Richard A. "Rich" Rodriguez (born May 24, 1963[1]) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats[2]. Rodriguez is a former analyst for CBS Sports,[3] and a former football player. He has previously served as the head coach at Salem University (1988), Glenville State College (1990–1996), West Virginia University (2001–2007), and the University of Michigan (2008–2010). His career college football coaching record stands at 120–84–2. Contents 1 Playing career 2 Early coaching career 2.1 WVU and Salem 2.2 Glenville State, Tulane, and Clemson 3 West Virginia 3.1 Controversial departure from West Virginia 4 Michigan 4.1 Players leaving and criticism 4.2 NCAA rule violations 4.3 Eventual departure 5 Arizona 6 Spread option 6.1 Breakdown of run versus pass 6.1.1 Tulane 6.1.2 Clemson 6.1.3 West Virginia 6.1.4 Michigan 7 Family 8 Head coaching record 9 See also 10 References 11 External links [edit] Pla! ying career A native of Grant Town, West Virginia,[1][4][5][6][7][8] Rodriguez graduated from North Marion High School in 1981 where he played four sports and was an all-state football and basketball player . After high school, Rodriguez attended West Virginia University. Playing as a defensive back, Rodriguez recorded 54 career tackles over three seasons. [edit] Early coaching career [edit] WVU and Salem During the 1985–1986 season, Rodriguez served as a student assistant under head coach Don Nehlen and graduated with a Physical Education degree. In 1986, he moved to what was then Salem College (now Salem International University) where he served as special teams coordinator and secondary coach. In 1987, he became Salem's defensive coordinator and in 1988 took over as head coach. At 25 years old, he was the youngest college head coach in the country. He was 2–8 in his first season as head coach, after which the college announced it was dropping its footba! ll program. In 1989, he returned to West Virginia University a! s a volu nteer assistant. [edit] Glenville State, Tulane, and Clemson After Rodriguez's return to WVU as a volunteer coach with the outside linebackers for the 1989 football season, he left again to take over as head coach at Glenville State College. During his stay from 1990 to 1996, the team earned three consecutive West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and competed in the 1993 NAIA national championship. His first season, 1990, he led the team to a 1–7-–record. In 1991, Glenville improved to 4–5–1. 1992 showed a 6–4 season; however in 1993, Rich Rodriguez led Glenville to a 10–3 record and the WVIAC Championship and NAIA runner-up. The next two years, 1994 and 1995, Glenville finished as WVIAC Co-Champions. In Rodriguez's final season at Glenville, 1996, he led them to a Co-Championship once again. While at Glenville, Rodriguez compiled a record of 43–28–2 and was named WVIAC Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994, NAIA National Coach of the Y! ear in 1993, and West Virginia State College Coach of the Year in 1993 by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. Glenville State's four championships under Rodriguez were their first since 1959 while his players' set five national career records for Division II. He also coached three players who earned WVIAC Player of the Year honors. Rodriguez left Glenville State at the end of the 1996 season to serve as assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback coach for Tulane University from 1997 to 1998, under head coach Tommy Bowden. Rodriguez was part of Tulane's success, including their 12–0 season in Rodriguez's last season at Tulane, mainly for his spread offense with quarterback Shaun King. When Bowden was hired as the head coach at Clemson University, he retained Rodriguez on his staff. Rodriguez served as the offensive coordinator and associate head coach until the end of the 2000 season, traveling to a Peach Bowl and Gator Bowl. [edit] West Virginia On ! November 26, 2000, WVU's athletic department announced that Ro! driguez would again return to West Virginia, this time as head coach to replace the retiring legend Don Nehlen. Rodriguez's first season at West Virginia, 2001, was a disappointing 3–8 season. However, Rodriguez's turn-around of the 2002 team is the greatest turn-around in Big East history with a 9–4 record,[citation needed] Big East runner-up finish, back-to-back road wins against ranked Virginia Tech and Pitt, and a Continental Tire Bowl berth, where they lost to ACC runner-up and border rival Virginia. The Mountaineers finished second in the nation rushing with 283 yards per game and fourth in turnover margin. In 2003, the Mountaineers started the season 1–4, and after losing to #2 Miami 22–20, the Mountaineers posted a 6–1 Big East record and tied for the Big East championship with Miami, earning a Gator Bowl berth. That season, the Mountaineers replaced 22 seniors, eleven of which were starters. In 2004, the Mountaineers posted a 8–4 record with a talented team of s! eniors and juniors, but were ranked as high as sixth during the regular season. Following the 2002 season, Rodriguez was awarded the Big East Coach of the Year by Sporting News and state college coach of the year for all sports by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. He also received the 2003 Frank Loria Award from the West Virginia chapter of the National Football Foundation, and also earned Big East Coach of the Year that season. In 2005, he was offered to join the AFCA Board of Directors, and that same season was again given Big East Coach of the Year honors. In 2005, Rodriguez and the Mountaineers won the Big East title with freshman tandem Steve Slaton and Patrick White, thus claiming the conference's automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), where they defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the Nokia Sugar Bowl and a final Associated Press ranking of fifth, tying the highest in school history (other in 1988). Repeating off of their 2005 success, West V! irginia posted another 11-win season, which was the first cons! ecutive 10-win seasons in school history. The Mountaineers defeated Georgia Tech, 38-35, in the Gator Bowl and finished 10th in the final polls. Rodriguez also had two consensus All-Americans, running back Steve Slaton and center Dan Mozes (who also won the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center). On December 7, 2006, Rodriguez received an offer from the University of Alabama to be the next Alabama Crimson Tide head coach. Despite reports that he had agreed in principle to coach at Alabama,[9] which Rodriguez described as totally incorrect,[10][11] on December 8, 2006, Rodriguez announced he would remain as head coach at West Virginia.[12] The Mountaineers started the 2007 season ranked #3 in the AP Poll and #6 in the Coaches' Poll. They were #5 in the nation, before losing to #18 South Florida for the second consecutive time. South Florida eventually moved to #2, before dropping out of the Top 25 after losses (though USF would end the regular season ranked at #21). West Virgi! nia dropped to #12 and #13 in the AP and Coaches' poll, respectively, before rebounding with wins against Syracuse, Mississippi State, #25 Rutgers, Louisville, and #21 Cincinnati. The Mountaineers eventually defeated #20 Connecticut to clinch the Big East Championship and move to #2 in the BCS standings and #1 in the Coaches' poll, both the highest position ever for a Mountaineer football team. WVU's regular season ended at home with a crushing controversial loss in the Backyard Brawl against Pittsburgh. After the departure of Rodriguez, the Mountaineers went on to defeat University of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl under interim head coach Bill Stewart. [edit] Controversial departure from West Virginia On December 16, 2007, Rodriguez informed players at West Virginia that he was leaving to succeed Lloyd Carr as the University of Michigan head football coach.[13] Rodriguez's decision came on the heels of the controversial loss to the unranked Pittsburgh Panthers, which elimina! ted WVU from national championship contention.[14] Rodriguez's! origina l resignation letter listed January 3, 2008 as his resignation date, but he subsequently made it clear that he would not be coaching WVU in its January 2 appearance in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl versus Oklahoma. On December 18, 2007, Rodriguez informed the university that his resignation would instead be effective at midnight that night[15] and was replaced by his former assistant coach Bill Stewart, who was selected as head coach after the Mountaineers won the Fiesta Bowl.[16] The announcement of his departure came just four months after Rodriguez last renegotiated his contract with West Virginia, and was made despite his stated long-term commitment to the Mountaineers. The contract included a $4 million buyout if he left WVU within one year of the August 2007 signing date. It has since been speculated that Rodriguez's departure was triggered by conflicts with the new president of WVU, Michael Garrison.[17] [18] Some insight into the discontent between Rodriguez and WVU is eviden! ced in a compendium of emails that were released to the Associated Press on January 23, 2008.[19] An Associated Press story indicated that Rodriguez's agent Mike Brown was threatening to take his client elsewhere early in the 2007 season. [20] On December 27, 2007, West Virginia University filed a motion for declaratory judgment in Monongalia County Circuit Court, asking the court to find that Rodriguez's contract with the University was valid, that WVU had not breached that contract, and that Rodriguez had breached it. Subsequently, on January 18, 2008, WVU added a count of breach of contract after Rodriguez allegedly failed to pay the first installment of the $4 million liquidated damages clause (often referred to as a "buyout clause" by the media) when due.[21] [22] [19][23] On July 9, 2008 Rodriguez and WVU agreed to settle the l
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A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press th! at Arizona plans to hire former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez ! as its n ew coach. The person spoke Read the rest
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Works by Richard Rodriguez (b. 1944) 1982 Hunger of Memory . The book details Rodriguez 's evolution from a Mexican American schoolchild who knew only Read the rest
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Richard A. "Rich" Rodriguez (born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an analyst for CBS Sports, a former American football coach, and a former football player. Read the rest
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Rich Rodriguez is in his third season as head coach of the nation's all-time winningest football program. Rodriguez was announced as the 18th head coach in U-M Read the rest
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Richard Rodriguez (born 1944) is an American writer who became famous as the author of Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rod! riguez (1982), a narrative about Read the rest
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Rich Rodriguez is a former head football coach for the Michigan Wolverines of the NCAA's Big Ten Conference. He got the job after Lloyd Carr resigned from the Read the rest
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After going just 15-22 at Michigan, former Wolverines head coach Rich Rodriguez thinks that leaving West Virginia for Ann Arbor may have been a mistake. Read the rest