Rich Rodriguez named offensive coordinator at Louisiana Monroe; son Rhett will join him as grad transfer

After taking the 2020 season off, former Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez has accepted a job as the new offensive coordinator at the University of Louisiana Monroe, the school announced Tuesday.

In the same release, ULM also revealed that his son, former Arizona quarterback Rhett Rodriguez, is joining the program as a graduate transfer.

Rich, 57, will work under new head coach Terry Bowden, the 65-year-old son of Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden. The Warhawks went 0-10 this past season. They averaged just 16.3 points per game, good for 122nd (of 127) in the country.

Rhett surely will have a shot to be the starting quarterback. In seven career games at the UA, he completed 51 percent of his passes for 578 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions. He was also the 2020 Pac-12 Football Scholar Athlete after being Arizona Athletics Valedictorian at spring commencement.

This will be Rich’s second stint as an offensive coordinator since being fired by Arizona after the 2017 season after six years at the helm. He was the OC at Ole Miss in 2019 before being let go when head coach Matt Luke was fired.

Rodriguez was the offensive coordinator for Tommy Bowden, Terry’s brother, at Tulane in 1997 and 1998. The Green Wave went 12-0 in 1998.