There have been plenty of hard feelings clouding the minds of fans. The acrimony threatens to burn down an entire program.
News flash, Morgantown: It isn't going to be Michigan.
So why do you care, Governor Joe? What satisfaction does everyone get about sticking it to Rodriguez?
"I told Rich I knew there would be a very adverse reaction," Kendrick said, "that he would have to be the bad guy because life is simple in West Virginia.
"The people there had given him unconditional love. (The perception was) he was deserting them so therefore he was a bad guy and a lot of the facts weren't going to matter."
West Virginia looks not only small, but small-minded. Rodriguez showed his loyalty by staying seven years, producing winning football, even turning down Alabama. Whether he broke his contract is now an issue for the courts, but it really doesn't matter. He's gone.
There's no use in West Virginia obsessing. The foundation already is crumbling.
"They're not doing well in recruiting," CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. "That's to be expected with Rodriguez leaving and taking a lot of his guys. There was no way (West Virginia) could recruit well this year."
Michigan will be able to survive this because the scandal barely touches it. Michigan Men everywhere are caught up in the euphoria of hitching their hopes to a 21st century offense. The worst that can happen to Rodriguez is he has to pay some sort of buyout to his old employer.
For West Virginia, it has become personal, which is a dangerous thing.
The program is one of those where everything has to fall right for it to be competitive. Who would have thought when Rodriguez arrived there were two BCS bowls, four Big East titles and a shot at a national championship game during his stay? Rodriguez milked this sucker until it was dry, which it most certainly is for the moment now that Stewart must be broken in as a I-A head coach.
West Virginia draws talent from a population of only 1.8 million. It recruits locally (against Pittsburgh), regionally (against the Big East) and nationally if you count Rodriguez's forays into Florida. Now it's not so much about what Patrick White can do next year. It's about who is the next Patrick White.
Meanwhile, the dueling smear campaigns are not over, but only one school can lose. Michigan is not the program breaking in an unproven coach. Michigan is not the program with a meddling governor. Michigan is not the school worried about paper shreddings.
For his part, Brown is promising a "bombshell" this week when he files a response to West Virginia's lawsuit against Rodriguez. Manchin and WVU president Mike Garrison, he said, will have "some explaining to do back in the state." Silly rabbits. Both sides have looked like fools at times. Only one, though, will recover.
"This is all about what I think was the best circumstance they've ever had," Kendrick said of his school. "All the elements were there. I'm afraid that's all been lost."
Read Dennis Dodd's blog, Dodds and Ends, for more comments from sources on the West Virginia issue.
