Michigan Strikes it Rich

Michigan football fans are performing Mexican Hat Dances in the snow-covered streets of Ann Arbor this afternoon, because Rich Rodriguez has been hired! He met with Bill Martin and Mary Sue Coleman in Toledo on Friday, and took part of the weekend to mull over the offer that was on the table. Apparently the offer was so good Rodriguez couldn't pass it up, which leads me to believe that he'll be making at least $3 mil a year and probably has control over who he hires to be his assistants, some incentives for getting to the BCS, scholarships for his kids, a house, who knows.

Before we pat Bill Martin on the back, though, it seems that it may not have been him who inked RR...Mary Sue Coleman has been rumored to be the one who took control of this coaching search and went after RR. So perhaps the next step is to send Sailboat Bill off into the sunset...

More exciting for the football program, though, is the kind of players who could be wearing the winged helmet next year. The fact that Les Miles was not hired means that Sam McGuffie, the top running back in the nation, won't decommit, and now Rivals.com is reporting that Terrelle Pryor, the #1 QB prospect in the nation, who was set to go to West Virginia, is considering Michigan now. Michigan may finally bring the spread offense back, or at least a reincarnation of it. Additionally, if RR has control over who his assistants are, that means Mike DeBord will be canned, and perhaps he would grab John Tenuta from Ga. Tech to replace Ron English, which Les Miles was going to do were he hired.

I'm changing my tune that Miles was the best fit...there was no indication that he would have given the football program the drastic overhaul it needed, maybe just in pockets. He's also 54, and RR is 44...and I don't think he could get the kind of recruits Rodriguez will be able to with a block M on his shirt.