WANTED: New WVU Football Coach

Obviously West Virginia now needs a new football coach. So, I will discuss those candidates tomorrow or Tuesday. But first, a little of the speculation that is going on in Mountaineer land (you know, rumors, make believe and maybe a little level of truth) with a believability rating (1-low / 10-high).

1. Rodriguez threw the Pitt game knowing he would be offered the Michigan gig. If his team was playing January 7th for a national championship, he couldn't take the Wolverines job. Believability: 1 - There's no way he throws a shot at a national title.
2. He dated his letter of resignation for January 3, 2008, after the Fiesta Bowl. So either he coaches in the Fiesta Bowl as a hired employee or WVU has to fire him or forfeit the $4 million buyout. Believablity: 4 - I really don't know what the deal is with the contract. If this is true...well, I will lose a whole lot more respect for RR than I already have. Of course, most Mountaineer fans have no respect left...so it doesn't matter.
3. West Virginia will lose several players, including Noel Devine, Steve Slaton and 5-star recruit Josh Jenkins. Believability: 9 - Devine has been homesick and Rod has been the only thing keeping him at WVU. Expect him to transfer to a Florida school. Slaton is NFL bound (good or not) and Jenkins is going to look elsewhere. We'll lose some other recruits and players as well...but that's what happens when there is a regime change.
4. Don Nehlen encouraged Rich Rodriguez to look at the Michigan job. Believability: 2 - Sure, Nehlen was at Michigan before coming to WVU but I can't see him trying to chase off the current coach. Of course, Nehlen could be upset about the lack of respect for the 80s and 90s teams but do you really think Rodriguez looked for the Nehlen seal of approval? Highly doubtful.

There's more...there's rumors of a possible near physical altercation when he informed the players...which I doubt seriously. There's all kinds of coaching rumors out there...from the obvious (Terry Bowden, Jimbo Fisher, Steve Dunlap) to the interesting (Larry Coker, Skip Holtz, Butch Jones) to the completely out of touch (Lloyd Carr, Nick Saban, Bill Cowher) to the I seriously hope not (Doc Holliday, Lee Corso, Rick Trickett). I'll break down some of those guys when I get some more time. In the meanwhile, feel free to get out to some of those message boards out there and dump some gasoline on all the rumors...