Took 9 photos – this one was the most flattering
Here’s the complete audio from Rich Rodriguez following the Purdue game. I’ll add some notes and more in a bit:
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And it got a little chippy about midway through the presser. Apparently when Rodriguez and Purdue coach Danny Hope met to shake hands, the Boiler coach brought LG Zach Reckman along with him to meet RR. Why? Reckman was suspended by the Big Ten the week after the Jonas Mouton suspension and Hope blames Rodriguez for the whole thing. Hope wanted to put it in his face, officially dropping a match on the snake oil feud which had seemingly died.
Reckman missed the Notre Dame the following week.
Here’s Rodriguez explaining the encounter after the game, not happy and I can’t blame him. Needless exhibition of childlike behavior on Hope’s part after their great win:
For the record, I thought Rodriguez pushed the Mouton-Big Ten thing waaay to far, but that doesn’t excuse Hope’s postgame stunt.
Other shots:
Minor giving a local reporter the stink eye during the post-game, flashing a dizzying array of tats:
Forcier, signing after the game, knee iced:
17 Comments
Snake oil salesman
Need a job dick rod?
Kurt
What was needless was RR bringing it up in the presser.
Disappointed Purdue Fan
What was needless was the act in itself. We already shoved it in his face by winning the game.
wolverron
Things to look forward to on WTKA this week:
Jamie Morris defending another Michigan loss with his “everyone plays their best game against us” excuse, because no other team gets an opponent’s “A” game and wins.
Michael Taylor making himself feel better by ripping on a caller because the person “never played the game”.
Dennis from the O.C. doing the same schtick for the millionth time, never really having a point.
J.J. from Lincoln Park stroking whatever ex-player is on the radio, then pining for the days when Michigan would stockpile talent then beat up on the Big Ten.
Listening to Andy Mignery heroically trying to bite his tongue about how bad physically and mentally the players are on this year’s team.
Let’s face it. This is a bad team. To fire Rich Rod, however, would be ludicrous. I mean, why would any “good” coach want to take over another coach’s rebuilding process? Assuming Mallett was going to leave anyway, I think Michigan was going to struggle for a few years regardless of who was coaching. I think where Lloyd was really slipping in his final years was that he wasn’t really recruiting for the team’s needs (versus just getting raw talent that looked good for recruiting rankings). That’s where I think coaches like Pete Carroll and Sweater Vest really excel. Nevertheless, at this point of the season I don’t know how you could not be disappointed with the team right now. All we can hope for is that this team overachieves in one of the two next games.
BoilerUp
Wow, it’s hard to imagine why DickRod brought this up in the presser. He really comes across as a whiner and, frankly, a crybaby. His team is at serious risk of finishing in last (LAST) place in the Big Ten this year and he’s publicly whining about something the opposing coach said after the game? Better focus on your own problems DickRod or you won’t be coaching in the Big Ten much longer…
wolverron
One of the things I keep hearing about this season’s implosion is that when things aren’t going their way in a game, the team has no leader to turn to in terms of righting the ship. Consequently, all the negative momentum starts snowballing. Isn’t that what team captains are for? To get everyone back on the same page? That is one of the things I don’t like about Rich Rod: having new captains every week. I think it’s hard to establish leadership on the team this way, especially on such a young team.
Ottawa County
Yes, lets blame Rod for the suspension and not the player for the cheap shot. Then lets blame Rod for talking about the junio high girl move that Hope did, instead of Hope for acting like a Junior High girl.
Chris
@Disappointed Purdue Fan
“We”?
Really? Just wondering… what position do you play for the Purdue football team?
CN
Hope’s stunt was childish and insulting, but raising it in this particular post-game presser was not a smart move. It both gives the press another sideshow and awkwardly puts Rich at Hope’s level — a tit-for-tat in the media doesn’t help him make his point, and it’s not a great subplot for a reeling program with two games left to potentially salvage a season. On the other hand, Michigan may now have an exciting new rivalry in Purdue, so there’s that to look forward to.
El Caballo de Sangre
Trying hard not to pile on, here, but it’s really, really hard to understand why Rodriguez felt the need to comment about this. Check that – feeling the need is understandable, what’s not is succumbing to it.
Let’s leave aside the relative levels of “class” or the lack of it on the two coaches’ part for the moment, and consider the facts of the case: There really can be no question that the week after the Mouton suspension, Rodriguez called out Reckman’s late hit (not by name, but we all know what he was talking about) and stated UNEQUIVOCALLY that he himself was going to make certain that the Big Ten was aware of it.
So, to review: Mouton punches a Domer. Big Ten suspends Mouton. Rodriguez passes up the opportunity to say something like “I don’t agree with the league’s action, because I would have preferred to have dealt with it in-house, but Jonas’ actions were wrong” and just leave it there – and proceeds, instead, to tell the world that he’s going snitch on Reckman. Big Ten suspends Reckman.
Fast-forward to Saturday: Hope pulls his shitty move on Rodriguez (and in his post-game presser) after an historic win. Rodriguez, in HIS post-game presser, passes up yet another opportunity to be the bigger/better man, and seizes on the opportunity offered by a sportswriter to bitch to the world about what a dick Hope was.
I guess if you’re a fan of either Purdue or Michigan, you can go ahead and single either Rodriguez or Hope out here as being the BIGGER dick, but as an outsider I can tell you that they BOTH look pretty shitty right now. And CN is right in that Rodriguez – even if he sincerely feels wronged here – did himself and his team no favors by choosing to indulge, even for a minute, in this nonsense. He, and they, have much bigger fish to try and fry right now.
El Caballo de Sangre
Oh, and Chris:
Really? Bitching about the use of “we”? Getting all shitty? Really?
Talk about dick moves…
uferfan1
Purdue will remember this day next year
Greg (MVictors)
@wolverron
Great comments wolerron – funny breakdown of the WTKA players. And I’m with you on the captains thing.
Anonymous
Might just as well dig in uofm ers this is what we have right now, its not what I wanna see when I go to the big house for a game either. Rebuilding can and will be done, I blame the cupboard bare theory more than I probably should but its true. I also believe alums won’t be overly patient with this situation for long and some insider things will start to happen to strighten this program around!
go blue!
Chris
I don’t know if I subscribe to the bare cupboard theory yet… Look at the bowl game against the Gators. The play calling was amazing that game. We saw none of Carr’s traditional:
1st down – Run Hart left into the line
2nd down – Run Hart left into the line
3rd down – TE screen
4th down – Punt
Instead, Michigan fans saw misdirection, empty backfields, a mix of shotgun and “I” formation; Florida was totally off balance the whole game — which is what play calling is supposed to do.
If you recall, very shortly after that game, when RR was asked about the players he had on hand, RR said the beauty of his system is it can be tailored to fit the personnel. Well, we haven’t see that yet. RR stubbornly presses on with coaching a system instead of coaching players. There should be little doubt that Michigan has regressed when lowly Purdont gets shut out by Wisconsin and in turn beats Michigan by putting 21 on the board in the 3rd quarter alone. So much for half time adjustments eh?
wolverron
Here’s my question: if Rich Rod were to get fired (which he won’t), who is this magic coach that will come to Michigan and make everything better? It’s apparent Michigan is afraid to go near Brian Kelly. Jim Harbaugh burned some bridges, which over time will probably get mended, but not right now. So who? And more importantly, do you really want Bill Martin doing another coaching search?
Chris
@wolverron
I don’t get the Brian Kelly situation either. Makes no sense.
One coach I never heard get mentioned in Martin’s bungled search was Pat Hill. Let’s look at his resume… high GPAs, check. No scandal, check (surprising considering a relationship with Sabin). Physical play, double check… I believe his style is more suited for Big Ten play then watching RRs 5’10”, 175# athletes getting knocked around weekly.
That’s just one for consideration. Let the brainstorming begin.