Arizona Football: Other Colleges, Leave Rich Rod Alone!

Wildcats fans are not used to hearing the media speculate and throw in Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez’s name when talking about open head coaching jobs in the NCAA. The tides have turned in Tucson.

ZonaZealots writers have speculated on whether or not Arizona is a football school, they have defended themselves when writing about basketball during football season on social media, and they have pleaded with Wildcats fans to make sure they support the football program. Well, Wildcats fans, the time has come, the media is talking about colleges wanting your coach.

And just like that, Arizona is a football school.

RELATED STORY –> Arizona Football: Wildcats Fans, Your Team Needs You!

Rich Rodriguez has been the focus of the media about coaching discussions for some time now. It started with the Michigan layoff, most of the sentiment revolved around the Michigan Boosters and not agreeing with how Rodriguez wanted to go about rebuilding the team and the program and had not tolerance for losing in that rebuild. Apparently, it did not go as Rodriguez planned in Michigan and Wildcats fans have been rubbing it in Michigan fans faces ever since.

Enter Arizona Athletic Director Greg Byrne.

Byrne started his job in May of 2010, a year and a half later, he faced the prospect of having a football team with 3-8, 2-7 Pac-12 record under Mike Stoops. Stoops struggled in the following season as well; the Wildcats lost five out of six games by mid-season. His overall in-conference losing record was 27-38. On October 11, two days after losing to Oregon State, Byrne fired Stoops and paid off his contract of about $1.4 million.

Just a little over a month later on November 21, 2011, Byrne found his man and made the decision to hire Rich Rodriguez announcing it on Twitter.

If not for all the injuries this season, the Pac-12 organization not giving the Wildcats a bye week and continuously scheduling late game times hindering team post-game rehab, Arizona is a couple great players away from possible title contention.

Many schools are being discussed as possibilities for attempting to lure/steal/pluck/pull/grab our beloved football coach. But the top three are are the University of South Carolina (the other USC), Virginia Tech and Rich Rod’s former team, West Virginia University. USC has also come up as an option as well, but it was short-lived and not as loud as the South Carolina or Virginia Tech option.

You can blame ESPN for fanning the flames and throwing out Rich Rod’s name for Virginia Tech.

Rodriguez’s record at West Virginia was something to behold;

60 wins and only 26 losses, finishing first in the Big East four times

. The difference between Rodriguez’s departure from West Virginia and Michigan is that with West Virginia, the

fans were hurt

. The positive thing for Wildcats fans is that Coach Rod has been through this before, and if he were to move, he probably wouldn’t do things the same way as he did with the Michigan move one would think.

Full Interview:

Seth Davis Full Interview with Rich Rodriguez

If you hadn’t heard yet, the South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier, a 70-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner, announced his retirement mid-season among a flurry of media speculation about why this famed coach left his job. The apparent reason seems to be that he just couldn’t stomach the losing season he had to talk about regularly about and the current and resulting effort he would have to make to recruit after a horrible season.

The Gamecocks record at that point was a measly 2-4, and post-game press conferences were getting more and more painful.

According to Michael Collins, of our sister site SaturdayBlitz.com, ‘The guy who had a reputation has being one of the nastiest hornets in the nest when it came to dealing with the media had completely lost his sting.’ Collins also reminds us that Spurrier leaves his job as ‘winningest coach at both Florida and South Carolina, with seven conference championships (one ACC and six SEC) and one national championship to his credit as head coach.’

South Carolina just lost their head coach who gave up on his team and the program leaving them in a huge leadership hole. Who can they hire to turn around their program? The first coaches name that comes to mind for most of the media apparently is Arizona’s own Rich Rodriguez. After all, Rodriguez did the impossible and turned around Arizona’s football program putting the team and the school on the NCAA football map with a Pac-12 South Championship in 2014.

The Pac-12 is one of the most competitive conferences in the nation with multiple teams ranking in the AP top 25 from week to week. It’s important to point out that one of the finalists in the 2014 NCAA Championship game, the Oregon Ducks, are a Pac-12 team. A team that Arizona beat that season.

ESPN Staff Writer, Travis Haney, reports that in addition to Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, Houston coach Tom Herman and Memphis coach Justin Fuente, the Gamecocks Athletic Director Ray Tanner will speak to our Rich Rod.

"Rodriguez did not immediately come to mind when I started to think about potential candidates for South Carolina. I assumed he would stay at Arizona until a bigger job — say, LSU or Florida State — became available. But as I discussed the possibility with agents and coaches, as well as with people close to the Gamecocks’ search, it seems distinctly possible that the 52-year-old Rodriguez and Tanner will eventually talk.Coaches who know Rodriguez well believe he genuinely would like to get back closer to home (West Virginia). They also think he would like to again coach at a school where football is a bigger deal."

Haney has a good point, why would Rich Rod leave to go to South Carolina? One would think he could land a better gig if he really wanted to leave if it was only money he was interested in. But he doesn’t strike most as a money only type of guy. Virginia Tech seems most likely, and he could probably wait until their head coach Frank Beamer retires.

They key notion here, which should be concerning to fans and Byrne, is that Rodriguez would like to coach at a school where football is a bigger deal. Wildcats Fans and Arizona students, this is solely in your court! You need to make football more of a major deal at the University of Arizona!

Rich Rodriguez’s financial situation adds to our analysis, here are a few financial notes care of Joe Lanza of TheKeyPlay.com:

"According to USA TODAY, Arizona will pay Rodriguez $2,878,844 for coaching in 2015. That’s in the same ballpark as the $2,535,925 Virginia Tech will foot to Frank Beamer. Also, if Rodriguez terminates his contract prior to January 16, 2016, he owes Arizona $500,000 (unless he takes a job at WVU, then it’s bumped to $1,000,000)."

Nov 28, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez (left) celebrates as he leaves the field with cheerleader daughter Raquel Rodriguez following the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the 88th annual Territorial Cup at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 42-35 to win the Pac-12 South title. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Our Coach makes more than Frank Beamer, and he will be punished via his pocket if he leaves before January or goes back to West Virginia. But wait, there’s more. In June 2014, Bleacher Reporter’s National College Football Lead Writer Adam Kramer reported that an Arizona “major university benefactor” sweetened Rich’s deal in 2014 by granting him units of a master limited partnership.

"Rodriguez was granted 175,000 units of the 500,000, which equates to $6,188,000 right now. The only caveat for him to cash in on such options is that he has to stay at the school for eight years to receive this payout, whatever it becomes. If the price of the unit goes up in that time, his payout will go up; if the company struggles and the units drop in value, his payouts decrease.Unlike any coaching contract until now—at least the deals being celebrated publicly—this fluctuating incentive is not tied to record or national championships. It’s built on longevity, a strategic attempt to slow down the coaching carousel and keep the Wildcats coach on the same sideline a while longer."

Rodriguez has it good in Tucson. His daughter is on the sidelines as a cheerleader. Bryne allows Rodriguez to do his thing, whether it be coaching the team or having his wife produce and star in the Arizona football promotion video. He is a father who goes to all the games he can, time permitting, to watch his son play on Friday nights at Catalina Foothills High School.

This proud father stands on the sidelines away from the coaches to support and be there for his son, quarterback Rhett Rodriguez. Tucson has warmly accepted and woven his family into the Old Pueblo fabric.