Rich Rodriguez admits leaving West Virginia for Michigan was 'a mistake'

In December 2007, Rich Rodriguez told his West Virginia players he was leaving for Michigan. He got a call to replace Lloyd Carr as the Wolverines’ head coach after three straight 10-win seasons in Morgantown.

It was a career-defining moment for Rodriguez. But speaking with Adam Breneman, he called it a “mistake” to go to Michigan.

Still, Rodriguez had some fond memories of his time in Ann Arbor, including lifelong friends he and his family made during their three years in the city. He also learned important lessons as he headed to Arizona and Jacksonville State before returning to WVU in 2025.

“What I kind of learned is that I probably didn’t evaluate what we had at West Virginia as well,” Rodriguez said on Next Up with Adam Breneman. “Was it a mistake going there? Yeah. It’s easy to say that now. But I also learned a lot from coaching at Michigan. My kids made their best friends to this day, they made from living up there. I made some great friends that I still have to this day. They’ve got, obviously, a name brand that is pretty special to coach at.

“I would never take another job without visiting it, probably. Because if I would’ve visited there, I would’ve realized we had some better stuff here, like in the weight room, than they had. At the same time, I also learned make the right hires, choose the right things, you’ve got to still be yourself – which I did up there and maybe it surprised them.”

Rich Rodriguez: ‘Imagine if that would’ve happened today’

Upon his arrival, Rich Rodriguez recalled hearing about how he wasn’t a “Michigan Man” considering he’s a West Virginia native and a WVU alumnus. He also joked about what it would be like if he made the move in the modern era with NIL and the transfer portal.

“It was like, ‘You’re not a Michigan man,'” Rodriguez said. “Well, Bo [Schembechler] wasn’t either. But as soon as they hired me, I said I’m a Michigan man now.

“Imagine if that would’ve happened today. Somebody asked me, what would’ve happened if that transition would’ve happened today? I’m thinking there would’ve been maybe a few players that I bought to come to Michigan because I’d have had enough money to buy them and have them come there. That was just an interesting time in my journey. I should say that.”

All told, across his three seasons at Michigan, Rodriguez had a 15-22 overall record and a 6-18 mark in Big Ten play from 2008-10. The Wolverines also made a Gator Bowl appearance in 2010, but Rodriguez also noted the program reached the Sugar Bowl in 2011.

While Rodriguez didn’t want to get caught up in “what-ifs,” he recalled that players he recruited made up most of that roster. Michigan athletics director Bill Martin also retired in 2010 before Rodriguez’s departure. As he looked back, he suggested another year could have been in the cards if Martin had stayed on board.

“I don’t want to say it was a perfect storm of things that could go wrong, went wrong in a hurry,” Rodriguez said. “I still feel, as tough as it was, had we had a chance to maybe finish it out – because the third year, we got better and got in the bowl game, then the fourth year when we weren’t there, they got to the Sugar Bowl and all the guys that were making plays and stuff are the guys we recruited, so that was hard to watch.

“But there was a lot of really good people there. The athletic director who hired me, Bill Martin, was a great guy. I’d like to think if he had not retired, I would’ve still been there and had a chance to get it going.”