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When Rich Rod Talks, People Listen

By Shereen Rayan

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Coach Rich Rod talks to a lot of people everyday; his family, his team, his staff, his boss, fans and of course sports writers. 

Coach Rich Rodriguez, nick name Rich Rod, talks to a lot of people everyday, but one person has not yet talked to one-on-one is yours truly. The closest I’ve come to meeting him is crossing his path after an Arizona basketball game and remembering that he had a presence about him and he was a tall man.

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I do look forward to the day I get to ask him a question, and I pray that I will ask the right question, it’ll be an interesting question, and it’ll be something fans are dying to ask but can’t. Most importantly, I hope it’ll be a question he will enjoy answering and will look forward to the next time he sees me.

Until that day, I will continue to watch and listen to Arizona’s head football coach to be inspired and feel like I am part of something he is building along with all the fans and my fellow writers and bloggers.

He Talks to his team:

When you watch Rich Rod talk to his team, he is really in his element and his team listens to him; he has full command and attention of his team, ‘yes sir!’ After his team wins, the first thing he does is share in the joy of the win.

To make things fun and uplifting to his team, he has developed a number of traditions in the locker room from what we see in videos: 1) counting down the score, each point 2) chanting ‘defense’  3) chanting any other appropriate word (ie. Seniors) 4) giving a celebration speech 5) singing the Bear Down fight song together!

His Staff:

Honestly I have no idea about how he communicates with his staff, one can only imagine how fun it is to be a part of his program.  Rich Rod seems to have more fun coaching than almost any other coach in the Pac-12 or the NCAA for that matter. I would say UCLA’s Head Coach Mora is a close second, but he didn’t make the splash that Rich Rod and his players made during the Pac-12 media days.

Rich Rod hired a very special person in 2011, and you can follow Arizona’s Director of On-Campus Recruiting and Player Personnel Matt Dudek on Instagram or Twitter @AZ_Matty_D.  You can tell that Dudek has a huge role in the program whether it be in his main focus, recruiting, or other facets of the program. He’s very entertaining and informative; you won’t miss a thing on signing day if you follow Matt, he keeps us up-to-speed on each player.

Matt gives us fans glimpses in the locker room and in case you missed it, here is snipit of a celebration from a very happy team getting the night off of practice for working hard:

Both men are transparent as far as their family life and their pure joy of the Arizona Football program. It’s brilliant because we feel as fans that we know them, they are our family too.

Recruits:

When you ask recruits why they committed to Rich Rod and the University of Arizona, they almost always say that they feel the coaches care about them and ‘it feels like family.’ On top of that, he has the greatest game plan when it comes to recruiting; he is breaking the mold in the NCAA by recruiting mostly under appreciated players who are out to prove themselves, or ‘Our Kinda Guys.’

He purposely wants to do things differently, Athletic Director Greg Byrne supports him, and it seems to be working. I can’t say there’s one player I have met or spoken to who isn’t polite, humble, and ready to play the game they love so much for coaches they can’t wait to play for.

Fellow Arizona Athletics Coaches:

Are we ever going to forget Rich Rod, some of his staff and some players doing the Whip and the Nae Nae on the Arizona football field helping the GymCats and his fellow Gymcats Coach Tabitha Yim? Or Rich Rod’s football video produced by his wife which also included his daughter and the Gymcats, where he shows us he and his team have a license to thrill?

Coach Yim had this to say about her co-worker, “It has been a real pleasure working with Coach Rodriguez. He has been extremely welcoming, and he has an impressive ‘stanky leg’ dance move that he was kind enough to debut in our “whip nae nae” video this year!”

Also when Coach Sean Miller was in the middle of his NCAA Run or Pac-12 tournament, who was in the front row? Coach Rich Rod and his wife! These two coaches really support each other, so you have to think they get along pretty well.  According to Anthony Gimino, Rich Rod could have been a Basketball coach as he could have played Basketball or Football coming out of high school.

Arizona Wildcats Sports Reporters:

It’s very difficult for Rodriguez to hide his frustration when he gets a question he really doesn’t want to answer or has to figure out how to answer. I love that about him, he is not hiding anything; what you see is what you get. Isn’t anyone paying attention to the manner in which he answers some of the questions? Shake it up a little folks! What do the fans really want to know?

Arizona Coach Rich Rodriguez Signed Football – Photo taken 08-30-15 S. Rayan

I want to know who has emerged as the leaders of the team in the bonding effort, or what he looks for by position and deems he has made progress. Does he have a plan for a game and stick to it? Or is he flexible and changes up his plan at times? How much of this goes on during a game or in practice?

Which position is he most confident in and which does he have to work on the most? What does he tell athletes when they get injured and are out for the season? What does he tell the guys coming in to replace him? What does he say to the team or what does he think he does that gets the team to focus for all 60 minutes and never give up?

Who knows, he may hate to answer these questions as well but I think as fans, we sometimes get tired of stats and starters, and want to know about the team chemistry, what works for them and what makes them succeed.

One person Rich Rod seems to really enjoy talking to is Brian Jeffries (IMG Sports Network, and the Voice of the Arizona Wildcats.) The two do a weekly ‘Rich Rodriguez Show’ every week live at a local establishment.  My daughter was a Director in the ZonaZoo Crew in his first year at Arizona, and she won an autographed football at one of these live broadcasts. That football is proudly displayed on our bookshelf! [see insert]

In Brian’s first interview with Rich Rod on Rodriguez’s contract signing day and introduction, I loved his first question.

Brian: If someone was to come up to you and ask you, ‘Coach, what is your coaching style?’ How do you respond?

Rich: Have the ability to push guys further, demand more than they have ever done before, and yet they still come back for more the next day.

So push the players to the best of their perceived ability, then push them more than ever before, but do it in a way that they cannot wait to get back to practice the next day. Now that’s interesting, that’s a secret sauce type of answer I enjoy.

If you haven’t seen Coach ‘Rich Rod’s First day as a Wildcat’ video, you are in for a treat! This is a must watch video if you are a Wildcats fan, and especially if you are Rich Rod fan.

It’s fun to get inside the gym and all over the athletic offices. Pay attention to who he meets while walking and talking to everyone and what he says, especially endearing is the first meeting with Sean Miller.

It kind of sums up this article, because he is talking and people are listening…

Beardown Coach! We look forward to the season, and I look forward to asking you a question that you hopefully will want to answer in the near future.

Next: Arizona Football: Top 3 Things To Look Forward To

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