Arizona Football: Coaching candidates to not touch with a ten-foot pole

Don't even think about it

Rodriguez, a former Arizona football head coach who was fired in 2018, was the predecessor to the disastrous Kevin Sumlin hire. He was the last Arizona football coach to win at a high level, but a reunion would be much better in theory than in practice. His exits from West Virginia, Michigan, and Arizona were all swirling with controversy and brought the wrong kind of publicity to the programs he was leaving behind.

Rodriguez has spent two years heavily refreshing his image. After a lackluster 2021 season with the University of Louisiana Monroe as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, he was named Jacksonville State's head coach ahead of the 2022 season and was tasked with guiding them up into the FBS. Jax State went 9-2 and undefeated in conference play under Rodriguez in Year 1, and he led them to another 9-win season in 2023 that included a win in the New Orleans Bowl against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Especially considering his recent success, there will always be a small subculture of people who want him to return to Arizona. However, his tenure was marked with criticisms from players and came to an unceremonious end after sexual assault allegations surfaced. Given the Jayden de Laura sexual assault allegations, it would be in the university's best interests to fully clean its closet before adding more skeletons.