Ken Davis

Just imagine how swell life must have seemed to Rich Rodriguez the morning of Dec. 1. Rodriguez woke up that day knowing that his West Virginia football team was one victory away from his ultimate goal — the national championship game. All the Mountaineers had to do was beat Pittsburgh and West Virginia’s ticket to the BCS title game certainly would have been punched.

By late morning, Rodriguez probably had heard the report that LSU coach Les Miles was headed to Michigan. No distractions there. Rodriguez didn’t have to concern himself with the Wolverines, LSU, or any team other than Pitt.

It’s amazing how quickly things can change.

As we all know, Pitt beat West Virginia. Miles held a press conference to deny the report linking him to Michigan, then led LSU to victory in the Southeastern Conference championship game. That sent Miles and the Tigers to the BCS title game, while West Virginia settled for a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.

And Michigan? Athletic director Bill Martin kept searching and searching — until Sunday when he sent an e-mail to the Associated Press saying he was “thrilled to have Rich Rodriguez as Michigan’s new coach.” Rodriguez told his WVU players goodbye at a team meeting and he will be introduced as Lloyd Carr’s successor at a news conference Monday morning in Ann Arbor.

Many may be asking how Rodriguez could leave his alma mater and walk away without coaching the Mountaineers against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. A more appropriate question might be this one: How could he possibly say no to Michigan?

His mentor, former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, told The Detroit News it is an ideal move for Rodriguez.

“I think it’s tremendous,” said Nehlen, a former Michigan assistant under Bo Schembechler. “There are very few Michigans. When you coach at West Virginia, you walk on water in West Virginia, but when you coach at Michigan, you walk on water, period. There’s a difference.”

Rodriguez, 44, is one of the brightest, most innovative, most personable coaches in the country. His no-huddle, spread offense will change the culture of Big Ten football forever. It will certainly be a drastic change to the grind-it-out style Michigan fans have been accustomed to.

It will be interesting to hear Rodriquez state his own reason for leaving. Maybe — just maybe — he feels he has done all he can do in Morgantown.

Rodriguez has had a remarkable impact since taking over in 2001. He leaves with a 60-26 record, four Big East Conference titles and six consecutive bowl appearances. He stated repeatedly that he wanted West Virginia to become a perennial Top 15 team and a national contender.

Television analysts have commented on his anguished appearance after the loss to Pitt. Some said they had never seen a coach so devastated after a loss. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who ever talked to Rodriguez about his hopes and dreams for his university.

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At Big East media day last July in Newport, R.I., Rodriguez talked of “aiming high” for his program. I asked him if he felt comfortable with his program’s position on the national landscape heading into the season.

“Yeah,” he said, “but if you become more of a national program maybe you can nationally recruit more. At a place like West Virginia, we’ve got to do that.”

After a pause, he finished his answer with some choice words that might explain his thought process the past couple of days.

“You ever fly over our state? You got more deer stands than homes. There’s not a lot of population. It’s a challenge. We’ve got to go into somebody else’s backyard to fill out most of our roster.”

Michigan gives Rodriguez the population he desires. He will find recruits in his front yard — not somebody else’s backyard. Sometimes he won’t have to look at all, because the nation’s top athletes often knock on Michigan’s door and ask to be let in. It’s all part of that difference Nehlen referred to in his comments Sunday.