Rich Rodriguez stepping in at ULM as Terry Bowden tends to father
Louisiana-Monroe head football coach Terry Bowden has announced he will step away from the program to tend to his ailing father, legendary football coach Bobby Bowden, according to FootballScoop.com.
ULM offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez is taking over as the interim head coach in Bowden’s place. While Terry Bowden is away, Rodriguez will help the Warhawks prepare for their September 4th opener at Kentucky.
Bowden spoke to the Monroe News-Star about Rodriguez taking over the program.
“The knowledge that with Rich here and us being close, I have no problem turning it over to him because he’s done it almost as long as I have,” Bowden told the Monroe News-Star. “I’m comfortable enough in my shoes to let him step in and know that our program will run smoothly.”
Rodriguez agreed with Bowden’s assessment. He doesn’t think there will be any problems for him stepping into the head coaching role.
“It’s going to be a seamless transition,” Rodriguez told the Monroe News-Star. “I’ve got a lot of experience doing it, but I know what he wants and having gone through a spring that makes it easier. Our guys understand how the practice schedule will go and obviously the intensity and urgency to get ready is a lot more now.”
Bowden and Rodriguez have been head coaches for a combined 49 seasons total. Both actually began their careers at the same school; Salem University; a Division II school in West Virginia.
Rich Rodriguez as offensive coordinator at Clemson
Rodriguez would later serve as Tommy Bowden’s offensive coordinator at Clemson from 1990-2000, where he would become the father of the “zone-read” offense. His offense would later have a massive impact on college football and football in general.
Woodrow “Woody” Dantzler
Rodriguez coached prize pupil, quarterback Woodrow Dantzler at Clemson, one of the most electrifying players in college football history. Woodrow “Woody” Dantzler was one of the greatest players in Clemson football history and plastered his name all over the Clemson record books. Check out the tweet below.
Rich Rodriguez – West Virginia Head Coach
Rodriguez had his most successful tenure as a head football coach at West Virginia. In 2007, he nearly led the Mountaineers to a national championship game appearance, but WVU was stunned 13-9 by Pittsburgh. He mentioned in an interview in 2019, how hard it is for him to think about that game.
Alex Hickey of wvmetronews.com wrote about the game.
“I can’t. It makes me want to throw up,” he told the Three Guys Before the Game podcast. “I think I did watch it one time. I was so bad in calling that game. Pat [White] got hurt. We made some mistakes we never made. I played it too close to the vest. There’s a lot of things I would do over. I try not to think about that as much. But I try to think of the good things as opposed to that one terrible night.”
Pat White and Steve Slaton
Rodriguez coached the likes of Pat White and Steve Slaton at West Virginia, one of the most electrifying duos in college football history. Both players thrived in his “zone-read” offensive scheme.
Pat White rushed for over 1,200 rushing yards in back-to-back seasons for the Mountaineers in the 2006-2007 seasons. Not only that, he rushed for over 900 yards in both 2005 and 2008. Once his cleats were hung up at WVU, he’d eviscerated defenses to the tune of 4,480 total rushing yards and 47 touchdowns. He left his mark as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in college football history.