First published 2011
Rich Rodriguez arrives at Michigan as college football's most celebrated coach. He has just led West Virginia to its first number one ranking in history. Michigan represents the sport's most winning program. The match appears perfect. Rodriguez opens the doors to journalist John U. Bacon, who shadows the coach through every aspect of the program. Bacon watches team meetings and practice sessions. He stands on sidelines during games and enters locker rooms afterward. He observes meals and strategy sessions. Nothing remains hidden from his view. What unfolds over three seasons becomes a catastrophe for both Rodriguez and the university. The coach who transformed West Virginia into a powerhouse cannot adapt his methods to Michigan's culture. Players struggle with his system. Fans turn hostile. The administration grows impatient. Each season brings worse results than the last. The book reveals how a partnership that promised greatness instead produced some of the darkest years in Michigan football history.
Genres: biography, sports, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: Michigan, West Virginia
Period: 21st-century
438 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux