Rich Rodriguez stands on the sidelines in the second half of Michigan's 52-14 loss to Mississippi State at the Gator Bowl.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

When Rich Rodriguez was named the Michigan football coach on Dec. 17, 2007, he told reporters at an introductory press conference that he planned to coach the Wolverines until he retired.

On Wednesday, that plan came to an end.

We've compiled a timeline of important stories -- from AnnArbor.com and The Ann Arbor News -- chronicling Rodriguez's time in Ann Arbor.

Nov. 18, 2007 Lloyd Carr tells his players he is retiring after 13 years as head football coach at Michigan and 28 years on the Wolverines’ staff. The retirement announcement came one day after Ohio State beat Michigan (8-4) for the fourth consecutive year. Fans grew frustrated with Carr's inability to beat the Buckeyes or win a bowl game. (Full story and related coverage)

Nov. 19, 2007 Athletic director Bill Martin discussed the search process for a new coach following Carr’s official press conference. Martin said he'd been compiling a list of about 20 candidates in his head throughout the season. (Full story and video)

Dec. 14, 2007 Already reportedly being turned down by LSU’s Les Miles and Rutgers’ Greg Schiano, Martin and Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman meet with West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez in Toledo. (Full story)

Dec. 16, 2007 Martin confirms to the Ann Arbor News through spokesman Bruce Madej that Rodriguez had been hired. A press conference is scheduled for the following day. (Full story)

Dec. 17, 2007 "It's a special place. It's obviously one of the best universities in the country, and from a professional standpoint, I think it's one of the best coaching jobs in the country," Rodriguez says at his introductory press conference. (Full story | Related coverage)

Dec. 20, 2007 Three days after being introduced as Carr's successor, Rodriguez fired all nine of Michigan's assistant coaches, breaking the news to each one in private meetings at Schembechler Hall. He’d later retain running backs coach Fred Jackson. (Full story )

Dec. 28, 2007 West Virginia University's Board of Governors sued Rodriguez to collect a $4 million buyout of his contract with the school. (Full story)

Jan. 2, 2008 Rodriguez watches from the sidelines as Michigan sends Carr out in style, beating Florida 41-35 in the Capital One Bowl. (Full story)

March 26, 2008 Offensive lineman Justin Boren leaves Michigan, citing a decline in “family values” with the program since Rodriguez replaced Carr. (Full story)

July 9, 2008 After months of bad publicity for himself and Michigan, Rodriguez agrees to pay a $4 million buyout clause after breaking his contract at West Virginia. (Full story)

August 31, 2008 Michigan loses Rodriguez’s first game, 25-23 to Utah. (Full story)

Sept. 7, 2008 Rodriguez’s first win, 16-6 over Miami (Ohio). "As I told the team in the locker room afterward, I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty, " Rodriguez said. "It certainly wasn't pretty, but the guys played hard."

Nov. 1, 2008 A 48-42 loss at Purdue assures Michigan of its first losing season in 41 years and ended the program’s bowl streak at 33 years. (Full story) Nov. 23, 2008 Even before a 42-7 loss at Ohio State, Michigan had lost a school-record eight games. The Wolverines’ ninth and final defeat proved nothing out of the ordinary. Too many turnovers. Too many gaps in the defense. Too few passing yards, and, once more, not nearly enough points. (Full story)

Dec. 16, 2008 Following a season in which Michigan allowed the most points in school history, defensive coordinator Scott Shafer resigned. Rodriguez would later replace him with Greg Robinson on Jan. 21, 2009. (Full story)

April 12, 2009 Michigan Stadium is filled with record numbers for the spring football game, with an estimated 50,000 watching freshman quarterback Tate Forcier impressively lead the first-team offense. (Full story)

Aug. 30, 2009 Michigan announces it is investigating allegations made by former players that they violated NCAA rules by practicing more than the allotted 20 hours per week. (Full story)

Aug. 31, 2009 Rodriguez is sued for defaulting on a real-estate loan to build high-end condominiums in the shadows of Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium. (Full story)

Sept. 5, 2009 Michigan opened the 2009 season Saturday looking nothing like the motley bunch that finished 2008 with the most losses in school history. Freshman Tate Forcier threw three first-half touchdown passes and classmate Denard Robinson scored on a 43-yard run in a 31-7 win over Western Michigan. (Full story)

Sept. 12, 2009 Tate Forcier’s game-winning touchdown pass to Greg Mathews with 11 seconds to play gives Michigan an upset win at No. 18 Notre Dame, 38-34. (Full story) The Wolverines would crack the top 25 poll the next day. (Full story)

Oct. 3, 2009 The magic finally ran out on Season 2. Forcier led another memorable comeback, but Michigan State snaps No. 23 Michigan’s four-game winning streak with a 26-20 overtime win in East Lansing. The Wolverines would lose six of their last seven games, too. (Full story)

Nov. 2, 2009 While some fans were growing impatient with Rodriguez after losing four straight Big Ten games, university president Mary Sue Coleman told the Wall Street Journal she’ll be patient with the second-year coach. (Full story)

Nov. 14, 2009 After Michigan dropped its sixth straight Big Ten game, 45-24 to Wisconsin, outgoing athletic director Bill Martin made another public declaration of support for coach Rodriguez. (Full story)

Nov. 21, 2009 The most humbling year of Rodriguez’s coaching career came to a merciful end. Ninth-ranked Ohio State took advantage of five Forcier turnovers to beat the Wolverines for the sixth straight time, 21-10. Michigan closed the season with seven straight Big Ten losses and finished tied for last in the conference for the first time since 1962. (Full story)

Feb. 21, 2010 “I’m a Michigan man,” Rodriguez tells more than 700 supporters at the end of the Victors’ Rally, an assembly designed to support him and the program after two consecutive losing seasons. (Full story)

Feb. 23, 2010 An NCAA investigation reveals five potential major rules violations concerning in- and out-of-season practice time, including one that Rodriguez “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program and failed to adequately monitor” his quality-control staff. (Full story)

Aug. 5, 2010 West Virginia, where Rodriguez coached before leaving for Michigan in 2007, received an NCAA Notice of Allegations accusing it of five major violations, among them that Rodriguez “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program” along with not monitoring the activities of graduate assistant coaches and other staff members. (Full story)

Sept. 4, 2010 Entering a pivotal third season as coach after compiling an 8-16 record his first two years, Rodriguez opts to start Denard Robinson at quarterback - his third first-year starter in three years - and is rewarded with Robinson’s 197 rushing yards and 186 passing yards in a 30-10 win over UConn. (Full story)

Oct. 2, 2010 Robinson was the unanimous Heisman Trophy frontrunner as Rodriguez’s spread offense - averaging 41.4 points and 565 yards - continued to operate in high gear in a 42-35 win at Indiana, Michigan’s fifth straight win to open the season. Concerns about the defense and special teams continue to mount, however. (Full story)

Oct. 30, 2010 Its storybook start long forgotten, Michigan gets its most disappointing defensive performance of season littered with them in a 41-31 loss at Penn State. Matt McGloin, a walk-on quarterback making his first start, threw for 250 yards and a touchdown for Penn State and handed the Wolverines their third straight loss. (Full story)

Nov. 4, 2010 In a reduction of its original charge, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions found that Rodriguez failed to monitor his football program, but not that he failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance. Michigan had earlier agreed with NCAA findings that four major rules violations had occurred within the football program. (Full story)

Nov. 6, 2010 Two days after the reduction in NCAA charges, Rodriguez’s best week in Ann Arbor continued with a wild 67-65, triple-overtime win over Illinois. The win made the Wolverines bowl-eligible for the first time in Rodriguez’s three years as coach. (Full story)

Nov. 27, 2010 The regular season ends with a 37-7 blowout loss to Ohio State, leaving Rodriguez 0-3 against Michigan’s two biggest rivals - the Buckeyes and Michigan State. It was Ohio State’s seventh straight win in the series. (Full story)

Jan. 1, 2010 Michigan’s first bowl game in three season was a disaster. A 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl was the Wolverines’ worst bowl loss of all time and they allowed more than 400 yards of offense for the ninth time in a 7-6 season. (Full story)