Michigan hires West Virginia’s Rodriguez

Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez away from his alma mater after failing to bring back one of its own.

A man with ties to both the Wolverines and West Virginia might have helped.

College football’s winningest program ended its coaching search Sunday, nearly a month after it started, by announcing Rodriguez would succeed retiring Lloyd Carr.

Rodriguez was scheduled to be introduced at a news conference this morning.

“I am thrilled to have Rich Rodriguez as Michigan’s new coach,” Athletic Director Bill Martin wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press. “Rich brings an exciting brand of football to Michigan Stadium. We welcome the entire Rodriguez family to Ann Arbor.”

Former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, who coached Rodriguez when he played for the Mountaineers and was on Bo Schembechler’s staff at Michigan, endorsed the move.

“I felt it was a great opportunity for Rich,” Nehlen told the AP in a telephone interview from Morgantown, W.Va. “There are not many Michigans around.”

Michigan’s reputation, though, seemed to take a hit during constant coverage of its first coaching search since hiring Schembechler nearly four decades ago. The school had permission to talk to Louisiana State Coach Les Miles, who played for Schembechler and also was an assistant under him, but couldn’t bring him back to Ann Arbor. It also talked with Greg Schiano, who decided to stay at Rutgers.

Rodriguez, 44, built West Virginia into a Big East power, winning the conference championship this year for the fourth time in five seasons and going 60-26.

The 11th-ranked Mountaineers (10-2) will play in their second Bowl Championship Series game in three seasons, but Nehlen doesn’t expect Rodriguez to coach them in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.

“He’ll be in Ann Arbor to stay,” Nehlen told the AP. “It would be too hard for him to coach West Virginia in the bowl game.”

Carr announced Nov. 19 he was retiring after 13 seasons as Michigan’s coach.

Rodriguez’s West Virginia contract, which ran through the 2013 season, had a $4-million buyout clause if he left before next September. After several days last year, Rodriguez turned down Alabama’s reported six-year, $12-million offer after the Mountaineers gave him a one-year contract extension.

WINTER SPORTS

U.S. woman’s win a first in cross-country race

Kikkan Randall became the first U.S. woman and second American to win a World Cup cross-country race when she defeated world sprint champion Astrid Jacobsen in the final meters of a 1.2-kilometer freestyle in Demino, Russia.

Randall is the first American to win a World Cup cross-country race since Bill Koch in 1983.

She finished in 2 minutes 48.7 seconds -- 0.7 of a second ahead of Jacobsen. Natalia Korosteleva was third, 0.9 of a second behind. Randall’s performance is the fourth World Cup podium finish by U.S. sprinters in the last three seasons after a 23-year drought.

In the men’s race, Anders Gloersen led a Norwegian 1-5 sweep with a time of 2:29.3.

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Kalle Palander got the third giant slalom victory of his career in Alta Badia, Italy, and Ted Ligety skied the fastest second run to finish fifth.

Palander’s two-run combined time was 2:30.92.

Olympic giant slalom champion Benjamin Raich finished second, 0.42 of a second behind, to retake the overall World Cup lead from Didier Cuche, who fell in the first leg.

Marc Berthod was third, 0.45 back.

Ligety, who leads Raich, 235-212, in the GS standings, was penalized by the International Ski Federation for showing up four minutes late to Saturday’s public draw. By rule, he was forced to start 46th instead of within the top 15 and fined $867.

Ligety was 10th after the opening run then skied the fastest second run to finish fifth, 0.58 of a second behind.

Bode Miller skied off course in the first run when one of his bindings came apart while he leaned hard into a turn. The ski dislodged from Miller’s boot and continued down the slope by itself. Miller skied the rest of the way with one ski but was out of the race.

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Olympic slalom champion Anja Paerson won a women’s World Cup super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland, for her second victory in 24 hours.

Paerson finished in 1:15.06 to edge Emily Brydon by 0.04.

Renate Goetschl was third, 0.22 off the pace, for her third podium finish of the season.

Julia Mancuso lost half a second in the final interval but still posted the top American result, tying for 10th with Canada’s Britt Janyk in 1:15.57. U.S. teammate Lindsey Vonn placed 12th.

SOCCER

Hometown favorite lifts Wake Forest to title

Zack Schilawski scored the winning goal in his return to his hometown of Cary, N.C., lifting Wake Forest (22-2-2) to a 2-1 victory over Ohio State (17-4-5) in the NCAA College Cup championship.

Schilawski broke a 1-1 tie in the 77th minute to help Wake Forest win its first men’s soccer title. Roger Espinoza scored for the Buckeyes, and Marcus Tracy scored the tying goal.

BASEBALL

Yankees’ Rodriguez denies steroid, HGH use

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez denied using performance-enhancing drugs, telling CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview that he has never felt as if he needed them.

Rodriguez’s interview was aired only three days after George Mitchell’s report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball was released. Rodriguez answered “No” when asked whether he has used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance.

“I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field,” the three-time American League most valuable player said. “ . . . I felt that if I did my work as I’ve done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level.”