Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football

by John U. Bacon

Three and Out tells the story of how college football’s most influential coach took over the nation’s most successful program, only to produce three of the worst seasons in the histories of both Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan.  Shortly after his controversial move from West Virginia, where he had just taken his alma mater to the #1 ranking for the first time in school history, Coach Rich Rodriguez granted author and journalist John U. Bacon unrestricted access to Michigan’s program.  Bacon saw it all, from the meals and the meetings, to the practices and the games, to the sidelines and the locker rooms.  Nothing and no one was off limits.  John U. Bacon’s Three and Out is the definitive account of a football marriage seemingly made in heaven that broke up after just three years, and lifts the lid on the best and the worst of college football.

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction, Biography

438 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2011

About the author

John U. Bacon is an American journalist and author of books on sports and business as well as a sports commentator on TV and radio.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will not be an easy book for any fan of the University of Michigan football program. It is a tragic story that will make you angry and depressed no matter what side you came down on in the Rich Rod imbroglio.

And far too few of the University's leaders, employees and powerful supporters come off without looking selfish, petty and unprepared.

I will admit that I don't know enough of the facts to be able to judge the story in its entirety, but Bacon makes a strong case that the University and its community treated Rich Rodriguez poorly and unfairly from the very beginning. As a result, he went through hell for three years only to be fired just as it looked like he was keeping his head above water.

This is not to say that Rich Rod was perfect or never made any mistakes. He frequently failed to think about how his words might be interpreted and misinterpreted; didn't seek out enough advice on how to handle himself as part of the Michigan family; and allowed decisions about defensive coordinators to fatally undermine his time at Michigan; among other things.

But in a perfect storm of a lack of talent, critical injuries and the constant attack from inside and outside the institution Rodriguez watched helplessly as Michigan football hit never before seen lows. Even as his players grew to love and follow their coach there just was not enough winning to allow him to stay.

Winning would have changed a lot but I think it is fair to say that Rodriguez was never given a fair fight from the moment he was hired. And that is tragic as it is obvious he is a talented coach with a proven offensive system.

Like the author, I ended the book impressed with the dedication and sincerity Rich Rod and the tenacity and loyalty of the players. There were some players who bailed and acted poorly, but there were a host of players who worked their butts off and committed themselves to their coach, their team and their school despite more drama and distractions than any group in history.

I also finished the book with less respect for a man I had previously thought very highly of: Lloyd Carr. I am not sure we will ever know why he acted like he did, but he had a chance to help a decent man succeed - and help the university avoid some of its darkest years - and he failed to step up and be the bigger man.

And I was more pissed off at the Detroit Free Press and Michael Rosenberg than I have ever been. I don't see how you can read this book and not believe that Rosenberg and the paper played a large role in successfully undermining the coach and university they were supposed to cover with basic fairness and integrity. This is not journalism's finest hour by a long shot.

Even if it is very hard to read as a fan, it is a compelling and fascinating look into big time college athletics. It offers an inside view that rarely, if ever, is offered.

Kudos to Bacon for the hard work and the skill it took to pull it off.

[James Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a devoted and long-time sports fan, I do not often read sports books. But being committed to Michigan football, I wanted to read this book having suffered through these mediocrity years. I was pleased with this reading and appreciated the inside position presented by the Mr. Bacon. It was an enjoyable read and presented what seemed to be a balanced approach. I finish the book with the feeling that Coach Rodriguez did not have a fair opportunity to be successful at Michigan.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy where to begin with this? I really want to just start at the beginning and type the entire story in here for everyone to see, but that would defeat the purpose of there being a book, right? Before I get to the gushing, I want to make sure I clearly state that anyone who is a college football fan of any team should read this book. Bacon got three years of unlimited access to the program, which I'm pretty sure had never happened before and I'm 100% sure will never happen again, anywhere. It's so incredibly interesting and enlightening.
The rest of this is going to be a condensed rant on the entire RichRod era, starting with the coaching search. Did you know Les Miles was Michigan's coach twice? That day Herbie reported it and he gave that classic press conference ("Thank you very much...have a GREAT day)? He was our coach. The reason it didn't work out? The AD had gone on vacation during the middle of the coaching search. You read that right. Oh, and he just got a new phone and didn't really know how to work it. Seriously. His first choice was also Tony Dungy, which he never mentioned until after Carr announced he was going to retire, and at that point he'd never actually called to see if he was interested.
Did you know Lloyd Carr was the first person to call RichRod about coaching Michigan? He was, and before he was even officially not the coach anymore, he'd already started undermining him. Everyone undermined him. It's amazing that people could take a coaching hire so personally that they'd want to see a program they supposedly love and support fail, with no regard to the players who take the brunt of the negativity and have no power and no voice. It's sad and it really makes me wish RichRod had worked out. I was always a supporter of his, and this book actually strengthened that feeling, although a deep breath here and there would probably have helped him.
All said, this was just eye-opening, and I can't recommend it strongly enough. Also everyone is kind of mad at the writer, so that tells me this is probably pretty accurate. In conclusion, I hate Michael Rosenberg. Read the book to find out why.

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Premier Writer

John U. Bacon has became my favorite sportswriter which is amazing to me since I live in the southern US and am not a fan of the University of Michigan. However Mr Bacon's writing is at once educationally factual and riveting reading. The best comparison to me of his writing style is the late David Halberstam. This particular book chronicles the unsuccessful three year coaching era of Rich Rodriguez at the U of M in the period from 2008-2011. The author doesn't spare feelings and presents the events and games in a straightforward manner. Excellent sport writing. I'm looking forward to reading the author's latest book on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald released in Oct, 2025.

[Lance Giuliano]

Very in-depth look at something typically kept hush hush. I do think the book lionizes Rich Rod a wee bit and overlooks some of his coaching flaws (come on you’re not going to do a chapter on defensive coaching despite the fact that he never fielded a defense ranked higher than like 65th in the country??), but on the whole I think it’s ultimate goal is to give a fair shake to perhaps the most hated figure in Michigan football history. Is it perfect, no, yet it provides much needed counterpoint to one of the widest held beliefs in the fan base.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone interested to know just how Rich Rodriguez's tenure as Michigan football coach went so badly wrong will get a lot of the answers they're looking for in this book. If you followed the program closely during Rodriguez's three years, you'll probably find a lot of stuff you already know in this book. But Bacon's reporting serves as confirmation for many of the suspicions or widely held beliefs swirling around Michigan football during that time. He provides impressive insight into the politics and machinations behind the scenes.

However, I felt like the book wrapped up too quickly. Though you likely know how this story ended through following the news, I'm not sure that's an assumption that should have been made for the reader. Perhaps that's a result of Rodriguez limiting access to Bacon as his job security increasingly deteriorated, but the difference between the first-hand insight given earlier in the book and the dependence on scuttlebutt and second-hand accounts later on is notable.

A deeper look into the search for Rodriguez's replacement would also have been a bonus. For example, how did Jim Harbaugh slip out of Dave Brandon's hands? Was there more appeal to Brady Hoke than the fact that Lloyd Carr's former players preferred him as the new coach? But Bacon was presumably hired to follow Rodriguez, not necessarily the Michigan athletic department.

One surprise was how poorly edited the book was in places. There were several places where typos were glaring, and names were used inconsistently or incorrectly in sentences. I would guess that this was a by-product of pushing to get the book published as soon as possible, during college football season.

But I would certainly recommend this book to any Michigan football fan, even if the events reported might cause you to wonder if you've been rooting for the right people over the past 15-20 years.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extraordinarily detailed "insider's account" of Rich Rodriguez's three years at Michigan, albeit one that might have been improved with a bit more distance from the subject and critical analysis of his manifold flaws. John Bacon is a seasoned pro--he teaches journalism at Northwestern, after all--and his John Feinstein-lite approach to summarizing games and practices and pep talks is right on the money, but it sometimes seems like this is all just 420 pages of stuff, one incident after another, without any unifying message. Is this meant to be a story of one man's tragic fall? Of the complexities of running a major college football program? Of the difficulties faced by student athletes (on this point, Bacon descends into Mitch Albom territory, making the featured "student-athletes" all seem like quality citizens, while burying or ignoring the numerous delinquents recruited by Rich-Rod)? It's actually none of these: it was intended, the author admits, as a chronicle of Rich-Rod's success, and the narrative keeps building toward that "success," but...it never happens. And when it finally doesn't happen--after every "near-miss" (and there were a bunch of those, though Bacon doesn't do justice to how sloppy Rich-Rod's teams played when they were blowing all those leads...it seems that this great man was never out-coached!), every rousing pep talk, every speech where it's clear that "Rich-Rod still has the players"--you get perhaps 30 pages explaining how stupidly it all ended (Rich-Rod weeping at a pep rally while a Josh Groban song plays in the background!). This could have been a great book that really said something about how ridiculous college sports are, but it's merely an interesting and well-researched average one by a man who drank the "Michigan Man" Kool-Aid and never bothered seeking out the antidote.

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michigan football has been with me as long as I can remember. All I ever wanted to do was attend the University of Michigan. Reading this book has explained a lot of what went wrong under Rich Rodriguez and more so, the reputation of Michigan being petty and snobbish is well deserved. In addition to that revelation, the gotcha journalism undertaken by the Detroit papers will make your stomach turn. It is not the job of a report to get a coach fired, it’s to tell what happened. The Detroit Free Press clearly forgot that lesson.

At the end of the day, this book some a fantastic job of explaining the true reason, in my opinion, of the coach’s downfall, arrogance by all parties involved. Arrogance by Lloyd Carr who for all intensive purposes ensured Rodriguez would never be successful. Arrogance by Michigan backers who would never accept someone they didn’t feel was pure enough. Arrogance by the coach himself who was so assured he was always right that he could not come out of his office and realize that he needed help. Rodriguez’s final downfall was his faith in his offense and loyalty to his assistants. Especially n the case of Greg Robinson who was failing at about eleven on the painfully obvious scale.

I was not happy when Rodriguez was hired, not because he wasn’t a “Michigan Man”, but because I didn’t feel the spread offense would work in the Big 10. Ironically, after watching it ran by Robinson and seeing Oregon beat a Wisconsin team in the Rose Bowl, I’m not so sure that is true. I still feel a big team with a lot of speed and size will beat it, but isn’t that true in all cases anyway?

As a Michigan fan and alumni, I’m hoping that everyone ends up happy. Rodriguez will have success in Arizona and Hoke appears to be the coach Michigan was looking for in the first place.

[Dick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a most interesting book. More than I expected. I had anticipated that it would be an expose on RR and not paint him in a good light. To the contrary it does a good job of showing how the deck was stacked against RR when he came in. The various political groups within the University guaranteed that he would be hard pressed to succeed. His MO did not help him, however. Bill Martin comes off pretty badly - good financial manager, terrible with PR and with understanding how to run a huge athletic department. One must remember that he did not return the call from Les Miles when they were trying to replace Carr. A simple returned call would have been a simple courtesy. I must admit that when I finished I felt some sympathy for RR. On the other hand his style football in the Big 10 in my view would not have succeeded in the long run. Players are too small to survive the rigors of a season up north. And he failed miserably on the D side of the ball, which is where all true champions begin and win titles - DEFENSE. True he was hampered by financials with respect to what he could pay his coaches, but still allowing a 3-3-5 to be installed in the Big Ten was simply dumb.

I wish him the best at Arizona, unless he comes to the Big House - then we need to smack him with a real defense.

[Ken Heard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, without a doubt, is the best book on college football I've ever read. John Bacon spends three years with the Michigan Wolverines team and new coach Rich Rodgriguez. Bacon gets behind the scenes and offers amazing looks at things we, the fans, would never see otherwise. The preparation into the game, the personalities of the players, the coaches' triumphs, and most cases, tribulations, are all here.

The best part, is that it's not just regurgitated game notes of each game Michigan played. Bacon spends a day with Denard Robinson, from his minor laser surgery on his knee to his ESPN interview, he talks with coaches and spends time with them during recruiting days, he meets with coaches in the week preparing for each game.

He also delves into the political nature of the Michigan board of trustees (regents? Whatever they are called there..) and how the death of Bo Shembechler affected the program.

And he does all this in great writing.

It's the worst three years of Michigan's recent history, but it is the best book I've ever read on the sport. A must read for all sports fans.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best non-fiction books, in my view, are those with access. Where the writer has fly-on-the-wall level insider access to the critical events and conversations that unfold over history. What makes this book so great is Rich Rodriguez gave John U. Bacon unfettered access to himself and Michigan’s football program over the course of his three short years as its head coach. Bacon was able to capitalize on this access to provide an incredibly detailed chronology of what those tumultuous years were like from the inside.

The Achilles heel of this kind of access is the author gets too close to its subject, and from the beginning Bacon is clearly biased in favor of Rich Rod and the Michigan football players and staff. Sometimes his comments run over the top in unfettered praise: “You’d be hard pressed to find another college football program that made the effort these Michigan Men did for charity.” That said, for those of us who love college football, and Michigan in particular, this was a great read.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meandering, formulaic and overly sympathetic to Coach Rod. "Three and Out" starts off strong by giving the reader the interesting history of Michigan Football and the Athletic department. The book goes downhill from there by casting Coach Rod as a victim who was doomed from the start by evil forces (the media, Coach Carr, the NCAA, the old Michigan Football guard, members of the Athletic department, the Administration...and the list goes on...) out to get him.

Coach Rod provided the author with generous access to his program and the book provides *somewhat* of an insider's view into what Coach Rod went through as an outsider trying to win football games and gain acceptance at Michigan. Ultimately, I think the author felt compelled to not only portray Coach Rod as a sympathetic figure but to make excuses for his coaching failures and gloss over his interpersonal relationship shortcomings with key Michigan administration, staff and alumni.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its a good book. Although upon further reflection, I do have to go back and wonder--I don't recall at any point Rich taking any responsibility for his own mistakes, from the mess of leaving West Virginia, the problems with the defense, or how so many of his recruits failed on the field and in the classroom.

I mean Rich implies that the leaders of the State of West Virginia were so concerned about his popularity they were worried he was going to run for Governor or Senate? It seems everybody is out to get Rich Rodriguez and I'm not sure why.

There is a lot of GOOD in the book, and a picture of the general dysfunction of the athletic department in the coaching search is very interesting as the general compliance failure.

But too much of the book paints him in a very sympathetic light with no appropriate counter balance or alternative viewpoint. Blame the mean michigan people, the michigan press, the NCAA and the refs for his problems!

[RevRonR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read two books by the author, John Bacon, and find him to be a pretty solid and honest writer. As a lifelong Wolverine fan, I believe my CFB knowledge has been significanly enhanced by reading this book. Those who want to catch some of the intracasies and "not so hidden" secrets of CFB will like this book even if they're not UM fans. It's true RichRod got a bad deal from many fans and alums at Michigan. But watching this program and its players trying to survive the unjust flood against them was admirable in how they all hung in there together till the end. I thought the book was a tad long. Yet Bacon is pretty detail oriented so I won't hold that against him. Unlike some of the UM higher-ups who didn't want this book published, I'm glad it was because this story needed to be told. A very good read - highly recommended.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too often, I give books more stars than they deserve (see my previous review). In part, this is because Goodreads doesn't do half-stars but also because assigning books a "rating" is a fairly ridiculous thing to do when you factor in all the criteria of what makes a book "good" in my estimation.

That said, this is one of the easiest reviews I'll ever have to give because this is one of the best sports books I've ever read. It's not just that the writer has unfettered access to a major college football program. It's that he's able to paint the legacy of Michigan football against the backdrop of the massive pressure cooker that is big time college sports. It is a fair and superbly written tale. I came out of it educated, enlightened and feeling sorry for Rich Rodriguez (and it made me want to play for him too). Truly a great piece of writing by John Bacon.

[Brian Herrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had John U Bacon as a professor. He was a man of principles. You did your own work, you did it on time, you turned it in on time, and if you didn't, you're out. That's why, after reading his account of those three troubled years at my Alma Mater, I believe everything he said.

It's disappointing to read how it all played out. None of that surprised me. I knew it was a sad situation made worse by so many different agendas, both petty and very real, and that's why I took me two weeks to get through this book. But I got through it.

Bacon wrote a great story, compelling, indicting, and all the rest. He could not have done a better job, and I'm proud to have had him as a teacher.

Hopefully Michigan can learn from its mistakes.

[Steve Lozon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. The author is a respected journalist, but this might have well been written by Rich Rod's agent or PR person. Riddled with spurious logic and no self-awareness. If there was a way to give negative stars I would.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous and thoughtful breakdown of the Rodriguez era in Michigan football.

[L Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much more than a book about college football. Thoroughly enjoyed the read. Great insight into the inner workings and politics associated with big time college athletics.

[Paul Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fair and objective look at the Rich Rod era of Michigan football.

[John Minnich · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a West Virginia fan throughout the RichRod era who felt as jilted as the rest when he left for Michigan, part of why his departure was bewildering came in wondering how a native son and seemingly good guy and hard worker could leave his alma mater and have such damning criticisms coming at him in the national media nearly from the beginning—many of which just ended up feeding the "snake" image WVU fans rallied around after he left. His firing in 2011 was relished more as comeuppance for leaving than as an unfair and unfortunate result for a good man.

The sobering effect of the ten years following his departure has brought me back around to the question of what exactly happened to bring him to Michigan and be let go after three seasons, and this book masterfully provided nearly every detail imaginable—and more—in answer to that question. The author claims to have had access to almost everything in the program for three years, and I was not at all disappointed with the amount of detail, the variety and specificity of situations, conversations, and people depicted, and the way in the narrative unfolded over three years (shifts in opinions or thinking, comparisons of media coverage, and the awareness of the people within the program of their own story, especially when compared with the outside narrative and chatter). I also found the general historical, geographical, and organizational background to be edifying, as someone who is a fairly avid college football fan, but who knows nothing about the University of the Michigan, the state of Michigan, or the Big Ten from personal experience.

In many ways, this book is painful to read, from how WVU foolishly pushed him out to the sheer pettiness, at times, of his critics and ineptitude of his supporters at Michigan, as well as self-inflicted scratches that ended up being fatal. The leadership at both West Virginia and Michigan, as well as former Michigan coaches and players, and the local sportswriters come out looking the worst, while Rodriguez, his family, his staff, and his players come out looking the best, and I think deservedly so.

The book details the specifics of encounters and their respective reactions by relevant parties in a fairly objective way, but the author also provides his own perspective as someone who has spent time with everyone and everything at close range. His overall conclusion seems to be that Rich Rodriguez is a stand-up guy whom everyone who meets him likes, who may swear profusely at times and make gaffes in his down-to-earth style, but always tells the truth and is committed to creating a family-style atmosphere within the program, both with staff and players. This version of Rich Rodriguez is misunderstood from the very beginning and sabotaged by others outside the program as an outsider clueless about how Michigan has done things and should do things, his primary crime, and the author notes many of the people and methods by which this is communicated. It's a fascinating look into the political and media-centric world of big-time college football, but one that ultimately isn't flattering.

Overall, I give the book five stars for its fascinating subject matter, its gripping nature and readability, its thoroughness, the depth of character of the central figures portrayed, and the fact that I can't stop thinking about it and the story it tells.

[David Fulmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2007 University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement after more than a decade as the head coach of the college football program with the biggest stadium and the most boastful fans and tradition. His successor, Rich Rodriguez, invited journalist and college instructor John U. Bacon to come behind the scenes of the UM football program and have access to the sidelines and locker room in hopes of collaborating on a book the two would write together. After the first season the agreement was revised-Bacon would write the book and Rodriguez would review it for accuracy. The result is this book-a behind the scenes account of the three years Rich Rodriguez coached the Michigan Wolverines, from the controversial hiring process, through an NCAA investigation and scandal, up to the firing and replacement of Rodriguez after just three seasons.

Bacon is a scholar of University of Michigan history who has been around the institution for most of his life and this background enriches his book. For him, legendary head coach Bo Schembechler and past Athletic Director Don Canham are idols who can never be equalled. The book chronicles the numerous public relations blunders as well as questionable performance on the part of UM administrators like Athletic Director Bill Martin whose job it was to hire a new coach, something for which his background in real estate and banking did little to prepare him. There’s also juicy gossip about the University’s president, Mary Sue Coleman, and the University’s regents.

The hiring of Rodriguez was controversial from the start as his former employer, the University of West Virginia, pursued him over a $4 million buyout he owed when he moved to Michigan. His refusal to pay, according to Bacon, unfairly damaged his reputation in the media because President Coleman promised him orally that the UM would help him pay it but only after he demanded that it be reduced, a demand which was unsuccessful and led to a lawsuit.

This becomes a pattern for Rodriguez, one where he suffers one indignity after another after being told something in private that causes him to do something in public which makes him look sleazy or dishonest. It happens again when he’s told by academic administrators at the UM that the football team has the highest GPA it’s ever had. When the media attempts to investigate the claim using the open records laws the University won’t back up Rodriguez, instead telling him to release a statement saying the football team’s GPA was an estimate and he regrets the misunderstanding.

Bacon thoroughly accounts for all the many controversies and scandals that happened during the three years Rodriguez was Michigan’s coach. To explain the sheer amount of controversy-an unusually large amount at an institution with a reputation which had been clean relative to some others-he develops the thesis that there were mysterious forces arrayed against Rodriguez, people who were hostile towards Rodriguez and felt he didn’t belong at Michigan and seemed to hold that opinion out of a strong and inexplicable personal spite.

Chief among the Rodriguez-phobes was Lloyd Carr. Bacon suggests that he was working against Rodriguez’s success-and therefore Michigan’s success-all along, carefully plotting Rodriguez’s downfall from his office on campus where he was an associate athletic director. But some of his actions cited by Bacon as malicious are open to interpretation and can be viewed in more than one way. For example, when Carr retires and Rodriguez is hired, Carr tells the team that he will sign the transfer papers of any player who wants to go to a different school, a necessary piece of paperwork for any student athlete who, having come to Michigan to go to school there and play football for a staff that is about to change would like to continue their education and their football career somewhere else with a different staff. For Bacon this is sedition pure and simple, an attempt to undermine Michigan football and hobble the new coach, leaving him with a roster of green freshmen with little experience. But if you look at this from the point of view of the student athletes, it’s actually pretty compassionate and something that any caring coach would do for his team. Carr was simply acting in the best interests of the student athletes he had recruited and coached. He knew that the new coach had a different coaching philosophy and realized some players would come to the conclusion that their education and their football career would be best continued elsewhere and he let them know that he would support them whatever they decided to do.

Other tendencies of Bacon are questionable as well. He keeps emphasizing how likeable Rodriguez is to the people who are closest to him. At one point he quotes the police officer who guards Rodriguez as calling him “cordial” and professes to be mystified at the negative accounts of Rodriguez that were perpetually turning up in the media. Bacon says he never caught Rodriguez in a lie and didn’t find any of his interactions with the team questionable. But there is an undercurrent of hate for Rodriguez that is as old as his career. When he was the offensive coordinator at Tulane he was passed over for promotion in a particularly rude way after interviewing for the head coach’s job with the President of the university. Later, when he was at West Virginia, he was not treated very well by the administration of the institution where he had gone to school and had an outstanding record as football coach. Whether he is perceived as an insider or an outsider he seems always to attract harsh critics, always not quite able to fit in.

Bacon, seeing things from Rodriguez’s perspective, is mostly gentle with Rodriguez but he does, to his credit, point out the things Rodriguez did that contributed to the tough time he had as head coach. He describes how Rodriguez uses Michigan’s lengthy and extensive traditions to motivate his team at meetings and practices, even as he embarrases himself in public with numerous cases where he seems simply not to get it when it comes to Michigan’s traditions. The whole controversy over whether Rodriguez was a “Michigan Man” and what exactly that means is extensively examined in the context of the unique football culture associated with college in general and Michigan in particular.

Ultimately Rodriguez’s fate at Michigan rested not with the Detroit Free Press reporters who wrote critical articles about his tenure, nor with the NCAA infractions committee which investigated Michigan’s football program and found rule violations, nor with Carr, who retired from Michigan’s athletic department before Rodriguez’s last season there. It was in the hands of Dave Brandon, the new athletic director who replaced the one who hired Rodriguez two years before. And the firing of Rodriguez is full of as much intrigue, duplicity, and public relations embarrassments as the preceding three years.

Despite the football players on the cover this is actually not really a book about football at all. It’s about striving, ambition, pride, social skills, intrigue, greed, selfishness, destiny and office politics. It’s about today’s student athletes and today’s academic institutions. The power struggles that went on are fascinating Shakespearean dramas playing out in an environment where the classic newspaper news cycle is giving way to blogs and social media and 24 hour a day coverage. By getting the stories and personalities behind the controversies at Michigan Bacon has performed a great service, offering a fuller picture of a big-time college football program. This book does include many descriptions of football games and the results of those games matter to the personal and professional dramas that constitute the main focus of this story. Ultimately, though, it’s the characters-the coaches and students, the administrators and reporters and bloggers-and their lives that make this book worth reading because they help us understand an important institution in our culture.

[Jack B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three And Out
The book Three And Out Rich Rodriguez And The Michigan Wolverines by John U. Bacon is a very informative and interesting book about the journey the Michigan Wolverines took with their coach Rich Rodriguez. I really enjoyed this book even though it was a longer read. This book is a behind the scenes look at the Wolverines football seasons from 1999 to 2008-2009.
This book is about overcoming hardships and winning games. Over the time period this book is set, Michigan had some of its worst years in college football. Rich Rodriguez was the coach that pushed them to do their best and have winning seasons. John U. Bacon’s main point is that you can’t settle for “ok”, you have to push yourself to be great. He shows how even when there are hard times, there still is hope.
This book is organized by chapters based on important times and places. By doing this, I really think that John U. Bacon achieved his goal to tell a great story about Michigan football. He went into lots of detail about things, including scores, small yet important facts, and conversations that the normal fan would not know. His way of writing was also very entertaining while packing in a lot of information. I especially liked how he gave an almost play-by-play of the games. This style of writing is very powerful and effective in that it shines a light right into the heart of Michigan football.
There are many strengths in this book but there are also a lot of weaknesses. A main strength is that the book is informative and goes deep into the center of the whole football system. Also another strength is that he doesn't just talk about things the public knew or just things the public didn’t know, but a perfect mix of both. A weakness is that some parts were too slow and drawn out when parts that were well written and faster were very short parts. Although I loved the book and the writing was amazing, it was a little slow and difficult to read at times which made the book less enjoyable than it could have been.
The author had many statements that I agreed with and very few I didn't. One of the most major points he implied was that Rich Rodriguez was an amazing coach that helped Michigan overcome many obstacles. I believe that Rich was a very good coach and agree fully with this point. Also I agree that these weren't Michigan's best years for football. This is very true Michigan had many bad seasons but managed to make them winning ones.
I really enjoyed this book, it was very positive and very interesting. This book would be enjoyed by big Michigan fans and people that love football. The book had many football references so if you are not familiar with football then you shouldn’t read this book.
Jack B

[Eric Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a longtime, long-suffering WVU fan. I remember the devastating 13-9 loss to Pitt. I remember Rich Rod's flirtations with Alabama in 2006--even being told he was hired and they were looking at people like Jimbo Fischer to replace him. I remember being told by a Pitt fan in Pittsburgh while in line for a WWE event that he had taken the Michigan job. Hearing that Rodriguez had "thrown the Pitt game" to be safe (I do not believe this, I think it was his stubbornness, refusing to thrown against cover zero).

I still do not like Rich Rod and how he left his alma mater. Having heard an interview with Tony Caridi, I think he regrets how it went down. That said, having read Bacon's excellent account--long-delayed due to leaving the book at my office pre-pandemic--I started to feel at least a little badly for Rodriguez. I am not a "fire them now!" guy, especially when a team is making a radical change in philosophy, and I do think Rodriguez should have gotten at least one more year, but the reactions of the most influential Michigan faithful were, in a word, embarrassing.

The concept of the "Michigan Man" as prerequisite is...well, dumb. From that perspective, Rich was never going to be accepted, and when a sizeable portion of the fanbase is hoping you fail, you will. I do not doubt that Rich worked hard and would have succeeded given time.

A very good, very quick read, for fans of college football.

[Grant Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving, poignant, fascinating, and a deep-dive of all things Michigan football, focusing on the Rich Rodriguez era.

Bacon does an excellent job of being even-handed throughout, showing the good and the bad of every character involved in this story, then letting you draw your own conclusions. The duplicity he exposes is heartbreaking.

RichRod was undermined from the start: some people, self-proclaimed “Michigan Men”, actually did not want him to succeed. They got their wish, but at what cost?

It’s never worth it to be mean-spirited or cruel to others. Never. These are people, with lives, and families. In the end, football is a game that some people attach life-or-death stakes to. But there is more to life than football. Notice how people without fully developed lives latch onto obsessions to fill in their own cracks. It’s no way to live: it’s an empty life.

Some people declare “win at all costs.” But it should never cost you your relationships. Your relationships are one of the only things you’ll take with you when you leave this earth. Act accordingly.

[Brett Van Gaasbeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

John U. Bacon's account of Michigan football in the RichRod phase is a mostly fair report on the University, the team and the man. What is mostly looked upon as a dark chapter of Wolverine football, and it was, is treated with analysis and an outsider's perspective of the program. While the book tends to excuse RichRod from most of the problems, it does make efforts to point out the unfair circumstances the administration, the NCAA and the alumni put him in during the three years. As a fan of the program and one who really hated the Rodriguez years, I found myself feeling bad about the assumptions I made about him and his coaching staff during his tenure, especially the ones made on shoddy reporting from the Detroit Free Press that was later picked up by ESPN. I also found a newfound respect for Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner as young men, as they were true leaders and devoted players to the program, among many others.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Three and Out,” John U. Bacon’s examination of the Rich Rodriguez’s disastrous experience at the University of Michigan, from 2008-2011…A great coach placed in an untenable position, sabotaged by an influential press, influential “Michigan Men,” and administrative mistakes by the university’s hierarchy…proof, that, talent alone isn’t enough for success in a major college football program…There needs to be a confluence of a number of factors, “lightning in a bottle,” if you will, success in the business of football…great lessons…great read!

[Perry Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

John U Bacon is an INCREDIBLE writer, and I sincerely hope that leads to a book about Jim Harbaugh's redemption over the past three seasons.

This book only serves to illustrate just how poorly RichRod was treated in Ann Arbor and how little time he was given to take a bare cupboard to national prominence. I came away disgusted with Lloyd Carr and his supporters and, more than anything, more appreciative of Rich Rodriguez and the kind of person he is.

[Jeff Goodfellow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great look behind the scenes and well written. It was a very interesting book and quick read. Would definitely recommend the book.

I would say it's an easy read, but as a Michigan fan, it's hard to read about the down times of the program. Although it's a bit easier to read now that the program is doing well.

[Benjamin Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s one good story. As Michigan fan this hurts. I was born well Coach Rodriguez was in Michigan and then I grew up watching Hoke. And now watching Harbaugh. I didn’t realize that all of this stuff happened while Rich-Fraud was here