The feud between West Virginia and former coach Rich Rodriguez is taking on the appearance of a Hatfield- McCoy dispute, with shots being fired and the plot building by the day.West Virginia officials are now — at least unofficially — blaming Rodriguez for missing documents from the Mountaineer football office.
Dave Hickman of the Charleston Gazette broke the story, reporting that Rodriguez might have "destroyed all or most of the paperwork files relating to every player on the current Mountaineer roster and virtually all of the activities conducted by the program over the past seven years."
Rodriguez agent Mike Brown fired back, saying his client "may have received copies. But I would sure hope the originals of those are in West Virginia's compliance office. If they do not have that information, they have serious institutional control issues."
Charleston Gazette columnist Mitch Vingle wrote that the number of web hits to Hickman's story neared six figures Tuesday night. "Understandable, as the story has intrigue. There’s mystery. And, at least in West Virginia, there’s a villain — Rich Rodriguez, the former coach of the Mountaineers who bolted for Michigan."
Rodriguez and West Virginia already appear headed to court over the coach's $4 million buyout clause. And earlier Rodriguez's mother said her family has suffered insults, vandalism and even death threats in the wake of the coach's sudden departure from his home state.
Then there was former Mountaineer defensive backs coach Tony Gibson, who followed Rodriguez to Michigan, saying his 13-year-old son was hassled by the principal back in Morgantown. "[West Virginia] is a place we need to stay out of for a while," Gibson said.
Last weekend, the father of Steve Slaton blamed his son's decision on leaving early for an NFL draft heavy on running backs on Rodriguez. "It was pushed on him with Rodriguez leaving and taking the whole coaching staff," Carl Slaton said.
Then came word that Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top-rated prep quarterback, is headed to Ann Arbor for a weekend visit. Pryor, of course, previously had West Virginia near the top of his list. Until Rodriguez departed.
Thanks to Greg, Brian and Tim for their help.
6 comments:
Here is the origin of the "ENROD" moniker.
http://wbgv.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/enrod-we-trust/
Rich Shredriguez needs to pay off this 4 million buyout and just fade away. He burnt every bridge he possibly could at WVU on the way out. It would be best to end all of this and let both programs move on. Of course he won't let it be that simple. Because he loves money more than anything and wants to keep as many of those dollars as possible.
if there was more to do in WVa than watch football, you guys woouldn;t be this bitter.
go play at snowshoe for the weekend or something!
Boz,
What can I say? We get a little worked up over the Mountaineers!
Who else thinks that sport has gone too far? I mean there is so much money involved in sport now that there is very little sport left anymore. Sport spread betting used to be frowned upon when I was a kid as it made people desperate for money to bet with but now it’s nothing compared to how disgraceful a footballer’s salary is! These people train a few times a week and play one game a week if they’re lucky and get paid a week more than I earn a year! And yet no authority has ever questioned it! Why!? There’s a minimum wage, why can’t there be a maximum wage as well based on the type of job? So all you betters out there, why don’t you start spread betting on how much players are going to be paid next instead of what used to be sport?
You're right, loyalty means nothing to some. Just how much of a millionaire do you need to be? This guy is a snake, and their fans have a right to feel bitter. On a neutral level here, but I'm not blind or in denial. This guy is a snake..... Tarheel Fan
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