College football notes

Published 9:32 pm Wednesday, January 23, 2008

WEST VIRGINIA: Even before the first snap at fall football practice, Rich Rodriguez and his agent were pursuing a promised “culture change” at West Virginia and a shake-up at the highest levels of the athletic department, e-mails obtained by The Associated Press show.

But by mid-November, Rodriguez’s agent Mike Brown was threatening to take his client elsewhere, warning WVU the coach was being mentioned for possible openings at Texas A&M and Florida State.

Rodriguez resigned Dec. 18 for the head coaching job at Michigan, touching off a bitter and ongoing public dispute that has included a $4 million lawsuit over his buyout clause and allegations of broken promises and missing files from his athletic department office.

The gradual disintegration of the relationship is documented in a series of e-mails written over a five-month period and released to the AP under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act. They show Brown fighting for more operational and marketing control over the football program and over money Rodriguez helped raise through a booster organization he founded.

In e-mails to WVU president Mike Garrison and his chief of staff, Craig Walker, Brown also complains of Gov. Joe Manchin interfering with the program.

WVU administration officials declined to discuss the e-mails, citing concerns about the lawsuit. Brown also declined to discuss the e-mails.

But athletic director Ed Pastilong, whose department was not copied in on any of the correspondence, said Wednesday he was unaware of plans for a culture change or of conflict between his staff and Rodriguez.

“Rich and I got along very good. I was largely responsible for hiring him, and we had an open communication,” he told the AP. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Pastilong, who is close friends with the governor, denies Manchin interfered, as did Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg.

NEBRASKA: New coach Bo Pelini signed a five-year contract that pays $1.1 million a year, and he can earn significant bonuses for his players’ achievements on the field and in the classroom. Terms of the contract were announced Wednesday, more than seven weeks after athletic director Tom Osborne hired Pelini. The first-time head coach will earn significantly less in base pay than former coach Bill Callahan, who made $1.75 million a year. Pelini will rank seventh among Big 12 coaches in salary. Pelini’s bonus incentives call for him to earn an additional $800,000 if the Cornhuskers win the national championship. He would earn $150,000 for appearing in the Big 12 championship game; $250,000 for winning the conference title; $150,000 for appearing in the Bowl Championship Series title game or its comparable successor and $250,000 for winning the BCS title game.

NOTRE DAME: South Florida, ranked No. 2 last season after opening 6-0, will play at Notre Dame in 2011. The game is not part of Notre Dame’s previously announced plan to play three Big East teams a season starting in 2011. Notre Dame, a longtime football independent, is a Big East member in most other sports.

KANSAS: Clint Bowen, who spent the past two years as co-defensive coordinator with Bill Young, will have the job to himself next season. Young was hired by Miami after being a finalist for the award given to the top assistant coach in college football. The 35-year-old Bowen will be one of the youngest coordinators in major college football.

Associated Press