Since being fired, Rich Rodriguez has begun what appears to be a damage control mission on his seldom-used Twitter account.
He tweeted condolences after the deaths of Jerry Kindall, Keith Jackson and Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski. Strangely, he tweeted congratulations to Kevin Sumlin for getting RichRod’s old job. He also announced that his children, Rhett and Raquel would be continuing their education at the UA.
Compare that to a period from Dec. 16, 2016, to March 17, 2017, when RichRod’s twitter account was not used.
This is not the RichRod who ruled the Arizona football program with an iron fist and wasn’t one to communicate with strangers.
This nice guy routine is likely strategy from Phoenix attorney Leo Beus, who has called the sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims against RichRod “frivolous and a sham.”
Rodriguez signed his tweet to Sumlin as “Coach Rich Rodriguez.”
The term “coach” may not apply to Rodriguez again.
Congratulations to @UofA and @CoachSumlin. pic.twitter.com/vCGJnZUZU6
— Rich Rodriguez (@RealCoachRod) January 15, 2018
RichRod turns 55 this spring and the chances that he will ever be hired to coach a college football team again are remote. The same is true if he hopes to get into TV or radio; there is little precedent of college coaches surviving a messy litigation of any type, even if it is quietly settled out of court.
No matter how the legal process goes, the damage to RichRod’s reputation is probably career-ending.
At last week’s press conference introducing Sumlin, UA president Robert C. Robbins didn’t attempt to be subtle. One of the first things he said about Sumlin was that he will be “an ambassador for the university.”
RichRod was not that.
In his days as the CEO of the Texas Medical system, Robbins said he closely observed Sumlin, the head coach at Houston and then Texas A&M.
“I was able to see him speak in front of large groups,” said Robbins. “I watched him very closely in press conferences, and I watched his demeanor on the sidelines. No matter what situation, I never saw him out of control. He was poised and confident. He was the type of person I wanted to see here.”
That should be a requisite and an expectation for someone at the front of a $42 million-a-year college football program.
Ultimately, what’s unfortunate about Rodriguez’s coaching career is that it had so much potential. When he chose, he could be charming and entertaining. Instead, he chose the Angry Man routine and self-destructed.
