When the Star learned Wednesday that Arizona Wildcats athletic director Dave Heeke had made up his mind to fire Rich Rodriguez before the completion of an investigation into his workplace behavior, I started to think back to some past interviews with Heeke.
I spoke with the first-year AD in his office on Oct. 31. At that time, Arizona had won four in a row. The Wildcats were 6-2. They were flying high.
Hereโs the portion of the Q&A that pertained to the 2017 team and Rodriguez:
Question: When you came here, the talk was that Rich Rodriguez was on the hot seat. Now heโs a candidate for Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Whatโs your take on the football teamโs rapid resurrection?
Heeke: โIโm really pleased with the effort of our kids and the team. What theyโve accomplished has been terrific. In my time around them in the spring, when I was first here, and then all of fall camp, I felt like there was a lot of positive energy. There was a desire to prove that what happened last year is not the way itโs going to be.
โItโs played out really well. Itโs been really exciting. Iโm looking forward to the future to see what we can do.โ
Q: Have you had any discussions with RichRod about his future?
Heeke: โJust like everything, we wait till the seasonโs over, have a conversation then and talk about what the next steps are.โ
Q: When you started this job, did you come in with an open mind about every coach and program?
Heeke: โThatโs what I tried to do. Just watch and learn and hear about their goals and where they wanted to take their programs. Try to evaluate where it sits and look and see if weโre headed in the right direction. I had a completely clean slate with everyone.โ
Two things stand out to me after re-reading those quotes: (1) that Heeke didnโt specifically give Rodriguez any credit for the Wildcatsโ win streak; and (2) that he didnโt give Rodriguez a vote of confidence despite having the opportunity to do so via the second question.
Heeke met with the media again on Dec. 3, the day the bowl assignments were announced. Arizona would face Purdue in the Dec. 27 Foster Farms Bowl.
By then, Arizona had lost three of four games. I didnโt ask specifically about Rodriguez, but I did ask this:
Q: What are your overall thoughts on the season the football team had?
Heeke: โI think it was a terrific season. You always want to win them all. The opportunity to get to seven victories, to be in a high-quality bowl, to have great national respect for our program. Those are all very, very positive. Weโve got a young football team. I think they learned a lot coming through that. The future is definitely bright.โ
Again, no mention of Rodriguez. No props given to the coach.
Itโs widely known that Heeke was not happy after the regular-season-ending loss at Arizona State โ not only with the on-field performance but Rodriguezโs behavior afterward. When I asked Heeke about the ASU game, he practically clenched his teeth.
Q: What was your first Territorial Cup like?
Heeke: โLeft a little bad taste in my mouth. Itโs a pretty big game. Donโt want to be on that side of it very often.โ
Thereโs nothing particularly noteworthy in that response, except if you watch the video โ about the 1:55 mark โ Heekeโs reaction and body language are telling.
Maybe we all should have seen this coming.
