Five things to know about new Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez

Louisiana-Monroe offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez will be Jacksonville State football's next head coach, according to reports. This will be Rodriguez's fourth Division I coaching job and his first since 2017.

Here's what to know about Rodriguez:

Invented the read option

As head coach at then-NAIA Glenville State in West Virginia, his offense involved the quarterback reading the defense to decide whether to keep the ball or hand off to the running back. Rodriguez popularized the play with quarterback Pat White at West Virginia, and the read option is now widely used at every level of football.

Previous head coaching stops

Following stops at Tulane and Clemson as an offensive coordinator, Rodriguez's first head coaching job in Division I football was in 2001 with West Virginia. He led the Mountaineers to four Big East titles in seven seasons before leaving for Michigan. He'd last three years in Ann Arbor before being fired in 2010. Rodriguez's most recent head coaching stop was at Arizona, where he coached from 2012-17. While at Arizona, Rodriguez was sued following sexual harassment allegations, which led to his firing following an internal investigation. The lawsuit would be dismissed in 2019.

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Nearly hired at Alabama

In 2006, Rodriguez was offered to be head coach at Alabama, replacing Mike Shula. However, he would turn down the Crimson Tide and chose to stay at West Virginia. After Rodriguez said no, Alabama turned to its second choice, then-Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban.

Competed for titles at WVU

In 2007, Rodriguez's Mountaineers reached as high as No. 2 in the BCS rankings and the AP Poll before finishing the season ranked sixth. No. 2 is the highest West Virginia has ever been ranked, and the Mountaineers have not finished a season ranked higher than 17th since Rodriguez left for Michigan.

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Coached his son

Rodriguez's son Rhett signed with his father's Arizona Wildcats coming out of high school. Rhett played in two games as a backup quarterback before Rich was fired. Four years later, the two were reunited again, as Rhett transferred to Louisiana-Monroe to play under his father, who was coaching as the offensive coordinator under ULM head coach Terry Bowden.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: 5 things to know about new Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez