Who Is Rich Rodriguez? College Football Coach Fired Amid Sexual Harassment Allegation

Rich Rodriguez is the latest college football coach to lose his job, though it wasn’t because of his team’s performance on the field. The Arizona Wildcats fired the head coach Tuesday amid a sexual harassment allegation and a forthcoming lawsuit.

The university began an investigation into the allegation made by a former female employee in October and concluded it on Dec. 28. Arizona recently received a notice of a hostile-workplace lawsuit to be filed against the school. Rodriguez has denied the allegation.

“After conducting a thorough evaluation of our football program and its leadership, both on and off the field, President [Robert] Robbins and I feel it is in the best interest of the University of Arizona and our athletics department to go in a new direction,” athletic director Dave Heeke said in a statement.

According to Heeke and Robbins, the law firm of Cohen Dowd Quigley was retained by Arizona’s Office of Institutional Equity to conduct the investigation into the allegations made by Rodriguez’ former administrative assistant. After her initial report to the university, the former employee retained counsel and declined multiple requests from Arizona to take part in the investigation. She also refused to turn over communications that allegedly supported her claims.

Even though Arizona couldn’t substantiate the sexual harassment allegations, the school felt it best to fire Rodriguez because of other findings.

“Arizona Athletics did become aware of information, both before and during the investigation, which caused it to be concerned with the direction and climate of the football program. As a result, we have been reviewing the finding and deliberating our course of action. While this is a difficult decision, it is the right decision. And it is a decision that lives up to the core values of the University of Arizona.”

While admitting to an extra-marital affair in the past with a woman not affiliated with the university, Rodriguez said the allegations weren’t true.

Rodriguez, 54, spent six seasons as Arizona’s head coach. Going 43-35 with five bowl appearances, the team had just one losing record during Rodriguez’s tenure. The Wildcats went 7-6 with a loss in the Foster Farms Bowl in 2017, bouncing back from a 3-9 record in 2016.

Prior to joining Arizona, Rodriguez was the Michigan head coach from 2008-2010. It was one of the worst three-year stretches in the history of the school’s football program. The Wolverines went 15-22 during that time with two losing seasons and no bowl wins.

Rodriguez got the Michigan job because of all the success he had at West Virginia. The coach went 60-26 with the Mountaineers from 2001-2007, totaling a 32-5 record in his final three seasons.