Since being fired,听Rich Rodriguez聽has begun what appears to be a damage control mission on his seldom-used Twitter account.
He tweeted condolences after the deaths of聽Jerry Kindall,听Keith Jackson聽and Washington State quarterback聽Tyler Hilinski. Strangely, he tweeted congratulations to聽Kevin Sumlin聽for getting RichRod鈥檚 old job. He also announced that his children,听Rhett听补苍诲听Raquel聽would be continuing their education at the UA.
Compare that to a period from Dec. 16, 2016, to March 17, 2017, when RichRod鈥檚 twitter account was not used.
This is not the RichRod who ruled the 蜜聊直播 football program with an iron fist and wasn鈥檛 one to communicate with strangers.
This nice guy routine is likely strategy from Phoenix attorney聽Leo Beus, who has called the sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims against RichRod 鈥渇rivolous and a sham.鈥
People are also reading…
Rodriguez signed his tweet to Sumlin as 鈥淐oach Rich Rodriguez.鈥
The term 鈥渃oach鈥 may not apply to Rodriguez again.
Congratulations to and .
— Rich Rodriguez (@RealCoachRod)
RichRod turns 55 this spring and the chances that he will ever be hired to coach a college football team again are remote. The same is true if he hopes to get into TV or radio; there is little precedent of college coaches surviving a messy litigation of any type, even if it is quietly settled out of court.
No matter how the legal process goes, the damage to RichRod鈥檚 reputation is probably career-ending.
At last week鈥檚 press conference introducing Sumlin, UA president聽Robert C. Robbins聽didn鈥檛 attempt to be subtle. One of the first things he said about Sumlin was that he will be 鈥渁n聽ambassador for the university.鈥
RichRod was not that.
In his days as the CEO of the Texas Medical system, Robbins said he closely observed Sumlin, the head coach at Houston and then Texas A&M.
鈥淚 was able to see him speak in front of large groups,鈥 said Robbins. 鈥淚 watched him very closely in press conferences, and I watched his demeanor on the sidelines. No matter what situation, I never saw him out of control. He was poised and confident. He was the type of person I wanted to see here.鈥
That should be a requisite and an expectation for someone at the front of a $42聽million-a-year college football program.
Ultimately, what鈥檚 unfortunate about Rodriguez鈥檚 coaching career is that it had so much potential. When he chose, he could be charming and entertaining. Instead, he chose the Angry Man routine and self-destructed.
