Rich Rodriguez is assembling a talented group of coaches, recruiters and staff members to his team in Tucson and that team grew by four members on Tuesday. According to an official release, Rich-Rod has made the hirings official. Here is the news from the Athletic Department.
Rodriguez named Charlie Ragle as assistant director of football operations and the staff's liaison for high school relations. Ragle has been head coach at Chapparal High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., since 2007, winning the last three state 5A II championships while compiling a 63-7 record in the span.
Matt Dudek has been appointed director of on-campus football recruiting. He has been an assistant director of football operations at Rutgers the past year and was in a similar post at Pittsburgh for several preceding years.
On the strength side, the UA hired Parker Whiteman as director of skill development and assistant strength coach, and Frank Davis as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. They will work with newly appointed director Chris Allen, who Rodriguez hired last week.
All of the four coaches come highly regarded, with the most notable member being Charlie Ragle. Coach Ragle has connections to many of Phoenix's top-high school programs and he will pay dividend immediately as coach Rodriguez attempts to swarm the state's best and brightest talent. The city of Phoenix and the surrounding areas are quickly becoming a hotbed for talent and more and more coaches from around the nation will start recruiting the area.
Rich Rodriguez still needs to hire multiple defensive coaches, including his defensive coordinator. Expect these hires to come after the holiday season.
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