OT: Rich Rod offered by S Carolina…turns them down

Submitted by ypsituckyboy on

Per multiple outlets, Rich Rod was offered the South Carolina job and turned them down. Many thought he would move back out East, but looks like he's content to stay put. 

Unless he got a solid raise, not sure why he'd interview only to turn the job down. Doesn't make much sense and might irritate current boss/fanbase.

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cbuswolverine

December 6th, 2015 at 12:27 AM ^

This whole story is based on a single PR stunt tweet from Arizona's AD.  There is nothing else out there regarding an offer.  Every SC person I've seen speak on this has denied there was an offer.  It's just complete BS.  

I'm sorry, but when one person tweets something that doesn't really make a lot of sense and some other people decide to run with that and nothing else to back it up, I don't really count that as 'multiple outlets' confirming anything. 

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cbuswolverine

December 6th, 2015 at 2:22 AM ^

I'm as big a RR fan as anybody, but he and Greg Byrne both have an incentive to lie here.  Arizona fans have been upset / concerned about his apparent interest in leaving them for greener pastures.  Obviously, saying he turned down an offer smooths that over much more than saying something like, "Well, I wouldn't have accepted an offer, anyway."  There are other concerns as well.  He's got to come back and sell recruits on him sticking around for the next few years, for example.

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Mr Miggle

December 6th, 2015 at 7:09 AM ^

The various outlets all said who their source was. I don't think that qualifies as terrible reporting. An AD going on the record is not some vague, anonymous source. It's pretty clear that the AD's source is RR himself, isn't it? It certainly seems more likely than not that they would offer him after bringing him in for an interview. Certainly they had some preliminary talks in advance. The lie we're going to hear is that Muschamp was their top choice.

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cbuswolverine

December 6th, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^

"It certainly seems more likely than not that they would offer him after bringing him in for an interview."

Since when have coaching searches worked in the manner of interview = offer?  So now we're saying that it's more likely than not that anyone who interviews for a head coaching job gets an offer?  That's news to me.  Why bother with interviews at all, then?  Just text offers to people or something.

Regardless, if you really believe that RR would turn down an offer from an SEC school not named Vanderbilt or Kentucky to stay at Arizona, then I don't know what to tell you.

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Mr Miggle

December 6th, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^

last step in the process. They've already held preliminary talks. They well know his record as a head coach. They wanted to fill the spot ASAP and had already been turned down more than once. Yes, I think it's very reasonable to think they offered him the job and that was their intention when they brought him in. Of course, if the interview went poorly, they wouldn't follow through. I'd say the candidates they brought in after RR were clearly less desirable.

You've really dug your heels in the idea that Byrne and RR are lying about this, Maybe take a step back. There's little incentive to lie if the other side is going to call you out for it. The overall PR would not be favorable. SC is not that great a job. Is the SEC really that special a place? You should be able to imagine RR turning it down to stay in a good job instead of uprooting his family and staff.

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weasel3216

December 5th, 2015 at 11:27 PM ^

Probably a good move by rich rod. Why leave the pac 12 for the sec when you can continue to contend for a conference title in the pac 12. South Carolina is no where close to the top of the sec.

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Blue Ninja

December 6th, 2015 at 9:37 PM ^

I take exception to that opinion, I live in nearby Lexington. Love the area but dislike USC.

That said USC is the "Little Brother" to Clemson. They've won virtually nothing in their history and because of winning a few games in past few years act like they are so much better. USC seems to be a mess on the field and in the athletic office and their fans are as bad as the worst Buckeye, Spartan or Irish fans you can think of.

RichRod made the right decision here.

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Perkis-Size Me

December 6th, 2015 at 12:20 AM ^

Smart choice. Why go somewhere that he has to completely rebuild, has exponentially higher expectations, and is a much tougher conference to win in?

Arizona just wants to be competitive. South Carolina expects you to win the SEC every 2-3 years. Smart move, RichRod. Be the big fish in a small pond.



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RJMAC

December 6th, 2015 at 12:55 AM ^

With RichRod, maybe he doesn't want to 'start over' with another program right now. He spent three yrs. at Michigan trying to get over the hump and has spent another four at Arizona building a decent program. (With a few ups and downs there.) Just stay put and win a championship where he's at now. He can win there.

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RJMAC

December 6th, 2015 at 7:43 AM ^

He took over the program after it was losing so that 500 percentage is a bit misleading. Yes, they didn't have a very good season this year. (Key injuries hurt them)More telling if they get back on the winning track next year. His offense just needs the right QB to run it and a few skilled playmakers to make it work. He can win there like he did at WV if he just continues to build.

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Hoke the Joke

December 6th, 2015 at 2:06 AM ^

Do this many people really RichRod is a bad coach?  Obviously his Michigan tenure was marred by poor decisions on the defensive side of the ball and his recruiting of offensive lineman (as well as other positions) left a great deal to be desired. 

But at the same time he had a phenomenal run at WVU and he seems performing above AZ's usual level.  They can't both be mirages. Can they? 

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The Barwis Effect

December 6th, 2015 at 8:36 AM ^

He's got one winning record in conference over the last seven years and is 1-7 in his last eight end of season rivalry games. Those stats are fairly damning, even for someone who has been put into some tough situations. At some point, you are what the tape says you are. South Carolina probably dodged a bullet on this one.



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Realus

December 6th, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^

You are strictly correct on the facts, but I am not convinced your conclusion is so strong.  At Arizona, his record in the Pac-12 the last four years is 4-5, 4-5, 7-2, 3-6 for a total of 18-18.  Not great, hardly, but given that over the past 4 years the Pac-12 can make a case for being the best conf in college football (and almost certainly they were the second best), that is pretty good.  Combined with the fact the Arizona is not an easy place to win and he is basically somewhere around the #15 to #20 HC in the country.  If he decided he wanted a good DC and a good special teams coach he might crack the top 10 but certainly wouldn't crack the top 5.  RR is a very good coach, but he is not elite.  We know that for sure now.  Of course I don't think Lloyd or Moeller were elite (and of course not Hoke).  Frankly if you look at Bo's football record after his first 5 years at Michigan, and he was HC for almost 25 years total, Bo was not quite elite either.

Arizona is not an easy place to win.  People love to overlook that.  Also I love it how so many people are jumping on RR THIS year when they are 6-6 and not last year when they had 10 wins and went to the Pac-12 championship game.

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