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Guys, I've got a few updates, after making a few calls over the past few days. First, I wanted to pass along some more stuff on Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez.
I spoke with Matt Moreno, at our Arizona site, GoAZCats.com. He said he's getting more and more of a sense that Rodriguez wants out. He told me that based on what his sources have told him, he'd take the VT job in a heartbeat. But Rodriguez is also shopping around a little bit. Moreno confirmed that his representatives have expressed interest and reached out to South Carolina. So there's definitely interest there, as Joe Schad reported last week:
Also interesting is that Arizona has also responded to Rodriguez being up for other jobs. From AD Greg Byrne's weekly column on the Wildcats' website: "In addition, you’ve likely heard Coach Rodriguez’s name mentioned with some of the coaching vacancies around the country. It’s a great reflection on our program and Coach Rodriguez, and he knows that we want him to be our coach. Meanwhile, it’s important that we stay focused on the remainder of this season, which starts by going up to Los Angeles and playing well against USC."
Moreno said Arizona has already started taking steps for if Rodriguez leaves. But right now, Moreno said Arizona administrators have basically told him they expect Rodriguez to leave and are already looking at potential candidates. Moreno said Rodriguez doesn't like how Arizona doesn't have a ton of support for football, how many fans leave before games are over and how Rodriguez wants to be closer to home.
I asked some of my VT staff sources about Bud Foster. They've told me that "Bud wants the job more than anyone." But it doesn't sound like Foster is doing enough. I'm told that it would help, at least, if Foster got support from former coaches and players, including those in the NFL. But I'm told by sources, "That's just not Bud." Maybe not, but if he wants the job bad enough, he needs to have people start lobbying for him. And that hasn't happened. It sounds like that likely won't be enough, but he's really not giving himself a great chance right now.
I also touched with a few sources on Chad Morris at SMU. The best stuff I got is from TigerIllustrated.com publisher Cris Ard, at Clemson. Ard said that "Morris is a job shopper personified. He goes to great lengths to circulate his name in jobs. I'll be stunned and amazed if Virginia Tech went after him.” Ard said he still keeps up and talks with Morris and his associates and that all the talk right now is Morris trying to drum up attention anywhere he can get it.
"Virginia Tech can do much better," Ard said. " He's a great coach but he has an ego the size of Texas. I don’t think he’d be good fit. He'll link his name to a dozen jobs. He's definitely frustrated he’s not getting more support at SMU. He’ll win but it will take time. I'm not saying someone hasn’t reached out, but I cant imagine Virginia Tech going after a 2-10 coach."
Ard said he's been told that the buyout of Morris is roughly $5-6 million. It's hard to know exactly what it is, since SMU is a private school and doesn't report its contract details. Ard said that he knows Morris was offered the OC job at Texas when he was at Clemson, but Strong decided against it, because of the buyout. Also keep in mind that Morris is a Texas A&M grad and Ard echoed what I'd been told last week, that Morris wants to stay in the state of Texas. Ard has been told that he'd piss off a lot of Texas high school coaches as well if he leaves SMU after just one season.
Guys, I've got a few updates, after making a few calls over the past few days. First, I wanted to pass along some more stuff on Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez.
I spoke with Matt Moreno, at our Arizona site, GoAZCats.com. He said he's getting more and more of a sense that Rodriguez wants out. He told me that based on what his sources have told him, he'd take the VT job in a heartbeat. But Rodriguez is also shopping around a little bit. Moreno confirmed that his representatives have expressed interest and reached out to South Carolina. So there's definitely interest there, as Joe Schad reported last week:
Also interesting is that Arizona has also responded to Rodriguez being up for other jobs. From AD Greg Byrne's weekly column on the Wildcats' website: "In addition, you’ve likely heard Coach Rodriguez’s name mentioned with some of the coaching vacancies around the country. It’s a great reflection on our program and Coach Rodriguez, and he knows that we want him to be our coach. Meanwhile, it’s important that we stay focused on the remainder of this season, which starts by going up to Los Angeles and playing well against USC."
Moreno said Arizona has already started taking steps for if Rodriguez leaves. But right now, Moreno said Arizona administrators have basically told him they expect Rodriguez to leave and are already looking at potential candidates. Moreno said Rodriguez doesn't like how Arizona doesn't have a ton of support for football, how many fans leave before games are over and how Rodriguez wants to be closer to home.
I asked some of my VT staff sources about Bud Foster. They've told me that "Bud wants the job more than anyone." But it doesn't sound like Foster is doing enough. I'm told that it would help, at least, if Foster got support from former coaches and players, including those in the NFL. But I'm told by sources, "That's just not Bud." Maybe not, but if he wants the job bad enough, he needs to have people start lobbying for him. And that hasn't happened. It sounds like that likely won't be enough, but he's really not giving himself a great chance right now.
I also touched with a few sources on Chad Morris at SMU. The best stuff I got is from TigerIllustrated.com publisher Cris Ard, at Clemson. Ard said that "Morris is a job shopper personified. He goes to great lengths to circulate his name in jobs. I'll be stunned and amazed if Virginia Tech went after him.” Ard said he still keeps up and talks with Morris and his associates and that all the talk right now is Morris trying to drum up attention anywhere he can get it.
"Virginia Tech can do much better," Ard said. " He's a great coach but he has an ego the size of Texas. I don’t think he’d be good fit. He'll link his name to a dozen jobs. He's definitely frustrated he’s not getting more support at SMU. He’ll win but it will take time. I'm not saying someone hasn’t reached out, but I cant imagine Virginia Tech going after a 2-10 coach."
Ard said he's been told that the buyout of Morris is roughly $5-6 million. It's hard to know exactly what it is, since SMU is a private school and doesn't report its contract details. Ard said that he knows Morris was offered the OC job at Texas when he was at Clemson, but Strong decided against it, because of the buyout. Also keep in mind that Morris is a Texas A&M grad and Ard echoed what I'd been told last week, that Morris wants to stay in the state of Texas. Ard has been told that he'd piss off a lot of Texas high school coaches as well if he leaves SMU after just one season.
