University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman acknowledged Friday that hiring Rich Rodriguez was a mistake.
Coleman, who was speaking to the Rotary Club of Flint, Mich., said the university was trying to get away from Lloyd Carr's outdated offensive style and that the spread seemed like the cutting edge way to go.
"We thought, OK, well let's go hire the guy who invented the spread offense," Coleman told the crowd. "[Rodriguez] was a hot, young coach with a different approach."
Unfortunately, that approach didn't work as well at Michigan as it did in West Virginia and Rodriguez stumbled to a 15-22 record and was cited for NCAA violations in his three years in Ann Arbor.
However, Coleman said she has no ill feelings toward Rodriguez and was happy he found a new position in Arizona. But she stressed the hiring of current coach Brady Hoke was more in line with the direction Michigan should have gone in the first place.
"[Hoke] has more of the kind of Midwestern ethos," Coleman said.
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