Rich Rodriguez, Coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Should Win Coach of the Year

Coach of the Year in 2008 went to Alabama's Nick Saban for resurrecting a program that seemed to be in constant turmoil. That same year in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Rich Rodriguez was under constant fire and scrutiny from the administration, loyal fans, experts, and the media. With some late game victories this year and a spectacular comeback over a favored Notre Dame team, Rodriguez's Wolverines are probably not going to end up in the BCS National Championship, but he has done enough to win 2009 Coach of the Year in college football based on his play calling and more importantly the way he turned this team around and back to the glory days.

The Michigan Wolverines are the winningest college football program in history and when Lloyd Carr left at the end of the 2007 season Rich Rodriguez was brought in from West Virginia to push the Wolverines back over the top. In 2008, Rodriguez's team underachieved from the beginning of the year, and only came away with three wins to cap his inaugural season as head coach. With the addition of new quarterback Matt Forcier the Wolverines are running the vaunted wildcat offense to perfection and have won some hard fought close battles, most memorable against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Indiana Hoosiers.

Rodriguez does not have the talent that Florida or Oklahoma has and is not in the SEC or the Pac-10 but in his less than modest Big 10 and the stadium they call in Ann Arbor, the Big House, he has brought together a team that looked dreary just a year ago. Standing right now at 4-1 after a tough loss to Michigan State last week, the Michigan Wolverines and coach Rich Rodriguez have surpassed all expectations. They are playing hard, they are in every game they play and up till last week have come away victorious every time.

The reason Rich Rodriguez is the Coach of the Year in college football so far is because he has done the most with the least. Everyone knows LSU and Alabama have crushing defenses, Florida has Tim Tebow, Ohio State has Tyrelle Pryor, and USC has as usual the best ground game in the country. What does Rich Rodriguez have? An undersized Michigan team with a Cinderellaesque quarterback. Most impressive so far was their win against possibly overrated Notre Dame. Rodriguez showed his coaching intelligence against the great coaching mind of Charlie Weiss and came out victorious. Forcier drove his team down the field after a bad call on 2nd and 10 by Weiss and a muffed punt and made the Big House explode in excitement.

One of the main reasons why Rich Rodriguez will win Coach of the Year is because of the way the system works. To win Coach of the Year, fans have to vote on you in part. It will be tough to look around the country and find a bigger following than that of the Michigan Wolverines. Outside of Penn State and Joe Paterno, there might not be a school that throws as much support behind its football team than Michigan. Fans will get out the vote and shoot Rich Rodriguez to the top of the leader board for this honor. As long as he keeps his team winning and the loyal and countless fans of the Michigan Wolverines cheering, Rich Rodriguez is a shoe in for Coach of the Year, doing the most with the least.