Rich Rodriguez finally signs contract to coach Michigan

Former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez inherited a mess upon his assumption of duties at the University of Michigan this season.  Not surprisingly, the team has struggled while Rodriguez has attempted to dig the program out of their hole.  Despite his being hired specifically to deal with the disarray, a number of Wolverine fans have branded him as the “problem” rather than the “solution”.  There has even been some grumbling that he should be sent packing even before he’s settled into his office good.  A few weeks ago athletic director Bill Martin gave Rodriguez a well deserved vote of confidence and now he’s got the “vote of confidence” that really matters—a six year contract worth at least $2.5 million per.

It’s not uncommon for a complex contract to take a long time to be finalized, so it’s not any big story that Rodriguez was working on a “handshake” for the first half of the season.  As U of M spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham noted “It typically takes this amount of time to do a contract”.  Still, there was some speculation that after seeing the extent of the mess he had to deal with that he might be having second thoughts about accepting the job.  With the contract signing, obviously, he and the University are both committed for the long haul.

Rodriguez will receive a first-year base salary of $300,000 plus $1,650,000 per year for television and radio shows as well as the usual apparel sponsorship and other promotional “perks” of being a bigtime head coach.  His salary will be subject to increase each season based on his performance under the University’s merit system.  There are buyout provisions for both parties, so if Rodriguez gets the ax the school will pay him and if he decides to leave for “greener pastures” he’ll owe the University.   There are also performance bonuses for winning seasons, bowl victories, etc. along with more pedestrian perks such as use of vehicles and comp tickets.

The Wolverines host Michigan State on Saturday hoping to improve upon their woeful 2-5 record.  That’s the worst start to a season by a Wolverine team since 1967.