Seems Monongalia County sheriffs, the state police and even the FBI are investigating death threats made to members of Rich Rodriguez’s family.  

When reached Tuesday, Monongalia County Sheriff Joseph C. Bartolo said his office is indeed investigating the situation.

“We’re now checking into it,” Bartolo said. “We’ve had information faxed to us by the [West Virginia] state police and FBI. I’m giving it to my investigative unit.”

Well, you’ll remember last month when Rodriguez’s mother told the Daily Mail her grandson had received death threatsin his high school. When when reached Monday, Dave Nuzum, principal at East Fairmont High, told me Rodriguez’s nephew had in fact received one “threatening” note in his locker after his uncle’s resignation. The note, however, “didn’t say anything about the coach,” Nuzum said.

“We followed up on it the best we could. We called the police and they came and looked into it. We could not find its origin, but we took steps we felt would ensure his safety.”

Nuzum said school officials monitored Rodriguez’s nephew in school for a few days and provided him with a parking space closer to the school so he and his car could be seen at all times. Nothing, Nuzum said, has happened since.

“There was no pattern in practice.”

As far as we know, that is the lone death threat made in this saga and, not to say it’s not serious, but Team Rodriguez thought so little of it that it’s not directly mentioned in any of the legal proceedings.

I’m not condoning death threats of any sort, particularly against anyone’s children, but apparently Rodriguez figured it was OK to use his own kids and others in his family that he mentioned to curry his own personal and promotional favor in his fight against his alma mater.

How low can you go?

If the new Michigan coach found the ignorant threats to children so vile, then why didn’t he have his legal team mention those specifically in his response to WVU’s lawsuit over his buyout, as he did the alleged damage to his mailbox (also which never should have happened).

ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” will place its spotlight upon this ongoing struggle Sunday morning and you’ve surely seen this clip already. It’s part of the episode and I even though I am involved, I can only guess when I say this: It’s going to make people mad. Again.