Richard A. Rodriguez or better known Rich Rodriguez was (born May 24, 1963. Rich Rodriguez is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach for the University of Michigan, a position he has held since the 2008 season. Rich Rodriguez also served as the head coach at Salem University (1988), Glenville State College (1990–1996), and West Virginia University (2001–2007).
A native of Grant Town, West Virginia, Rich Rodriguez graduated from North Marion High School in 1981 where he played four sports and was an all-state football and basketball player. After high school, Rodriguez attended West Virginia University. Playing as a defensive back, Rodriguez recorded 54 career tackles over three seasons.
Rich Rodriguez was introduced by Michigan as its new coach at a news conference held on December 17, 2007 at the Junge Family Champions Center on the University of Michigan campus. WVU recruiting coordinator Tony Gibson and offensive coordinator Calvin Magee accompanied Rich Rodriguez and were introduced as members of his new Michigan staff. Since arriving at the University of Michigan, Rodriguez has installed an entirely new staff, with a single coaching holdover, Fred Jackson, from Lloyd Carr's staff, changed the strength and conditioning facilities, completed a top ten incoming recruiting class in 2008, which was recruited mainly by Carr and his staff, and installed his own recruiting to serve the spread offense that Michigan now employs. Equipment manager Jon Falk also stayed with the Michigan football program as another holdover from previous coaching staffs dating back to Bo Schembechler.
Rich Rodriguez began his Michigan coaching career on August 30, 2008 with a 25–23 loss to Utah. His 2008 team finished with a record of 3–9, the worst season in school history. Michigan's losing record also assured that the team would not play in a post-season bowl game for the first time in 33 years, the longest such streak in college football up to that point. One of the few high points of the season came on September 27 when Michigan made the second-largest comeback in program history to defeat #9 Wisconsin 27–25 after trailing 19–0 late in the third quarter. That contest was also the 500th game played in Michigan Stadium.
Despite the setbacks of his inaugural season, Rich Rodriguez compiled a recruiting class for the 2009 season which was ranked eighth nationally by Rivals.com. Tom Dienhart, writing for Sports Illustrated, named Rodriguez the second best football coach in the Big Ten Conference behind only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz and ahead of more tenured coaches such as Penn State's Joe Paterno and Ohio State's Jim Tressel.
Under Rodriguez, the Wolverines opened the 2009 season with a 31–7 win against Western Michigan followed by wins over rival Notre Dame and Eastern Michigan. Following these three victories, two over weak mid-major opponents, Michigan opened its Big Ten schedule with a controversial 36-33 win against Indiana. Michigan finished the season with a 5–7 (1–7 in the Big Ten) record after road losses to Michigan State, and the Iowa Hawkeyes and a 25 point home loss to Penn State followed by a 25 point loss to the University of Illinois football team and a 38–36 loss at home to Purdue. Rodriguez ended the 2009 season with a 21–10 loss to rival Ohio State. This loss eliminated the Wolverines from bowl competition for the second time in two years.
The 2010 season got off to a similar start as the 2009 campaign, with the Wolverines recording victories through their first five games to begin the season, one more consecutive victory than the previous year. The Wolverines started the season off by notching a win over Connecticut, who eventually won a share of the Big East title and went on to represent the conference in a BCS bowl. By week three, the team earned a spot in the AP Top 25 at #20 and USA Today Poll at #22. Their highest AP ranking, #18, came before recording their first loss of the season against 17-ranked in-state foe and eventual Big Ten champion Michigan State (part of a three-way tie). The team finished Big Ten play with a 3-5 record, losing the last regular season game against arch rival Ohio State, 37-7, and putting further criticism on Rich Rodriguez for failing to restore competitiveness to one of college football's greatest rivalries. Still, Rodriguez and Michigan had done enough to earn a 7-5 record and for the first time since joining Michigan, were bowl eligible. This season included such highlights as a spectacular 67-65 comeback win over Illinois in triple overtime on Nov. 6 and a special talent in sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson who in 12 games passed for 2,316 yards and rushed for 1,643 yards while accounting for 30 rushing and passing touchdowns. Rodriguez, in his third season, led Michigan to its first New Year's Day bowl since the 2007 season when Michigan accepted a bid to play in the Gator Bowl. Michigan's 38-point loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl was the worst bowl loss in school history.
Due to the team's second season in a row which started off with promising results, and another defeat to Ohio State, Rodriguez finished the regular season campaign amidst speculation he may not keep his head coaching position at Michigan. Rumors about Rodriguez's ousting heated up again after the season, when Stanford Cardinal head coach and former Michigan quarterback, Jim Harbaugh, did not attend an anniversary dinner recognizing the 1985 Michigan team. Harbaugh had been rumored to replace Rodriguez in seasons past.
At Michigan, Rich Rodriguez has suffered a 20 point home loss to a Big Ten opponent in all three seasons he has coached (most recently against Wisconsin, a 48–28 loss). In those two years, Rodriguez had no wins in October against Football Bowl Subdivision teams and did not record a win against such an opponent until the 2010 season, recording a road victory over Indiana. Through the 2010 season, Rodriguez has a 2-7 record against the Wolverines' three regular season rivals: Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan State, recording victories against Notre Dame in the 2009 and 2010 campaigns.
Rich Rodriguez currently has the lowest winning percentage of any coach in Michigan football's history.
Rodriguez has been rumored to be let go as Michigan coach; the University of Michigan officially denied this.
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