West Virginia commits $7.5 million to Rich Rodriguez’s staff

Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia 17 years ago, in part because he was frustrated with the school’s refusal to give him more money for his assistant coaches.

He wants plenty for them now.

According to his memorandum of understanding signed Dec. 11 and obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request, Rodriguez signed a five-year deal with West Virginia and will be paid $3.5 million in his first season. That number increases $100,000 in each subsequent season. His predecessor, Neal Brown, made $4 million this season before being fired on Dec. 1.

Rodriguez will also have a $5 million pool annually for his assistant coaches on the field, along with $2.5 million for his football support staff, according to the agreement.

Rodriguez, 61, was introduced Friday for his second stint in Morgantown. He went 60-26 at West Virginia from 2001 to 2007.

The Mountaineers went 6-6 this season under Brown and face Memphis at No. 25 in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night.

After he left for Michigan in December 2007, Rodriguez has said that promises made by a previous West Virginia administration were not kept and that his request for more money for his assistant coaches was denied. Rodriguez said his relationship with then-athletic director Ed Pastilong had broken down by August 2007 to the point the two were barely speaking.

In December 2006, Rodriguez considered and then turned down a six-year, $12 million offer to coach at Alabama—a job later taken by Nick Saban. Rodriguez then received an additional payment of $100,000 for his West Virginia assistant coaches. He later said that before leaving for Michigan, he was denied another request for an additional $50,000 for the assistant coaching pool.

Rodriguez spent three seasons at Michigan and six at Arizona before being fired from each head coaching job. He spent the past three seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville State, which won the Conference USA championship over Western Kentucky earlier this month.

According to his agreement, West Virginia will pay Rodriguez’s $1.25 million buyout to Jacksonville State. He will be required to pay 25% of his total compensation over the life of the deal if he leaves before the contract expires, and Rodriguez will receive 50% of his remaining total compensation if he is fired.