Win big now, or get lost

Patience? In college football that's a rare commodity. Take Michigan, please. It wasn't long ago that Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia for Ann Arbor, leaving a bunch of very unhappy Mountaineers fans in his wake.

Guess what? His Wolverines honeymoon is over.

With Michigan out of bowl contention and assured of a losing record -- something that hasn't happened in Ann Arbor since 1967 -- the season has been labeled a disaster.

When you're used to winning, rebuilding isn't part of the lexicon. A Detroit columnist wondered this week if Michigan wasn't going the way of Nebraska, steady but unspectacular, sinking into the middle of the Big 12 picture.

Rodriguez has felt the wrath of a fan base used to success. They wanted results like Alabama got with Nick Saban, not the potential for the first eight-loss season in school history.

Talking to reporters this week. Rodriguez admitted to feeling the pressure.

"I'm sure a lot of people are saying I'm a bad coach," he said. "Everybody can have their opinion, but I've been here 10 months."

Rodriguez isn't going anywhere. His history suggests the Wolverines will be just fine; West Virginia was 3-8 in 2001, Rodriguez's first season. A year later the Mountaineers went 9-4, the biggest turn-around in Big East history.

But the situation in Michigan is proof that patience, never a virtue in college football, is getting even harder to find.

Take Clemson, please. The Tigers were ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 but started the season by getting whipped by Alabama. Five games later, the Tigers were 3-3 and coach Tommy Bowden was gone. Good riddance, said quarterback Cullen Harper, who had been benched by Bowden.

Bowden was no newbie in Clemson. He had been there since 1999. He left with a 72-45 record, including an 9-3 regular season in 2007.

Not good enough.