Bear Down Wildcats

Brady Hoke out at Michigan

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... head-coach

Gotta love the last line:

"In a coincidence, Hoke's ouster comes on the same day his reviled predecessor in Ann Arbor, Rich Rodriguez, was announced as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year."

ASUHATER! wrote:Clemson could worry me since that was his first d1 job

Tulane, then Clemson w/ Bowden

Breath easy - looks like CSU coach, McElwain, is the new Florida coach.

Silly Devil fans:
__________________________________

InnerDevil

Posted: Today 12:42 PM
Re: Florida, Nebraska, Michigan

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--- spayNnueterallCATS wrote:

Nebraska is not a big job anymore.

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I think Nebraska moving to the b1g hurt them because they are now aligned with a bunch of crappy basketball schools. Still, Matt Millen and Mike Belloti were asked what is a better job, Nebraska or Arizona? Both said Nebraska. Richrod is insane if he thinks he will ever win the South again competing with ASU, USC, Utah and Ucla.

---
Cal + Luck = AU

F + U = FU CTG and all Scum Devils

UAdevil wrote:Silly Devil fans:
__________________________________

InnerDevil

Posted: Today 12:42 PM
Re: Florida, Nebraska, Michigan

---------------------------------------------
--- spayNnueterallCATS wrote:

Nebraska is not a big job anymore.

---------------------------------------------

I think Nebraska moving to the b1g hurt them because they are now aligned with a bunch of crappy basketball schools. Still, Matt Millen and Mike Belloti were asked what is a better job, Nebraska or Arizona? Both said Nebraska. Richrod is insane if he thinks he will ever win the South again competing with ASU, USC, Utah and Ucla.

---
Cal + Luck = AU

Yup. When I saw what you posted I had to go over there and let them know (in case they forgot!) that RR just won the south with a freshman qb, freshman rb, and sophomores everywhere. Anyone who thinks he is intimidated by any team in the South (My sense is he isn't intimidated by any team anywhere) is delusional. RR is just getting started, people!!

Go Cats!!

Devils Digest has more U of A threads than ASSU. I hate wading through that cesspool.

Talk about a little brother syndrome.

RR is never going to win the South at Arizona. He would be insane to think he could.

UAdevil wrote:[quoting a scummy] Richrod is insane if he thinks he will ever win the South again competing with ASU, USC, Utah and Ucla.

There's no chance RR is going to win three South titles in a row at Arizona. He is insane to think so.

Seriously, four in a row is impossible. Right? *sucks thumb*

Mom jeans?

They could be really long jorts.

No, if they were jorts he'd have been a shoo-in to go to Florida.

How does he have more hair than 20 years ago?

Sage&Silver wrote:How does he have more hair than 20 years ago?

Rogaine

Anyone get the sense that Sean Miller has been a big influence on Rich Rod's comeback? It's clear that CSA respects CRR, and I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

But in pressers now, you see Rich Rod go straight to the Sean Miller playbook: when you begin, compliment the other team profusely, emphasize how well coached they are, and come across as the classy winner or loser.

From all reports, old Rich Rod was somewhat of a maverick, almost arrogant in interviews, not a very gracious winner or loser. But that's so not him today. He comes across as classy and serious, everything he might not have been labeled as before.

Just an observation, Sean Miller is a witch.

Merkin wrote:Mom jeans?

wyo-cat wrote:They could be really long jorts.

azpenguin wrote:No, if they were jorts he'd have been a shoo-in to go to Florida.

RR does wear pleated pants on the reg, tho

Why do coaches wear kackis? They are so Dockers.

He should wear Jeans, or black slacks. That's pimp shit.

Bosy Billups wrote:Why do coaches wear kackis? They are so Dockers.

He should wear Jeans, or black slacks. That's pimp shit.

Nope. Get the man a kilt.

Lol, totally, a kilt. That's #gangsta

Miller should give Byrne advice for all future hires.

RichRod by the numbers:
http://arizonasports.com/45/1789548/Ric ... he-Numbers

.667

Rodriguez is 26-13 (a winning percentage of .667) during his time in Tucson. That percentage is much higher than his first three seasons at West Virginia (.541) or his only three years at Michigan (.405), and it's the best for any head coach in his first three seasons at UA since Jim Young went 26-7 (.788) from 1973-75.



1

Rodriguez won his first Territorial Cup game in three tries with the Wildcats' 42-35 win over Arizona State on Nov. 28. The win not only catapulted UA into the Fiesta Bowl; it allowed Rodriguez to avoid becoming the first Arizona head coach since Bob Weber in 1969-71 to lose each of his first three games to the Sun Devils.



3

On Dec. 31, the Wildcats will make their third-ever Fiesta Bowl appearance. Led by its "Desert Swarm" defense, UA defeated Miami (Fla.) 29-0 on Jan. 1, 1994. It remains the only shutout in the history of the Fiesta Bowl, which dates back to 1971. In 1979, the 'Cats fell to Dan Marino and No. 10 Pittsburgh by a score of 16-10.



3 (part II)

Rodriguez's success in Tucson has come with a different starting quarterback for each season.

In 2012, senior Matt Scott threw for 3,620 yards and 27 touchdowns while rushing for 506 yards and six TDs. Last season, senior B.J. Denker had 2,516 passing yards and 16 TDs while gaining 949 yards and 13 scores on the ground.

RichRod finally looks like he'll have some longer-term stability at the position with freshman Anu Solomon, who has thrown 27 TDs and just seven interceptions this season, and whose 3,458 passing yards are just 282 short of the single-season freshman record set by UCLA's Brett Hundley in 2012.



3 (part III)

RichRod's Pac-12 Coach of the Year award was his third such conference honor. He was named Big East Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005 when he led West Virginia to records of 8-5 and 11-1, respectively.



19

On Dec. 31, Rodriguez will lead UA to its 19th-ever bowl game. With a win, the Wildcats would move to .500 in their bowl history, as they are 8-9-1 all-time.

RichRod led the 'Cats to back-to-back bowl wins in his first two seasons -- a 49-48 win vs. Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl in 2012 and a 42-19 victory over Boston College in last season's AdvoCare V100 Bowl.



30

Rodriguez is gradually turning Arizona into one of the nation's best offensive teams, as the Wildcats are in the top 30 among all FBS squads in several key statistical categories this season: 26th in total offense per game (461.5), 27th in passing yards (277.7) and 28th in points (34.8).



1998

The Wildcats have won 10 games in a season for the first time since they went 12-1 and capped their season with a Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska in 1998.



5,103

Granted, Rodriguez inherited tailback Ka'Deem Carey from Mike Stoops and the previous UA coaching staff; but under RichRod's guidance, Carey ran for 1,929 yards in 2012 and 1,885 yards in 2013 en route to breaking the Wildcats' all-time rushing record set by Art Luppino in 1953-56.

Nick Wilson picked up where Carey left off this year, racking up 1,289 yards on the ground to set a freshman school record. That means Carey and Wilson combined for a ridiculous 5,103 rushing yards in Rodriguez's first three years in Tucson.

SB Nation with the assistant coach salary breakdown from USA Today:

Here's how all of the Arizona coaches look on the list:

Jeff Casteel (D Coord) - $500,000

Calvin Magee (O Coord / RBs) - $407,000

Rod Smith (O Coord / QBs) - $297,050

Jim Michalczik (Offensive Line) - $273,400

Tony Dews (WRs) - $243,500

Bill Kirelawich (Defensive Line) - $228,400

David Lockwood (Cornerbacks) - $212,900

Charlie Ragle (Tight ends / Special Teams) - $172,900

Matt Caponi (Safeties) - $163,500

Arizona's assistant coach salary pool is the 37th-highest in the country at $2,498,650. Some of the Pac-12 schools that have more money invested in the assistant coaches salary pool are Oregon ($3,277,584), Washington ($3,250,032), UCLA ($3,184,100), Arizona State ($3,111,620), and Colorado ($2,595,500). USC and Stanford do not have their assistant salaries listed on this database.

Seriously though, Colorado, who did not win a single Pac-12 game this season, spends more money on its assistant coaches than the team that won the Pac-12 South.

Rich Rodriguez is always looking to increase his assistant's salary pool, so look for this number to go up in the coming years, especially as high-profile schools come calling for Rodriguez' services. But the point here is that Arizona is definitely getting more bang for their buck than a number of other schools in the conference and the rest of the countr

need to increase that pool by 500k

scumdevils86 wrote:need to increase that pool by 500k

Wouldn't be surprised if exactly that happens in January.

Pay the men

A lot of people talk about UA needing to raise RR's pay to keep him here. That doesn't hurt but it's a lot more important to make sure his assistants are taken care of; those guys are important to him and if you treat them well he's going to be happier.

If we win the bowl RR is already getting well over a half million in bonuses. We need to give him another 500k to split between his assistants and another like 250k for himself

Probably why RR always keeps saying that he has the best staff on football. Has to be on the table of discussion points for the offseason with GB.

Would like to think that RichRod shares some of his bonus money with his assistants.

Why should he? he's not their employer, the school will increase their salaries if they can

ALASKACAT wrote:Would like to think that RichRod shares some of his bonus money with his assistants.

Heard RR has a speech during halftime of the Michigan basketball game.

Salty wrote:Heard RR has a speech during halftime of the Michigan basketball game.

Looks like it worked

Salty wrote:Heard RR has a speech during halftime of the Michigan basketball game.

He just held up a picture of Scooby folding Kelly.

ghostwhitehorse wrote:

Salty wrote:Heard RR has a speech during halftime of the Michigan basketball game.

He just held up a picture of Scooby folding Kelly.

Wish I could have seen that.

ghostwhitehorse wrote:

Salty wrote:Heard RR has a speech during halftime of the Michigan basketball game.

He just held up a picture of Scooby folding Kelly.

Did you mean Berco? Love this pic:

AZCatGirl wrote:

Cool. I like those t-shirts the team was wearing.

Back to assistant coach pay: Auburn just hired Muschamp as DC for a cool 1.6 million. We are not playing (paying) like big boys.

Puerco wrote:Back to assistant coach pay: Auburn just hired Muschamp as DC for a cool 1.6 million. We are not playing (paying) like big boys.

Does our revenue support the pay of the big boys? That's the question, not whether we want to or not, whether the numbers dictate.

Plus, last time I checked, isn't RR making top 20 money? That's big boy IMO.

Our budget for our assistants pool is middle of the PAC. We need to beef it up just a bit but I doubt any of yhem are looking to move on unless it was with RR

ALASKACAT wrote:Would like to think that RichRod shares some of his bonus money with his assistants.

Sean Miller does exactly this.

Why is RRod wearing a rodeo belt buckle in that TBT photo. Badass.

RR has done an astonishing job with this team in 3 short years. He and his staff are tireless recruiters, constantly on the look-out for OKG's, and offering guys earlier than pretty much anybody else. He is an offensive genius and innovator. One slight negative seems to be an inability to draw the top talent to Tucson (yet).

Although we are clearly biased as Arizona fans, where would you rank him in the country? Top 20? Top 10? There was a time, not too long ago, that both Alabama and Michigan offered him their HC jobs. Things had to fall just right for us to have a chance at him.

Regardless of his ranking he is the best coach I've ever seen for our football team. Great job, coach!

Go Cats!!

Gimino on how Coach Rod embraced the Arizona players and changed the program.

"I watched Dennis Erickson have his first team meeting at Oregon State; I watched Rich Brooks have his first team meeting at Kentucky," Byrne said. "Those are coaches I very much respect -- but (Rodriguez) did the best job from day one in his words and actions of just saying, 'You're here, you're my guys.'"

Arizona drew better than 52,000 in six of Stoops' full seven seasons in Tucson, which makes the relative lack of butts in the seats for Rodriguez (lots of offense, fast-paced action, engaging personality) all the more puzzling.

The biggest opportunity for growth, for the entire athletic department, is football attendance, Byrne said.
"We have 45,000 that are always there, that are very strong," Byrne said.

"That last 10,000, 12,000 strong who are on the fence -- if we are to keep this thing going long term, which I truly believe we can -- that last 10 to 12,000 have to come in and say, 'I'm going to help make this thing happen.'"

Coach Rod tied some guy named Saban for 4th in AP coach of the year voting. AFO has the vote breakdown.

Another coach doing more with less in a rugged neighborhood. Rodriguez's team was expecting to take a step forward this season, but instead the Wildcats made a leap, relying on a freshman quarterback and running back and a defense led by a sophomore linebacker. Rodriguez won the Pac-12 South, handed Oregon its only loss, and maxed out his roster on the way to an appearance in the Pac-12 title game. Arizona finishes its season in the Fiesta Bowl.

Hansen has him as the athlete of the year in Tucson and who could argue with him. Dude has had a total of 4 all conference players in 3 years and has won 26 games at a 70% clip, unreal.

His embrace of Rita on the sideline was so endearing and Lutesque. The future is so bright

Good story on Coach Rod and Arizona Football from the Boise State beat writer.

They've been a perfect match, this football coach in need of redemption and this program in need of respect.

For Rodriguez, who turned West Virginia into a national title contender but went 15-22 in three seasons at Michigan before being fired in 2010, the rebirth in the desert has been a vindication.

"If you're asking if I felt a need to prove ourselves? Yes. I always feel that. I felt that ever since I started playing ball or coaching it. I hope our guys always feel that way," he said. "Was there maybe a little extra need to prove it after Michigan? Sure."

"The first thing he had to change was the locker room. It's not OK to be indifferent about football if you play here. You've got to love football. You've got to need football," senior offensive tackle Mickey Baucus said. "I need football, so I need to get that extra lift in, that extra film study in."

Too many players liked football when he arrived, Rodriguez said. Not enough loved football. He set out to change that. Set out to make sure more of his players felt compelled to be there when they didn't have to be. Not just committed or compliant, but compelled.

"That's a different mindset than we've had here," Rodriguez said. "My happiness is based on winning. I wanted the players to have the same mindset."

I really, really like RichRod.

Didn't exactly know where to put this but thought it was pretty cool.

Arizona Basketball: Rich Rodriguez Tosses Chick-fil-A to Students

After a Pac-12 South–winning season, Arizona head football coach Rich Rodriguez didn’t need to do much more to endear himself to ‘Cats fans. But hell, he was going to anyway.

During the Utah-Arizona game on Saturday, RichRod was spotted tossing Chick-fil-A sandwiches to students.

According to the announcers, Rodriguez had a few football recruits in town and goes to most of the basketball games.

Obviously delectable fast food is the fastest way to a college student’s heart.

http://www.lostlettermen.com/article/ar ... ents-video

ESPN blog talking over Coach Rod and a couple guys who joined the PAC 12 in the same year who have been accused of being coaching mercenaries.

When the Florida job opened this past season I was worried, most specifically, about Rodriguez. I actually pulled out the big rhetorical guns when I told Rodriguez that if he left for Gainesville he likely wouldn't get to see me that much anymore. That clearly had an impact. And, fortunately, the folks at Florida weren't smart enough to pursue him.

Funny thing is that there's more evidence that they aren't particularly mercenary -- at least not more than any sane person.

Rodriguez turned down Alabama and Arkansas -- among others -- while at West Virginia. His eventual departure to Michigan was as much about his battles with West Virginia administrators than any mercenary tendencies. He bolted for many reasons, including the allure of coaching Michigan, but my impression is money didn't top the list -- especially when you consider the buyout at West Virginia that he left behind.