Oklahoma lost an important part of their offensive coaching staff when Kevin Sumlin left to go coach the Houston Cougars but the Mountaineers may be on the verge of losing their head man. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez met with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and university president Mary Sue Coleman in Toledo, Ohio on Saturday.
At this point there is no telling what might come of this but coaching searches this year have either been quick and decisive or prolonged dragging on and on. Neither scenario is good for the Mountaineers as they prepare to head to Glendale. These things can also turn divisive if handled in the wrong way, say like not telling your own AD that you are interviewing for another job.
WVU athletic director Ed Pastilong seemed a bit off guard when asked if he knew that Rodriguez was meeting with Michigan officials. When pressed about this situation Pastilong response was to the point.
"I think it would be unusual that he would be doing that without sharing it with us."
Start shaking the bushes within the administration and the fans will fall out and Mountaineer fans are definitely teetering. Nothing brings a coach down quicker in the court of public opinion than flirting with another school. It just becomes a matter of time until it becomes a team distraction.
If Rodriguez stays at WVU this could all blow over quickly and everything will return to normal. However, if this story continues to develop then we are looking at a Fiesta Bowl match-up between the Oklahoma Sooners and a West Virginia Mountaineers team with either an interim or lame duck head coach.