Ten years ago today, possibly the most important moment in Alabama football history took place in West Virginia.

No, it wasn't the day Nick Saban, a West Virginia native, said yes to replacing Mike Shula. It was the day West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said no.

Rodriguez's decision to stay in Morgantown considerably changed the futures of at least three college football programs. It has become the source of one of college football's greatest what-if questions especially given Alabama's success in the last decade.



Just how close Rodriguez came to taking the Alabama job has long been debated, but those directly involved in the search say he made it clear he was on board leading the Crimson Tide.



On the 10-year anniversary of his decision to stay at West Virginia, AL.com looks back at what happened between Rodriguez and Alabama and the long-lasting effects of that day.



The pursuit of Rich Rod

Alabama already swung and missed on Saban and Steve Spurrier when it set its sights on Rodriguez.



Rodriguez was coming off a 10-2 regular season at West Virginia and viewed as one of the country's hottest offensive minds. He made it clear he didn't want to discuss any potential jobs during the regular season, setting up a December meeting with Alabama in New York.



Alabama athletic director Mal Moore and search consultant Chuck Neinas headed up to New York to meet with Rodriguez. The Alabama contingent quickly expressed how interested they were in Rodriguez, and the West Virginia coach more than reciprocated.

"Rodriguez was very, very interested in the position," Neinas said, "and basically gave a verbal acceptance of it."

The two sides agreed to reconvene a few days later in Tuscaloosa to work out the final details of the contract. Rodriguez had a commitment in Jacksonville on Dec. 7, leaving his agent Mike Brown to negotiate with Moore in Tuscaloosa.

The news of Rodriguez's impending deal didn't take long to reach Ian Rapoport. Then a young Alabama beat writer for the Birmingham News, Rapoport worked his sources hard and was told definitively Rodriguez would be the next Alabama head coach. The two sides had agreed in principle on all the key elements including which coaches would join Rodriguez's Alabama staff. All they had to do was sign on the dotted line.

After Rapoport had consulted with his editors, The Birmingham News published the exclusive scoop that Rodriguez had agreed in principle to become Alabama's next coach. Before long, Rapoport's name was splashed on ESPN's bottom line as the one who broke the big news. ESPN and other major outlets later confirmed his report that night.

"Biggest story and I break it," Rapoport said. "One of the best moments of my life."

Rapoport went out for a few celebratory beers with another beat writer, soaking up the end of an exhaustive coaching search. Later that night he noticed Rodriguez told a local West Virginia beat writer not to believe all the reports. Rapoport checked with a few sources who admitted a little concern about Rodriguez having to face his team in Morgantown and deliver the news, but insisted everything would be good.

The next day, Rapoport checked in with a source close to Rodriguez who was in the coach's house as the Rodriguez family was packing to move to Tuscaloosa. The moving process was in motion, and it looked to be a formality.

Neinas, who was paid $35,000 to help on the search, called Moore that day to check on how the negotiating was going, expecting to hear of a done deal. The Alabama athletic director was a little concerned.

"Well, the coach's attorney is in his car in the driveway, and he's been on the phone for a half hour," Moore told Neinas.

A minute later, Moore interrupted the conversation.

"Uh oh, he's getting out of the car now, and it doesn't look good," he said. "I'll call you back."

Said Neinas: "I'll never forget that."

Rapoport, still feeling good about his big scoop, was sitting on his couch waiting for Rodriguez to deliver the news to his team and make his way to Tuscaloosa. While watching a live shot of the proceedings in Morgantown, he saw an image that made him sick to his stomach: West Virginia players were cheering and celebrating.

"If I could possibly communicate to you how horrible and miserable a feeling it was to hear everyone celebrating and know it all came crashing down," Rapoport said. "It was still the worst feeling I've ever had."

He was soon on the receiving end of death threats, nasty emails and a public callout from Paul Finebaum. "It was really vile, horrible stuff," he said. "I was public enemy number one."

After Rodriguez's public denial, Moore took the rare step of issuing a statement acknowledging the snub.

"I received word this afternoon that Coach Rodriguez has chosen to remain the head football coach at West Virginia," Moore said. "I fully respect his decision and wish him the best. I want to remind everyone of what I said at the outset of this process: my only objective is to get the best person available to lead the Alabama football program."



"He'd probably still be Alabama's coach"

There are numerous theories as to why Rodriguez backed out of a verbal agreement to coach Alabama.



The most popular theory, at least on the Internet, is Rodriguez's wife, Rita, put the kibosh on moving to Tuscaloosa. The theory goes that Rita Rodriguez heard Finebaum making fun of her on his show, and was turned off by the idea of having to deal with that on a consistent basis. Finebaum has long disputed the claim - he even addressed it in his book "My Conference Can Beat Your Conference" - and said it came from a rival radio host and message boards. Rapoport, who had a source inside the proceedings, said Rodriguez's wife was absolutely on board.



"She was coming," he said. "They were all coming. He just changed his mind and stayed."



Rodriguez, who wasn't made available for this story, has always denied it was ever a done deal. In a 2013 interview with Campus Insiders, Rodriguez said it was "close, " but he never agreed to a deal.



"We talked a little bit, and they offered the job," Rodriguez said. "I was obviously very flattered and doing my due diligence, but never once did I say I was going to take the job.



"If my agent at the time had said, 'He's very, very interested. I think he's going to do it,' he may have said that, but he was never told by my direction to say that. I don't think he did. But I think there was an assumption that 'He's going to go from West Virginia and take that Alabama job. Are you kidding me?' And I didn't. I never told them I was going to take it."



The actual truth is West Virginia mega boosters, including Arizona Diamondbacks managing partner Ken Kendrick, asked Rodriguez Dec. 7 what it'd take to get him to stay. By the next day, West Virginia and its boosters were offering him a big raise and facility improvements.



Rapoport believes he may have unwittingly played a part in Rodriguez's decision to the detriment of his report.



"I know that reporting it that night gave West Virginia boosters an opportunity to raise money and get Rich Rodriguez a new contract," he said. "If I stayed quiet and he just went to tell his team the next day, my guess is he'd probably still be Alabama's coach."

What if?



A lot has changed in 10 years.



Rodriguez spent one more year at West Virginia before leaving for Michigan, leading to an acrimonious lawsuit and fight back home in Morgantown. Michigan fired him in 2010 after he went 15-22 in three seasons which included NCAA violations that led to the school going on probation. He resurfaced in 2012 at Arizona where he has had a solid amount of success.



Rodriguez admitted in 2013 he still thought about his decision to turn down Alabama.



"Sometimes I forget because I do try to move on," he said. "All the things that have happened, the twists and turns of life, I'm sure I would have loved it there."



Nearly a month after Rodriguez said no, Moore finally convinced Saban to leave the Miami Dolphins for Alabama. Moore famously told Saban if didn't say yes; he couldn't go back to Alabama.



"I think I'll just have them take me down to Cuba," Saban recalled Moore saying years later.



After the deal was complete, Saban, his wife Terry and Moore jumped on a plane from Miami to Tuscaloosa for the new coach's introductory press conference. Moore later told Neinas as they were in the air, Saban turned to his new boss and made only one promise.



"I just want you to know you've hired a horseshit football coach," Saban told Moore. "But nobody will out-recruit me."



Not only did the recruiting part prove prophetic -- the Tide has landed the nation's top recruiting class six times since 2007 per 247Composite -- but Saban launched one of the most dominant college football dynasties ever. In the decade since the decision, he's won five SEC championships and four national championships, with another possibly on the way next month.

At the rate he's going, Saban has a good chance to become the greatest college football coach ever. And if Rodriguez hadn't said no 10 years ago, who knows where Alabama is now? Saban could have spent a few more years in the NFL. He easily could have ended up at a different SEC school if he ever returned to the college game. The what-if possibilities are endless; Alabama and college football forever altered by one man changing his mind at the last-second.

Rapoport, now the NFL Network's national insider, thinks he deserves at least a little credit for Alabama's dominant run.

"I tell people that whenever it comes up," he said with a laugh, "and everyone is like, 'Yeah, whatever.'"