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Head Coaching Career at Michigan
Rodriguez was introduced by Michigan as their new coach at a news conference held on December 17, 2007 at the Junge Family Champions Center on the University of Michigan campus. WVU recruiting coordinator Tony Gibson and offensive coordinator Calvin Magee accompanied Rich Rodriguez and were introduced as members of his new Michigan staff. Since arriving at the University of Michigan, Rodriguez has installed an entirely new staff, with a single coaching holdover, Fred Jackson, from Lloyd Carr's staff, changed the strength and conditioning facilities, completed a top ten incoming recruiting class in 2008, which was recruited mainly by Carr and his staff, and installed his own recruiting to serve the spread offense that Michigan now employs.[12]. Equipment manager, Jon Falk, also stayed with the Michigan football program as another holdover from previous coaching staffs dating back to Bo Schembechler.
Rodriguez began his Michigan coaching career on August 30, 2008 with a 25-23 loss to Utah. His 2008 team finished with a record of 3-9, one of the worst seasons in school history. Michigan's losing record also assured that the team would not play in a post-season bowl game for the first time in 33 years, the longest such streak in college football up to that point. One of the few high points of the season came on September 27 when Michigan made the second-largest comeback in program history to defeat #9 Wisconsin 27-25 after trailing 19-0 late in the third quarter. That contest was also the 500th game played in Michigan Stadium.
Despite the setbacks of his inaugural season, Rodriguez compiled a recruiting class for the 2009 season which was ranked eighth nationally by Rivals.com. Tom Dienhart, writing for Sports Illustrated, named Rodriguez the second best football coach in the Big Ten Conference behind only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz and ahead of more tenured coaches such as Penn State's Joe Paterno and Ohio State's Jim Tressel.
Under Rodriguez, the Wolverines opened the 2009 season with a 31-7 win against Western Michigan followed by wins over rival Notre Dame and Eastern Michigan. Michigan then won 36-33 against Indiana. Michigan currently holds a 5-5 (1-5 in the Big Ten) record after road losses to Michigan State, and the Iowa Hawkeyes and a 25 point home loss to Penn State followed by a 25 point loss to the University of Illinois football team and a 38-36 loss at home to Purdue. At Michigan, Rodriguez has suffered a 25 point home loss to a Big Ten opponent in each season he has coached. Since being hired at Michigan, Rodriguez has zero wins in October against Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Rodriguez has a 1-6 record against the Wolverines' four main regular season rivals: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State and Michigan State.
Criticism
Several Michigan players have transferred and subsequently criticized Rodriguez. Justin Boren transferred from the program citing offensive behavior and a "lack of family values" from the coaching staff. Former Michigan player Kurt Wermers claimed to not get along with coaches after transferring following the 2008 season, but had also been declared academically ineligible before his transfer.
NCAA Violations
Prior to the 2009 season several anonymous players told the Detroit Free Press that Rodriguez and his coaching staff had habitually violated NCAA rules. The offenses included attending unofficial scrimmages and requiring players to work out more hours than NCAA rules permit for the off-season. Rodriguez denied the allegations. On October 27, 2009, the NCAA sent a Notice of Inquiry to the University of Michigan stating the NCAA found reasonably reliable information indicating NCAA rule violations. Following the Notice, the investigation into potential major violations will continue. If major violations are found, such violations would be the first time major violations have ever found in connection to Michigan football.