South Carolina Coaching Search: Rich Rodriguez appears to be staying put at Arizona

Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez will remain with the Wildcats for the time being, despite interviewing for South Carolina's vacant position over the past few days. Rodriguez reportedly met with athletics director Ray Tanner, but ultimately decided to stay out west for now.

Rodriguez, who has been at the helm of the Arizona program since 2012, has recorded a 32-20 record in Tucson, including a Pac-12 South title last year thanks to a 10-4 record (7-2 in league play). They dipped this year (6-6, just 3-6 in Pac-12 play) but will appear in a yet-to-be determined bowl. Prior to his tenure at Arizona, Rodriguez was the coach at Michigan, where he struggled to a 15-22 mark despite improving the Wolverines' win total each year. That was after he went 60-26 as the man in charge at West Virginia; the Mountaineers recorded three straight seasons of ten wins or more, finished no worse than 11th in the polls through his final three seasons (2005-2007), and won four Big East titles in his final five years (2003-2005, 2007).

Happy and honored to be an Arizona Wildcat!! Bear Down!!

— Rich Rodriguez (@CoachRodAZ) December 6, 2015

With Rodriguez out of the picture, it appears that Will Muschamp is the favorite at this point to take over at South Carolina. Other names that have popped up have been Oklahoma DC Lincoln Riley and former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano; however, neither is expected to come out on top.