Former Wildcats support fired Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, who had his flaws

By Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star

While acknowledging his temperamental nature, three former Wildcats who played under Rich Rodriguez painted a different picture of the ex-Arizona coach than the one portrayed in the notice of claim that contributed to his firing.

The players said Rodriguez helped them to become tougher and to learn the value of hard work. They said Rodriguez had a personal side not often seen in public settings. And they said they saw no evidence of the “hostile work environment” that Rodriguez is accused of creating.

Rodriguez’s former administrative assistant, Melissa Wilhelmsen, also alleged in a $7.5 million claim that Rodriguez sexually harassed her. Rodriguez was fired Tuesday in the wake of those allegations becoming public. UA President Robert C. Robbins and athletic director Dave Heeke said “several factors” led to Rodriguez’s dismissal, including “the direction and climate of our football program.”

Rodriguez denied the allegations made by Wilhelmsen and has hired Phoenix’s Leo Beus as his lawyer. Beus, a BYU and University of Michigan graduate, has donated $15 million to Arizona State. ASU’s Beus Center for Law and Society bears his name.

Jake Fischer, the starting middle linebacker under Rodriguez in 2012 and '13, was among the former players who came to the coach’s defense via social media after Arizona let him go. Fischer expanded on his initial comments in a phone conversation with the Star on Friday.

“He’s an unbelievable coach,” Fischer said. “He had an open-door policy. Whenever we were in there, we could go talk to him. He’s a coach on the field, but after you get outside the white lines and go back in the facility, he was just like any other person.”

Fischer said Rodriguez’s family frequently hung out in the coaches’ offices, as did other staffers’ families.

“There was no hostile environment,” Fischer said. “If that was a hostile environment, I don’t even know what to say.”

Matt Scott, the quarterback for the 2012 team, said Rodriguez was hard on him. As the lone senior QB on the ’12 roster, Scott assumed he would be handed the starting job. But Rodriguez, in his first year at Arizona, made Scott earn it.

“I was supposed to be next guy,” Scott said. “He wanted me to work for it. You’ve got to respect that.”

Scott said Rodriguez “wasn’t easy to play for at times” but also served as “sort of a father figure” to Scott after the coach arrived in Tucson.

Scott drew attention earlier this week when he criticized the UA via Twitter, questioning the university’s recommitment to its “core values” when it hasn’t fired basketball coach Sean Miller, whose program is part of an FBI probe into alleged bribes and payments to players. The UA did place assistant coach Book Richardson on paid leave.

How you gonna fire @CoachRodAZ over a false story and say "we wanted to reaffirm our commitment to our values" and your not gonna fire Miller for paying players? Smh yall look stupid

— Matt Scott (@mscottqb10) January 3, 2018

Scott and Fischer said it’s unfair that Rodriguez’s firing has been tied to the allegations made by Wilhelmsen when other factors were involved. Scott said he found it “displeasing” that the UA “tried to trash the guy and discredit him.”

Both players said they would have been OK with Arizona firing Rodriguez strictly for performance reasons — or because Heeke, in his first year as AD, wanted to bring in his own coach. But “because of all that other stuff,” Fischer said, “I feel like my coach’s name got dragged in the mud.”

Jacob Alsadek was among many ex-Wildcats who didn’t know what to think when they heard what Rodriguez was being accused of. Alsadek, a four-year starting guard, just completed his final season at the UA.

“I want to defend him, but I don’t know anything,” said Alsadek, who’s prepping for the NFL draft in Florida. “I don’t know the real story. I don’t want to make a judgment about something I don’t know about it. I don’t think people should attack him until they know what really happened.”

What really happened might never be known. Alsadek does know this: He had an overwhelmingly positive experience at Arizona playing for Rodriguez.

“He taught me how to be a man,” Alsadek said. “When I first got to campus, I was 18. I thought I was going to have so much fun in college. He made me realize if you want to be great at something, you have to put all your effort toward that. I’d leave at 8, 9 o’clock at night, and he was still in there watching film.”

Rodriguez, like anyone, had his flaws. His temper was notorious. The father of a recent former defensive player said Rodriguez would throw chairs and break remote controls during team meetings the day after a loss. Another ex-player corroborated that account, saying Rodriguez would behave “like a big baby” after losses.

“We would all just look at each other like ‘what in the world is going on?’” the ex-player said. “Dude was too stressed, especially getting paid that much money.”

Alsadek explained that screaming and cursing were simply part of Rodriguez’s approach — that he’s an intense man coaching an intense sport.

“He just yells a lot,” Alsadek said. “But a lot of coaches do that. He’s more animated. Stomps his feet. And then after that, he would always pull you over and talk to you.

“He wasn’t trying to be a jerk. He did it to make you not make the same mistake you just made.”

When he was a redshirt freshman, Alsadek messed up the pre-practice stretching routine. Rodriguez lit into him, and the entire team had to do it over again.

“I was so scared,” Alsadek said. But, he added, “I made sure to never mess up the stretch again.”

Alsadek said he learned over time not to take Rodriguez’s bellowing personally. Alsadek advised quarterback Brandon Dawkins, who’s one year younger, to take it the same way.

“He’s just trying to get things right,” Alsadek told Dawkins. “He’s just trying to win games. That’s his job.”

A member of the coaching staff, who said he got along well with Rodriguez, said assistants sometimes had to translate the head coach’s message. That same staff member said he had “zero” knowledge of any workplace improprieties on Rodriguez’s part.

“I didn’t know anything,” the staff member said. “I’m glad I didn’t.”

The majority of the coaching staff is expected to attend the annual American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The AFCA touts the four-day gathering, which begins Sunday, as “the premier networking event for coaches from all around the country.”

A UA spokesman declined to say whether Heeke would be attending the convention. Names that continue to circulate as possible candidates include former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, former LSU coach Les Miles and former Oregon coach Mark Helfrich.

Current players and recruits have pushed for interim coach Marcel Yates to get the full-time job. Yates, the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator the past two seasons, wants to be the head coach, according to a program source. Rodriguez hired Yates in January 2016 and made other staff changes to rebuild the defense and revitalize recruiting.

The former players interviewed for this story had mixed opinions on who the next coach should be.

Alsadek said Sumlin would be a good fit because of his past work with Johnny Manziel; Arizona has one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country in Khalil Tate. Alsadek also put in a good word for former UA All-American safety Chuck Cecil, who spent this past season as a staff analyst under Rodriguez.

Fischer said Arizona needed to add former Wildcats to the staff “even if it’s not for the head-coaching job.” He mentioned Cecil, Ricky Hunley and Joe Salave’a, who’s the defensive line coach at Oregon.

Scott wouldn’t name names. But he said the new coach’s objectives should be clear.

“I want to see them be successful, winning games, get to the Rose Bowl eventually,” Scott said. “We’ve still never been there. Whoever it is, that should be their goal as well.”