It’s time to let bygones be bygones.
It’s now been 18 months since Rich Rodriguez suddenly bolted from his job at West Virginia and accepted the head football coaching position at the University of Michigan.
Now it is obvious he is attempting to reach out to the people of West Virginia — and to let them know he still cares very much about them and this state. He has contacted several state sports writers. We believe this is good.
But back when he left, Mountaineer fans were livid. Really livid.
We, like many West Virginians, were truly disappointed in Rodriguez’s quick exodus. The state hadn’t been in such an uproar in years. Our coach had let us down. Losing to Pitt in the final game of the season was bad enough Losing our coach made it even worse. The mood of West Virginians went from being thrilled over the possibility of playing in a national championship game to not only having to live with the totally unexpected loss to Pitt but with the loss of our football coach.
But no one could blame Rich Rodriguez for taking the coaching position at Michigan. Or even Alabama, even he had done that. Those are two of the nation’s premier coaching positions.
It should be clear that we don’t agree with the way he left. It appears as though Rodriguez himself would probably do things differently if he had the chance to do it over again. Rich was on the verge of legendary greatness at West Virginia University, but he traded it in for more money at Michigan.
There’s no question that Rich Rodriguez is a talented football coach. We feel certain that the Marion County native will one of these days win a national championship.
We wish him the best. Eighteen months is much too long to let ill feelings by some of the Mountaineer faithful to linger. Life is too short. Good luck, Rich. Let’s go, Mountaineers!
Opinion
It’s time to let bygones be bygones
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