Arizona fires Rich Rodriguez amid workplace misconduct claim
Arizona announced on Tuesday evening that they have fired Rich Rodriguez as the program’s head football coach.
Arizona’s announcement comes an hour after The Tucson Star reported that a former administrative assistant filed a hostile workplace claim with the state’s attorney general against Rodriguez.
Arizona had hired a law firm to investigate the claims but no misconduct was found. That did not stop the former employee from filing a claim.
The decision to fire Rodriguez seems to be due both to the claim and on-field performance. After a 10-4 season in 2014, the Wildcats went 7-6, 3-9 and 7-6 again this season.
The school is firing Rodriguez without cause, meaning they will owe him a buyout. However, by firing him before a bonus was set to kick in mid-March, they are saving around $3 million with the move. He would be owed around $6.3 million on his buyout, according to USA Today.
