Agent pursued U-M job heavily

By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian

MORGANTOWN May 10, 2008 12:25 am

— Agent Mike Brown pursued the head football coaching job at Michigan heavily on behalf of Rich Rodriguez while he was still at West Virginia University, according to a copyrighted story Friday in The Detroit News.
Records obtained by that newspaper reportedly showed that Brown talked to Rodriguez on Dec. 7 and 10 and to the coach’s wife on Dec. 11 about the “deteriorating relationship” with WVU officials.
“Right after the conversation with Mrs. Rodriguez at 11:09 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11, Brown made his first call to (U-M athletic director) Bill Martin,” The Detroit News said. “Martin wasn’t there. The records show Brown tried to reach Martin unsuccessfully 17 times over the next several days, leaving a message each time.
“In between, Martin and Brown did talk to each other enough to come to a deal.”
That was believed to have done on Friday, Dec. 14, in a face-to-face meeting among the coach, his advisors, Martin and Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman in Toledo, Ohio.
The logs obtained by the newspaper show Brown’s final call to Martin, came at 11:56 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 16. Notes of that call read: “Informed Bill Martin (Rodriguez) was accepting offer to become Michigan’s head coach.”
While the Mountaineers were practicing for the Fiesta Bowl game against Oklahoma that day, Rodriguez gave a graduate assistant his letter of resignation for delivery to WVU athletic director Ed Pastilong.
Rodriguez left after that day’s afternoon practice to catch a plane for Ann Arbor, Mich., where U-M had a 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17, news conference announcing his appointment.
On Saturday morning, Dec. 15, Rodriguez met with reporters in Puskar Center and threatened to halt that press conference if anyone persisted in asking questions about his obvious interest in leaving for Michigan.
Friday’s story in The Detroit News also read that if Rodriguez loses his $4 million buyout lawsuit brought by WVU, his accountant thinks U-M should pay the money for him.
David Hammack, a CPA of Maumee, Ohio, made that suggestion in a memo to Mike Wilcox, Rodriguez’s financial advisor, on Dec. 13. He said the school should “as an inducement to netting (Rodriguez) as a coach, make him whole on the transaction,” including any taxes involved.
“This would mean not only fronting the $4 million payment to WVU, but also grossing it up for Rich, since the $4 million would be part of his first-year compensation,” Hammock wrote.
The newspaper noted that Michigan officials did not deny that such a possibility exits.
WVU filed the lawsuit in Monongalia Circuit Court on Dec. 27. Both parties are in the process of obtaining depositions from various principals.