They Will Burn Wolverines In Effigy

...if this actually transpires:

There's a new twist in Michigan's ongoing search for a head coach: University officials are meeting with West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, according to Sporting News Radio correspondent Michael Bradley.

Rodriguez and his agent are in Toledo today to negotiate with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and university president Mary Sue Coleman.

Schwing. Coleman being there, if true, would be a further signal Martin was being gently guided. For the stalkers in the crowd, FlightAware turns up a Morgantown-to-Toledo flight... but it's a Piper.

Rodriguez gets a hearty thumbs-up from these parts, but I expect in about two days he'll scoff at these rumors and sign a contract extension.

Update: News has it independently, citing "sources with knowledge of the search"; Free Press has two people at UM confirming, also mentions Rodriguez' hefty $4 million dollar buyout.

WVU's AD has no idea what's goin' on:

"I don't know anything about it," WVU athletic director Ed Pastilong told the Gazette. "The only person who can clarify that is Rich Rodriguez.

"We recently put a strong contract in place with Rich. We made a strong commitment to him and he made a strong commitment to us."

Come on, Martin, pull the Danny Ainge here and back your way into a winner.

Update II: a reader emails that the Piper Cheyenne is a plausible aircraft for a RR journey, as it's a short haul corporate transport that cruises at 250kph.