It's official: Rich Rodriguez is Jacksonville State's new football coach
JACKSONVILLE — Rich Rodriguez is the new football coach at Jacksonville State University, a place where he sees "a passion for athletics, a passion for football."
Rodriguez was introduced on Tuesday at a press conference.
"You're looking forward as I am to what's going to happen here for not only the next 12 months, but also the next 10 to 12 years," he told those gathered.
Rodriguez, 58, is deemed an innovator of the up-tempo read-option offense. He started the offense at NAIA Glenville State in West Virginia and took it to West Virginia with quarterback Pat White.
He just completed his first season as the UL Monroe offensive coordinator under Terry Bowden.
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"I have been blessed throughout my career to call some really neat places home," Rodriguez said. "West Virginia is where I kind of grew up. It is very similar in nature to the landscape here."
The Gamecocks are set to move to Conference USA and FBS football beginning in 2023. Coach John Grass resigned earlier this season after eight years in charge, posting a 72-26 in eight seasons with the FCS program.
Jacksonville State was seeking a coach with FBS coaching experience to help build the program and guide them through the transition.
Rodriguez fits the criteria, posting a 118-83 FBS record across stints at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona.
"When we began the search for our next coach, we were looking for a coach that had a winning record, knows how to be successful on the field and in the classroom," Jacksonville State Athletics Director Greg Seitz said. "We were looking for someone with head coaching experience, someone who could recruit top talent and someone who had coached at highest level.
"I am excited to stand in front of you today and let you know we have found all of those characteristics and then some in Coach Rich Rodriguez," he said.
"We had over 100 applicants," Seitz said. "We had many very qualified that ranged from current and former head coaches, current and former assistant coaches ranging from Power 5 down to very successful Division II and Division III head coaches, as well as some of the top high school coaches in the Southeast."
Rodriguez has a 163-119-2 overall coaching record with stints at Salem College and NAIA Glenville State in Glenville, West Virginia. He was just 24 years old at the time of his stint at Salem.
Rodriguez's most recent head coaching stint came at Arizona, where he went 43-35 in six seasons before being fired in January 2018. Arizona investigated allegations from a former administrative assistant throughout the fall of 2017 of sexual harassment.
Seitz said the school did due diligence into the investigation and Rodriguez stood out.
Rodriguez earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors in 2014 after leading the Wildcats to their first 10-win season in more than 15 years.
Perhaps his most successful head coaching stint came with West Virginia. From 2001 to 2007, the Mountaineers went 60-26, winning four Big East championships and fell one game short of playing for the 2007 BCS national title.
In the state of Alabama, Rodriguez is perhaps best known for turning down the Crimson Tide football job in 2006, which resulted in the hiring of current coach Nick Saban.
Following the 2007 season, Rodriguez took the Michigan coaching position. He did not find much success with the Wolverines, going just 15-22 over three seasons.
Jacksonville State went 5-6 in 2021, posting the first losing season for the program since 2002. It missed the postseason this year and will not be eligible for the FCS playoffs the next two seasons as it enters a transition period to FBS.
"I like to think every year I've coached, and I've been involved 30-something years, that I've gotten better," Rodriguez said. "This year may have been the year I learned the most and grew the most.
"I think I'm going to be a better coach today and next year than I have in those other years."
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Contact Ehsan Kassim at 256-300-5313 or ekassim@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Jacksonville State football tabs Rich Rodriguez as new head coach
