Rich Rodriguez Fired By Arizona Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations

Rich Rodriguez has been fired by Arizona after it launched an investigation into claims of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct against the 54-year-old football coach.

Arizona reportedly hired an outside law firm to investigate claims made against Rodriguez by a former administrative assistant at the school. That inquiry determined there was no misconduct, but only because, “the former employee retained counsel and declined multiple requests from the University to participate in the investigation.”

A multimillion-dollar notice of claim was filed with the state attorney general’s office that alleges Rodriguez ran a hostile workplace. That notice of claim was reportedly filed last week, and by Tuesday night, Rodriguez was out of a job. Side note: a notice of claim is basically an advanced warning that a lawsuit against a public entity is coming.

Rodriguez arrived at Arizona in 2012 and posted a 43-35 record in seven seasons. He won the Pac-12 South in 2014, as his team went 10-3 and went to the Fiesta Bowl, where the Wildcats lost 38-30 to Boise State. That was the peak of his tenure.

Since then Arizona has gone 17-21 over the past three seasons and now these allegations have come to light. The school quickly determined it was time to move on.