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Who is Jacksonville State coach? How Rich Rodriguez led Gamecocks to CUSA title game

ehsan kassim, usa today
·4 min read

Jacksonville State football wanted to make a major splash in its coaching hire during its transition to FBS football.

In that sense, the Gamecocks (8-4, 7-1 Conference USA) have gotten all they could have hoped for and more with Rich Rodriguez.

Now in his third season leading the program, Rodriguez has Jacksonville State hosting Western Kentucky (8-4, 6-2) in the Conference USA championship game at 7 p.m. ET on Friday from AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama. There, the Gamecocks will seek their first-ever conference championship at the FBS level, in just their second year in the league after transitioning from FCS football during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

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Overall, the Gamecocks have won at least eight games every year under Rodriguez, and can make it nine wins each season with a win in the conference championship game.

Here's what you need to know about Rodriguez's coaching career, including his record and coaching stops at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona:

Who is Jacksonville State's coach?

Rodriguez, who was hired by Jacksonville State on Nov. 30, 2021, was an innovator of the up-tempo read-option offense in college football. He started running the offense as an NAIA head coach at Glenville State in 1990-96, and took it to West Virginia, his first coaching stop as an FBS head coach.

There, he led the Mountaineers to a 60-26 record and four Big East championships from 2001-07. His greatest stretch in Morgantown came from 2005-07, in which the Mountaineers went 32-5. WVU fell one loss short of a chance at competing in the 2007 BCS national championship game. That season, the Mountaineers reached as high as No. 2 in the BCS rankings before finishing the season ranked sixth.

Following his tenure at West Virginia, Rodriguez took over at Michigan. He led the Wolverines to a 15-22 record from 2008-10, which saw the team improve its win total every season. He was fired in Ann Arbor on Jan. 5, 2011, eventually taking over at Arizona in the 2012 college football season. He achieved greater on-field success with the Wildcats, leading them to a 43-35 record from 2012-17, punctuated by a 2014 season that saw them go 10-4 and make the Fiesta Bowl.

Rodriguez was fired at Arizona in Jan. 2, 2018 following a 7-6 season and allegations of sexual harassment off the field.

Between his firing at Arizona in January 2018 and taking the job at Jacksonville State, Rodriguez served as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ole Miss in 2019 and associate head coach for Louisiana-Monroe in 2021.

In two-plus seasons at Jacksonville State, Rodriguez has posted a 26-10 record and led the Gamecocks to their first-ever bowl win last season despite the program technically being ineligible for a bowl game during the transition. However, a lack of bowl-eligible teams gave the Gamecocks the opportunity to compete in a bowl.

Rich Rodriguez over Nick Saban at Alabama?

In 2006, Rodriguez was offered the Alabama football coaching position but turned it down. Despite reports that his wife Rita was the one who told Rodriguez to turn it down because she did not want to live in Tuscaloosa, Rodriguez has called that report "fake news."

After Rodriguez turned the job down, Alabama eventually went with Miami Dolphins head coach Nick Saban, who won six national championships with the Crimson Tide from 2007 until his retirement following the 2023 season.

"It's been an interesting 14 years, to say the least," Rodriguez said at his introductory news conference at Jacksonville State. "It worked out great for them. They got the greatest coach of all time. So many things have happened. I don't want to say the past year was a reboot, but it was. I am a better coach than I was last year and certainly 15 years ago."

Rich Rodriguez head coaching record

Here's a look at Rodriguez's coaching record with time spent at West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona and Jacksonville State:

Conference records in parentheses

  • 2001 (West Virginia): 3-8 (1-6 Big East)

  • 2002 (West Virginia): 9-4 (6-1 Big East)

  • 2003 (West Virginia): 8-5 (6-1 Big East)

  • 2004 (West Virginia): 8-4 (4-2 Big East)

  • 2005 (West Virginia): 11-1 (7-0 Big East)

  • 2006 (West Virginia): 11-2 (5-2 Big East)

  • 2007 (West Virginia): 10-2 (5-2 Big East)

  • 2008 (Michigan): 3-9 (2-6 Big Ten)

  • 2009 (Michigan): 5-7 (1-7 Big Ten)

  • 2010 (Michigan): 7-6 (3-5 Big Ten)

  • 2012 (Arizona): 8-5 (4-5 Pac-12)

  • 2013 (Arizona): 8-5 (4-5 Pac-12)

  • 2014 (Arizona): 10-4 (7-2 Pac-12)

  • 2015 (Arizona): 7-6 (3-6 Pac-12)

  • 2016 (Arizona): 3-9 (1-8 Pac-12)

  • 2017 (Arizona): 7-6 (5-4 Pac-12)

  • 2022 (Jacksonville State): 9-2 (5-0 ASUN)

  • 2023 (Jacksonville State): 9-4 (6-2 Conference USA)

  • 2024 (Jacksonville State): 8-4 (7-1 Conference USA)

  • Career record: 189-129-2

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Rich Rodriguez has led Jacksonville State football to new heights