the embattled coach to maintain control of his team through the remainder of the schedule. It certainly doesn't help with recruiting, because the assistant coaches have not only been thrown into limbo, but suddenly don't know quite what to tell the young men they're trying to sign.

Then, too, a firing in a major program like North Carolina, which axed John Bunting in late October, sends ripples throughout the coaching establishment. The media, which abhors a vacuum, quickly puts forth every possible viable candidate, and maybe even a few who aren't so viable.

Therefore, on the eve of his penultimate Big East clash with the University of Louisville, West Virginia University coach Rich Rodriguez found himself answering questions about the North Carolina job.

For a coach who might be interested in jumping ship -- after the season -- it's a tricky spot to be in. If you admit that you're interested, you risk traumatizing your players. If you deny the rumors too emphatically, you may shut yourself off from a job you really do want.

Rodriguez's comments seemed to indicate -- subtly -- that he might be willing to listen.

"You treat every job you take as if it's the last job you'll ever have," he said.

Yet, one senses an unsaid "but" hanging at the end of that. It's like saying "Treat every day as if it's your last," although you know it probably won't be.

Rodriguez loves West Virginia. He played there as a defensive back, he served most of his coaching apprenticeship at small West Virginia colleges. He's had tremendous success there (a No. 3 ranking this year) and star players Steve Slaton and Pat White are only sophomores.

And yet ....

1. There is a $2 million buyout clause in Rodriguez's contract that expires in 2007, leaving him a rather narrow window in which to change jobs without legal hassles.
2. He has probably accomplished all he can at West Virginia, especially if his team makes it into the BCS Title Game.
3. If he exited, he wouldn't be leaving the next coach with a bare cupboard -- barring changes in the NFL draft policy, his successor would still have Slaton and White, who are true sophomores, for two more years.
4. There is a lot more football talent in North Carolina than in West Virginia, if only because it's a much bigger state.
5. North Carolina's program is in disarray, but the school has the money, the facilities and the alumni commitment to be better.
6. Rodriguez is familiar with the ACC after serving as an assistant to Tommy Bowden for two years at Clemson.
7. Right now, he and his spread offense are the flavor of the year.

It should be interesting.
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