West Virginia governor Joe Manchin set the tone for the Rich Rodriguez backlash. AP

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• As one West Virginia native relayed to me this week, "the point of the venom is that he's a native [and] alumnus ... in WV that sort of commitment still means something." Understandable. This whole thing certainly would not have become such a powder keg if Rodriguez wasn't one of the state's own.

Last I checked, however, a person is not bound to his state of origin for life in this country, particularly when it comes to career advancement. I'm sure there are no shortage of successful doctors, lawyers, etc., from West Virginia who left their home state to achieve their goals elsewhere. Hopefully their families' mailboxes weren't uprooted.

We know you're a proud state, West Virginia. We understand why you'd take Rodriguez's departure personally -- particularly with it coming on the heels of similarly renowned basketball coach John Beilein also bolting for Michigan.

But have you ever stopped to consider that your anger is being directed at the wrong party?

The tone for much of the Rodriguez backlash was set by West Virginia governor Joe Manchin, who, on the day the coach departed, lamented how, "... over the last two years, I have seen Rich become a victim of a college coaching system driven by high-priced agents that has turned [Rodriguez's] dreams into just another back-room business deal."

It was a highly naïve, if well-intentioned message, and it was the first in a lengthy series of bizarre events that suggest West Virginia athletics don't exactly operate in the 21st century.

College sports is big business these days -- in the case of WVU's athletic department, a $47 million business -- yet as Arizona Diamondbacks executive and wealthy WVU booster Ken Kendrick (a contributor to a fund to retain Rodriguez during his Alabama courtship) told the Huntsville Times, "They still run the place like it was a business the size of a dry cleaning store."

Kendrick was one of several prominent boosters who came out in defense of Rodriguez following his departure, citing long-rumored behind-the-scenes tension between the coach and longtime athletic director Ed Pastilong. By all indications, Rodriguez's frustrations weren't directed at his own salary (which, thanks to the donors, the school upped to $1.8 million last year) but at the school continually nickel-and-diming his program in other areas.

He wanted some extra bonus money for his assistants. He wanted extra graduate assistants and a new recruiting coordinator. But Pastilong apparently balked, much to the dismay of the boosters.

"I've never seen anything mishandled as much as this was," Bob Reynolds, a booster and former Fidelity Investments CEO, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "... When somebody's producing, you ask, 'What can I do for you to make your life better?' Not 'What can I do to make your life more miserable?' "

Said Kendrick: "We have a poorly run athletic department and an incompetent AD."

Reasonable minds might read these statements and, also taking into account Beilein's recent exit, begin questioning whether the real source of West Virginia's plight isn't Rodriguez, but Pastilong. A remarkably similar situation just occurred at Hawaii, where home-grown coach June Jones bolted for SMU (not even an obvious step up). People there were disappointed but generally accepting of Jones' decision; they did, however, immediately oust AD Herman Frazier for failing to retain Jones.

Yet Pastilong has remained largely immune from criticism, perhaps in large part because one of his former Mountaineers teammates happens to be the governor himself, Manchin, a highly popular figure who not so subtly inserted himself into the heart of West Virginia's subsequent coaching search. He personally contacted childhood pal Nick Saban to gauge his interest, met with or spoke to candidates Doc Holliday, Butch Jones and Terry Bowden and consulted with Florida State coach and longtime friend Bobby Bowden about his son's candidacy, as well as Jimbo Fisher's.

The whole thing was a circus, culminating in an impromptu decision made either during or immediately following the Fiesta Bowl to promote interim coach Stewart, who never interviewed for the job beforehand and whose primary attribute, as spelled out by university president Mike Garrison, was that he "truly values the opportunity to work as the head football coach at West Virginia University."

He might as well have added: "Unlike that heinous traitor Rodriguez."

Stewart's hiring was announced Jan. 3. Yet here we are two weeks later, West Virginia, and you're still churning out daily Rodriguez headlines. The most recent "scandal" -- the one about the coach shredding documents, which the school now admits it's not even sure are actually missing -- was so blatantly planted by someone with an ax to grind (or a $4 million lawsuit at stake) it seemed almost juvenile.

As the coach said this week, "They just want to smear Rich Rodriguez."

The "they" is you, West Virginia. You're better than this.

I think you and I both know -- it's time to move on.