Rich Rodriguez ‘enjoyed our time’ coaching Arizona football

West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez isn’t hiding from his emotions when the Mountaineers host the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday in Morgantown.

It’s the first time Rodriguez has faced the Wildcats since starting his second stint at West Virginia last year — and the first time he’s faced his former team since the UA fired him following the 2017 season. Neal Brown was the head coach of the Mountaineers in the only contest between Arizona and WVU in 2024.

Arizona hasn’t faced a former head coach since 1992, when the Wildcats lost to the Larry Smith-coached USC Trojans.

“It’s natural for a coach to have feelings,” Rodriguez told reporters on Tuesday. “I have feelings and I’ll keep it to myself with that.”

Rodriguez had a 43-35 record at Arizona and took the Wildcats to five bowl games in six seasons. The only postseason-less season of the RichRod era at Arizona was capped by a 56-35 win over Arizona State in the Territorial Cup in 2016, when the Wildcats set a school record in rushing yards. Arizona went to the Pac-12 championship in 2014 and went 3-2 in bowl games.

“I enjoyed our time there and we had some success,” Rodriguez said. “We had some really good players, had some big-ranked wins.”

While Rodriguez was the head coach of the Wildcats, his daughter, Raquel, was a captain of the UA cheerleading team and his son, former Catalina Foothills star quarterback Rhett Rodriguez, was a backup quarterback for the Wildcats — and nearly quarterbacked Arizona to a victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl in 2018, less than a year after his dad was fired and replaced by Kevin Sumlin.

Rhett Rodriguez is now West Virginia’s quarterbacks coach and Raquel Rodriguez is WVU’s assistant director of football management and strategy.

Rich Rodriguez said “there were some good times at Arizona.”

“It’s been, how long has it been now, 10 years? Nine years or so? So, it’s been a little while,” Rodriguez said. “(Arizona head coach Brent Brennan) and his staff, I think he’s done a great job and he’s got their program in the right spot and they got good football players. They’re probably the best team we’ve played so far, so I think it’s going to be a great challenge.

“I think our guys are hungry to play well and prove themselves. I think our fans are wanting to see true Mountaineer football and guys playing with great passion. We owe it to the fans to try to do that.”

Extra points

— Rodriguez, on Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita: “He’s a rarity in college football. He’s a guy that has been there five years and could’ve left and he stayed there. Their coaching staff has done a great with him. They’ve done a great job with that program. He’s been the leader not just this year and last year, but since he’s been there.

“He’s a very unique guy. He can scramble around and create some vision for himself, can run and his eyes are always downfield. I think he’s one of the best in college football. I thought that for the last couple years, watching the few games that I’ve watched. He’s been a phenomenal player and if you talk to anyone out there with the program, he’s been phenomenal for the program.”

— Rodriguez, on Arizona’s defense: “They are the blitz-happiest team we’ve played since I’ve come back — probably the best I’ve seen in the last six-seven years. They’ll bring it all the time. That’s who they are, that’s their identity defensively.

“They can make you look really bad and create negative-yardage plays, they’ll bring them from everywhere. … The challenge up front on the (offensive line) is we’re recognizing (blitzes) and the quarterback has to be able to get rid of the ball quicker. They can make you look ugly in the run game. You can’t totally abandon it, but if they force you to throw, you have to be able to pitch-and-catch, too.”