The University of Arizona fired head football coach Rich Rodriguez this week following several unsavory allegations against him by his former assistant Melissa Wilhelmsen.
Wilhelmsen claims Rodriguez is a cheating sexual predator, who forced her to cover up his extramarital affairs for the six years she worked for him. She and her husband, Jason, are planning to sue Rodriguez for $7.5 million.
In the explosive nine-page filing, Wilhelmsen claimed Rodriguez kept a burn book filled with secrets to control the football operation called the”hideaway book.” She also said there was a secret society crew known as the “Triangle of Secrecy” whose job it was to create lies and protect coach Rodriguez.
Wilhelmsen says she was forced to lie to Rodriguez’s wife about his sidechicks and also accused Rodriguez of making sexual advances toward her which included him allegedly groping her, walking around the office in his underwear and exposing himself.
She says the stress of the hostile work environment impacted her marriage. She left U of A after working their for 16 years.
Arizona athletics began investigating the harassment claims in October but couldn’t prove the claims, in part because the she refused to speak with the third-party investigators
On Tuesday night, following news of his firing, Rodriguez released a statement that read, in part:
“The complaint included a single truth in the past, I had a consensual extramarital affair with a woman who is not affiliated with the university. It was wrong, and I have apologized to my wife and family… I am not a perfect man, but the claims by my former assistant are simply not true and her demands for a financial settlement are outrageous.”
— Rich Rodriguez (@CoachRodAZ) January 3, 2018
This season the Wildcats finished 7-6. Rodriguez ends his time at Arizona with a 43-35 record in six seasons at Arizona.
