Rich Rodriguez: I need to prove myself

May 22, 2012, 3:19 pm

Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez joins the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano to talk about the 2012 season. After a tumultuous tenure at Ann Arbor, Rich Rodriguez has found a new home in Wildcat country. In his first season at the University of Arizona, Rodriguez hopes to replicate his success at West Virginia, where he led the Mountaineers to 60-24 record in seven seasons. 

During his three years at the Big House, Coach Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines had only a single winning season. After a year in exile as a commentator for CBS Sports, the Arizona Wildcats selected him in order to match the other superstar coaches hired around the Pac-12. Having coached at a variety of small and mid-major schools, Rodriguez explains why he wanted to return to a major university. He reveals why he thinks that football in the Pac-12 is on par with the other major football conferences. Rodriguez also talks about how he developed his unorthodox spread offense.

As the son of a coal miner, Rodriguez describes how he quickly realized that he didn't want to follow in his father’s footsteps. He explains how football served as his escape from the coal mines. He then talks about why he chose to walk-on the football program at West Virginia University. At defensive back, Rodriguez recorded 54 career tackles in three seasons for the Mountaineers. 

In 2007, Michigan announced that it had hired Rodriguez to replace Lloyd Carr. His controversial departure from his alma mater poisoned his arrival at Ann Arbor, though. Three seasons later, Rodriguez was unceremoniously let go. Rodriguez concedes that he wanted to stay at Michigan for another season. Today, he talks about how he has moved on since being fired and how he feels now about his sacking.

Now at Arizona, he is happy to be coaching again. He breaks down the talent on the Wildcats' roster. Rodriguez then explains the intricacies of the spread offense and how the zone read really works. He also talks about his time spent mentoring Chip Kelly when Chip coached at New Hampshire.