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Rich Rodriguez to become next head coach at Jacksonville State, per reports

The former West Virginia and Michigan head coach will oversee Jax State’s transition into FBS.

Arizona v Arizona State Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Rich Rodriguez has landed a new head coaching gig in the state of Alabama.

The former is reportedly set to become the next head coach at Jacksonville State. Rodriguez spent this season serving as the offensive coordinator for Terry Bowden at Louisiana-Monroe.

Recognized as a pioneer of the modern spread offense during his head coaching tenure at West Virginia, Rodriguez brought the Mountaineers to the brink of a national championship in 2007 before departing for Michigan. His three-year tenure in Ann Arbor ended up being a disaster and he was fired following the 2010 season.

He’d go on to spend six seasons as the head coach at Arizona before he was let go after the school conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against him. He’d later serve as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss in 2019 before arriving at ULM this season.

Jacksonville State is making the move up from FCS to FBS in 2023 and is tabbing an veteran FBS coach like Rodriguez to walk them through the transition. The program is set to join the new-look Conference USA upon their arrival.