UM Head Coach Rich Rodriguez just can’t seem to escape the the ever present allegations regarding NCAA violations. Now, according to Angelique S. Chengelis of the Detroit News more NCAA allegations are coming out of the University of West Virginia’s football program that go all the way back to when Rodriguez was the head coach there.
Oliver Luck, West Virginia athletic director, released a statement Thursday discussing the notice that was received on Wednesday.
In April, West Virginia issued a statement acknowledging the NCAA enforcement staff had visited the campus and conducted interviews, and Luck said the school has cooperated.
“The allegations focus primarily on the activities and roles of graduate assistants, student managers and other non-coaching staff in the football program — from 2005 to 2009,” Luck said in his statement Thursday.
Rodriguez took over at U of M in 2007 so the investigation conducted by the NCAA involves three of seasons in which Rodriguez was still the Head Coach of the Mountaineers football team. Interestingly enough Rodriguez doesn’t deny that any wrong doing took but does say that any wrong doing was unintentional.
“I have always taken compliance seriously and have sincerely felt our program was very open and transparent,” Rodriguez said in the statement. “I regret any mistakes that were made or rules that were misinterpreted.
“Any errors certainly weren’t made intentionally. I openly discussed my past practices with NCAA investigators and will continue to cooperate fully during this process.”
As for the future of the Michigan program, Rodriguez said: “I have redoubled efforts with my staff and our compliance team to improve several processes, strengthen communications, and work to ensure these mistakes won’t happen in the future.
“We have a tremendous program and an exceptional group of student-athletes, and I look forward to an exciting and successful football season.”

UM Athletic Director Dave Brandon also released a statement regarding this…

“We’re not part of the inquiry at WVU and we have limited access to the information pertaining to this investigation,” Brandon said.
“We’re certainly paying close attention to the situation, but we all need to let the process — and the facts — unfold before we draw any conclusions. I’m not going to speculate about any aspect of the outcome.
“I’ve already said Rich is our coach this fall and WVU’s announcement does not change that fact.
“Our focus is on our program and the start of the football season.”

The ever going NCAA saga revolving around Rich Rod keeps on going. One has to wonder how much more U of M will put up with this. Even though these allegations pertain to West Virginia’s football program it is still another black eye on Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan football program.

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