Revisiting Michigan's Failed Coaching Search That Left Them Stuck With Rich Rodriguez

The Michigan Wolverines football program hasn't been having the best of times in recent years. They hired former San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh to turn them into a national championship contender, but that has failed to transpire midway through his contract.

But, it could always be worse -- like the time Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez to be their sideline boss back in 2007.

The Wolverines found themselves in a bind after Lloyd Carr announced his retirement after 13 seasons at Ann Arbor. This is a head coach who led Michigan to a perfect 12-0 record and a national championship in 1997, and led them to a bowl game every single season. Those were always going to be tough shoes to fill.

Of course, Michigan had high standards for the new leader of the football program. The university had Les Miles and Greg Schiano high atop their wish lists, but were disappointed after both turned down their advances, with the latter getting cold feet at the very last second.

Michigan then entered full panic mode, and opted to pay $2.5 million to West Virginia to snatch Rodriguez.

That turned out to be a huge, monumental mistake for the Maize and Blue.

Rodriguez turned the once-illustrious football program into a joke. Michigan was 6-18 in Big Ten competition and 1-11 against ranked teams under his leadership, which was simply inexcusable. His very last game coaching the Wolverines came in a Gator Bowl in which they were blown out 52-14 to Mississippi State, the worst loss in program history. After that defeat, RichRod was shown the door after three seasons and a 15-22 cumulative record.

This should serve as a lesson for all sports organizations and program: Make sure you have contingency plans in place in case your top options turn you down. And never, ever make a panic hire!