Rich Rodriguez
Rich Rodriguez held Jacksonville State at Regional Program III for 2 seasons.
In his own words
The first half we played pretty well. The second half, we stunk
The penalties, we gave up long drives, lost contain, the offense wasn’t moving the ball, so we’ve got a lot to work on. I’m proud of the guys, and the way they came out, but the second half was embarrassing. We’ll get that fixed.
The first half, we played and executed like we’re capable of. We’ll learn from this and get better.
I don’t think it changes your recruiting model
I stood by Pat’s side the whole time so he wouldn’t write a check for them
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 4th career season — faster than 37% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #215 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
11–14 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Jim Mora.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
2nd-best Jacksonville State tenure of 2 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Succeeded by Charles Kelly (2025–2026).
| Season | 2023 | 2024 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||
| Record | 9–4 | 9–5 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | L bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #134 | #128 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||
| Pass rate | 35.1 | 32.7 | |
| Coordinators | |||
| OC | Rod Smith | Rod Smith | |
| DC | Zac Alley | Luke Olson | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||
| Offense | 19 | 94 | |
| Defense | 94 | 49 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||
| 1st-down pass% | 22.1 | 25.3 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 26.5 | 16.3 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 36.4 | 36.4 | |
A typical amount of portal roster-building.
Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
Coach of the Year: Conference USA Coach of the Year (2024)
7th-best Arizona tenure of 20 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Mike Stoops (2004–2011) · succeeded by Kevin Sumlin (2018–2020).
| Season | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 8–5 | 8–5 | 10–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–6 | |
| Postseason | — | — | CFP loss | W bowl | — | L bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | #31 | #43 | #48 | #45 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | 49.5 | 47.0 | 37.5 | 32.5 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||
| OC | — | — | Calvin Magee / Rod Smith | Calvin Magee / Rod Smith | Calvin Magee / Rod Smith | Calvin Magee / Rod Smith | |
| DC | — | — | Jeff Casteel | Jeff Casteel | Marcel Yates | Marcel Yates | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | — | — | 53 | 76 | 34 | 95 | |
| Defense | — | — | 56 | 15 | 14 | 11 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | 42.3 | 42.1 | 31.5 | 25.6 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | 45.9 | 40.8 | 23.0 | 20.2 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | 33.3 | 36.0 | 56.0 | 21.6 | |
9 NFL Draft picks: Nick Foles (2012), Juron Criner (2012), Trevin Wade (2012), Ka'Deem Carey (2014), Shaquille Richardson (2014), Marquis Flowers (2014), Will Parks (2016), Scooby Wright III (2016) + 1 more
10th-best Michigan tenure of 13 by the numbers.
Followed Lloyd Carr (1995–2007) · succeeded by Brady Hoke (2011–2014).
13 NFL Draft picks: Jake Long (2008), Chad Henne (2008), Shawn Crable (2008), Mario Manningham (2008), Mike Hart (2008), Adrian Arrington (2008), Terrance Taylor (2009), Morgan Trent (2009) + 5 more
1st-best West Virginia tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Don Nehlen (1980–2000).
| Season | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 3–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 11–1 | 11–2 | 10–2 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 0–1 | 4–8 | 0–0 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | L bowl | — | W bowl | L bowl | — | W bowl | L bowl | — | — | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | #39 | #35 | #39 | #57 | #35 | #48 | #37 | #40 | #35 | #48 | #46 | #43 | #25 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 48.7 | 40.8 | 41.6 | 51.1 | 51.1 | 57.6 | 52.8 | 49.7 | 48.9 | 37.0 | 41.7 | 38.5 | 18.8 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| OC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Shannon Dawson | — | — | Jake Spavital | Jake Spavital | Chad Scott / Matt Moore | Chad Scott / Gerad Parker | Chad Scott / Gerad Parker | Graham Harrell | Chad Scott | Chad Scott | — | — | |
| DC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | Tony Gibson | Vic Koenning | Jordan Lesley / Jahmile Addae / Jeff Koonz | Jordan Lesley / ShaDon Brown | Jordan Lesley / ShaDon Brown | Jordan Lesley / ShaDon Brown | ShaDon Brown / Jordan Lesley (5th season; first 8 games) / Jeff Koonz (interim; after week 9) | Zac Alley | Zac Alley | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 50 | 59 | 61 | 58 | 82 | 10 | 32 | 37 | 52 | 83 | 58 | 10 | 16 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 77 | 85 | 70 | 42 | 29 | 52 | 80 | 62 | 47 | 35 | 3 | 47 | 13 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 44.6 | 35.5 | 35.9 | 50.0 | 49.6 | 56.0 | 56.1 | 49.1 | 52.0 | 38.7 | 36.0 | 28.0 | 11.6 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 38.8 | 32.0 | 35.3 | 50.0 | 41.6 | 49.4 | 57.6 | 49.6 | 45.4 | 31.7 | 35.3 | 20.5 | 5.3 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23.7 | 24.4 | 28.6 | 35.1 | 35.9 | 30.8 | 36.1 | 40.8 | 46.2 | 54.1 | 61.2 | 57.6 | — | |
A portal-built roster.
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.
49 NFL Draft picks: Lance Nimmo (2003), James Davis (2003), Quincy Wilson (2004), Adam Jones (2005), Chris Henry (2005), Rasheed Marshall (2005), Alton McCann (2006), Steve Slaton (2008) + 41 more
3 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Darius Stills (2020), Wyatt Milum (2024), Cam Cook (2026)
Defining games during this era
2014 Pac-12 Championship · Oregon 51, Arizona 13Rich Rodriguez
Offensive coordinator across 2 programs, 2 stints, before and after wearing the head-coach hat — every season measured on the same axis, whether he personally ran the unit or someone else did.