Rich Rodriguez: I Was Wrong About Michigan Football GPA

It's a claim that Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has been fond of making: The football team during his tenure has had the highest cumulative grade point average ever recorded at Michigan.

But there's just one problem: Rodriguez had no basis for making that claim. He admitted on Wednesday that he actually doesn't know whether the current Michigan team has a higher GPA than past Michigan teams because Michigan keeps no record about its football team's cumulative GPA.

When the Detroit Free Press asked Michigan to provide records about the football team's grades, the school was forced to admit that it has no such records. Rodriguez said in a statement that when he asked academic advisers what the program's all-time best GPA was, they just gave him an educated guess, and he thought they were telling him something they knew for a fact.

"They did not make it clear that the number was just an estimate and not an exact calculation," Rodriguez said. "We apologize if this has caused any confusion."

The thing no one seems to be pointing out in all of this is that even if Rodriguez's claims were true, it wouldn't necessarily mean he was holding his players to higher standards than his predecessors. A high GPA might mean Rodriguez stresses academics, but it also might mean Rodriguez steers Michigan players into easy classes. It was silly for Rodriguez to boast about his team's alleged high GPA, and it's good that the Free Press got him to knock it off.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-15-2009 @ 10:02AM

J. Harbaugh said...

UM steers its players into a "general studies" major. A major that regular students don't pursue.They're graduation rate is around 70% and was recently as low as 46% for African American players. Hopefully RR will increase the acedemic standards for the players. They deserve a life after football.

10-15-2009 @ 11:37AM

MB said...

When will this guy tell the truth about anything? And once again it wasn't his fault. He is a slime ball who never seems to have any clue about what he is talking about. And when someone points out he is wrong he blames it on someone else and cries at the podium.
UM fans need to realize that this is a guy who is called an offensive Guru yet does not have anything on his resume to back it up other than - they almost made it to the NC.

10-15-2009 @ 10:43PM

kfogs1957 said...

UM desereves better than this non stop garbage that continues to eminate from the Football program. Why in earth are Alumni and University power brokers not speaking up and demanding the change that is so obvious that needs to be made?? It's a University first, and look at how many situations that have gotten bad press since Mr. Rodriguez arrived. Here it is Michigan, you deserve what you get if you don't address this littany of issues now. Can't bury your heads and act like the college football world isn't snickering at your expense. Yes it's a cliche' , "where there is smoke, there is fire". Time to do the right thing and cut your losses, you obviously know what you've got on your hands. Deal with it.

10-16-2009 @ 3:55AM

rlbrooks726 said...

Rich Rodriguez concerned about players gpa? The only thing Rich Rodriguez cares about is winning...and according to some current players he'll do whatever is necessary to assure the team wins. Is it true that his bleached blonde wife was a cheerleader at WVU?

10-19-2009 @ 10:04PM

mrbearfood said...

You hairless nuts need to go back to your forums, etc. and worry about how to beat an incredibly weak Purdue team instead of commenting on our obviously qualified and incredibly talented coach. Nov. 21st can't come fast enough. You know that date, when we kick your azz in Ann Arbor. HAIL TO THE VICTORS, GO BLUE!!!

10-28-2009 @ 9:50PM

hafttwo said...

is it time for a brian kelly takeover yet? please

10-29-2009 @ 5:27PM

wsv said...

Once a scum bag, always a scum bag. When are we going to learn about the issue of extra hours of practice?

11-01-2009 @ 12:18PM

Richard said...

As a Michigan Alumni and long time fan of the U of M, I believe the administration and Board of Regents at Michigan need to cut their losses, and at the end of the football season, fire Rich Rodriguez. He has never understood this is the U of M not hillbilly U.

11-08-2009 @ 10:14AM

ppmckn said...

have nothing against Michigan---have always watched them ---they have always been a powerhouse---since Coach Rod, NOT ANYMORE--thay need to rid themselves of him---and regain the respect they deserve---with a decent and moral coach---yes I am a WVU fan---we wouldn't take him back on a bet!!!!!!!!