Rich Rodriguez meets with fans in the tailgate area before Saturday's game.

This is one of the reasons why Arizona Wildcats athletic director Greg Byrne fired Mike Stoops at midseason.

He was able to research, interview and investigate his candidates for weeks, make a splashy hire and then parade the new guy, Rich Rodriguez, in front of the home crowd at Saturday’s season finale.

Worked out pretty well.

As Arizona happily steps off the coaching carousel, other schools are just now beginning a potentially dizzying ride. As of Sunday morning:

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Nick Foles acknowledges the crowd as he leaves Arizona Stadium for the final time. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Game over, college career over, Arizona Wildcats quarterback Nick Foles turned to the crowd and waved. He made his way to the stadium steps behind the bench, finding his dad. They hugged.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet that my career here at Arizona is over,” Foles said a couple of minutes later, “but this is the way to go out — with a victory.”

Foles and the Wildcats ended the season with a 45-37 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette at Arizona Stadium on Saturday night, finishing with a 4-8 record. The final game was classic Foles.

He set another passing record — a school and conference record 560 pass attempts for a season. He tied Willie Tuitama’s school records for touchdown passes in a season (28) and for a career (67). He became the 10th player in conference history to reach 10,000 career passing yards.

None of that was the story.

That Foles went out a winner had nothing to do with the final score. It didn’t have anything to do with records.

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Rich Rodriguez tries on a sombrero during a halftime ceremony. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

New Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez said no assistants coaches will be hired this week as he goes through the process of putting together a staff.

“I’m hoping the week after next, I will have half the staff taken care of,” Rodriguez said, meeting with the media at halftime of the game against Louisiana. “Within three weeks, we should have them all.”

He said he has been making recruiting phone calls but likely won’t head out on the road as a contact period begins Sunday. He said he doesn’t want to use his one home visit to recruits not having a coaching staff in place and an assistant to accompany him.

Rodriguez said he will consider retaining some members of the current coaching staff.

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New coach rich Rodriguez meets Chaz Elsten in the tailgate area on the mall. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona runs out the clock and wins 45-37 to end the season at 4-8.

Late in the fourth quarter, Nick Foles topped 10,000 career passing yards, becoming the 10th player in conference history to reach that level.

Check back for more later …

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Arizona scores on a 35-yard pass play from Nick Foles to Juron Criner, who does most of the work, making two guys miss after a short screen pass and then stiff-arming a defender near the goal line.

Foles ties the UA season record for TD passes (28) and career record for touchdown passes (67). Both were set by Willie Tuitama.

Arizona leads 45-30 with 6:08 to play.

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Why not? Arizona goes for it on fourth-and-inches from its 38-yard line with about 8 minutes left. It looked like a classic “try to draw the defense offsides” moment … but Arizona snapped the ball, handed to fullback Taimi Tutogi and picked up 3 yards.

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A 10-play touchdown drive keeps the Ragin’ Cajuns in it. Arizona’s lead is trimmed to 38-30 with 10:26 to play.

Tweets TucsonCitizen.com blogger Scott Terrell: “Like those Cajun hot wings, ULL is lingering.”

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After a 15-yard penalty on the celebration of the previous touchdown, Louisiana kicks off to Daniel Jenkins, who fields the ball at the 19. He darts through traffic and then breaks into the clear down the left side. Jenkins looks to be on his way to paydirt, but Lionel Stokes trips up Jenkins at the 2.

Following a delay of game penalty, Arizona hands off the ball to Keola Antolin, who goes around the left side for a 7-yard score. Arizona leads 38-23 with 13:28 to go.

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Former Arizona coach Mike Stoops might soon be back on the sideline. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Former Arizona coach Mike Stoops is the subject of job rumors, as two websites — Coachingsearch.com and Footballscoop.com reported late Friday night that Stoops had an offer to become head coach at Florida Atlantic.

FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger is retiring after the season.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote Saturday morning that athletic director Craig Angelos, asked if that report were true, answered back via text message: “No.”

Coachingsearch.com also reported that Stoops “may soon also have the opportunity to join Urban Meyer’s staff at Ohio State as the defensive coordinator.”

Another website, OWLaccess.com, reported last week that Angelos was flying to Arizona to interview Stoops.

Stoops was fired in midseason after compiling a 41-50 record in 7 1/2 seasons at Arizona.

The Lafayette Advertiser, one of our Gannett partners, provides a look at five key things for today’s game between Arizona and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns:

1. Blaine Gautier

UL’s starting quarterback needs just two touchdown passes in his final two games — today’s and the Dec. 17 New Orleans Bowl — to move past Jake Delhomme and alone into first place on UL’s single-season record list for TD tosses. Delhomme threw 20 twice, in 1995 and ’96. With 2,173 already, Gautier also needs just 173 passing yards to move past Jerry Babb for fifth place on UL’s single-season leaders list.

2. UL going for it

The Ragin’ Cajuns lead the Sun Belt Conference in fourth-down conversion percentage at 72.7 — nearly 10 percent better than second-place Arkansas State (63.6). The Cajuns have gone for it 11 times, and converted eight times. The Red Wolves, by the way, has gone for it 22 times and made it 14 times.

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Nick Foles was 6-for-6 on the drive that got Arizona back in the game in the fourth quarter at Arizona State. Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

There was 12:25 left in the game. Arizona trailed Arizona State 27-17. The Wildcats, after an illegal block penalty on the kick return, were pushed back to their 6-yard-line, pushed to the brink.

Time was running out at Sun Devil Stadium. Arizona had scored only once in its past eight possessions. The last chance to feel something good about the season was slipping away.

“Maybe in some other games during the course of the season, if we were down 10 at this point in the game, I’m not sure we believed we could win the game,” said UA quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo. “We still believed we could win the game here.”

But it was now or ever.

A short drive, or a three-and-out, likely would set up ASU on a short field, potentially in position for a game-clinching score. The Cats had to hit the accelerator.

“Arizona State had a bead on us pretty good,” Scelfo said.

“We wanted to increase the tempo and kind of take them out of their comfort zone. Probably should have done it earlier, but that’s hindsight.”

What followed was a 94-yard drive in which Arizona played fast, quarterback Nick Foles was accurate and decisive, and receiver Gino Crump made one spectacular play.

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Here is a story from Tim Buckley of the Lafayette Advertiser, one of our Gannett partners. Louisiana plays at Arizona on Saturday at 2 p.m. For more on the Cajuns, who are 8-3 and headed to the New Orleans Bowl (their first postseason appearance since 1970), check out the Advertiser’s sports page.

Louisiana quarterback Blaine Gautier is pass-run threat for the Ragin' Cajuns. Photo by Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

By Tim Buckley

They’ve lost already this season to a Big 12 school.

But that was in their first game of the season, to an Oklahoma State team that was ranked in the top 10 at the time and that rose to as high as No. 2 in the country before being upset late by Iowa State.

And, frankly, no one in Stillwater that day was shocked that the Ragin’ Cajuns fell like they did.

This time, on Saturday, UL will face a rep from the Pac-12.

It is Arizona, and the 8-3 Cajuns will head there today with every reason to trust they can come home from Tucson with something besides bruises and another beat by one of the big boys.

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Sidiki Johnson

Arizona Wildcats freshman center Sidiki Johnson, who is suspended indefinitely for violations of team policy, isn’t with the team and could soon be dismissed, coach Sean Miller said Wednesday night.

Johnson, who is from The Bronx, N.Y., did not return with the team after its loss to Mississippi State in New York City’s Madison Square Garden in the final of the 2K Sports Classic last Friday night.

The school announced his indefinite suspension Monday night.

“I think we have an agreement, and if he meets the agreement, he could potentially be reinstated,” Miller said after a 61-57 home loss to San Diego State. “And he could also be dismissed.”

Asked if he was hopeful that Johnson would meet Miller’s requirement for reinstatement, the coach said, “No.”

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Nick Foles walks gingerly off the field with 6:10 to play against ASU. Photo by Jennifer Hilderbrand-US PRESSWIRE

The status of Arizona Wildcats senior quarterback Nick Foles was still uncertain as the team finished practice Wednesday night.

Foles suffered a rib contusion late in last week’s game against Arizona State, having to leave with 6:10 to play. He did not return.

“He’s not bad,” interim coach said Tim Kish said of Foles.

“I don’t think he’s 100 percent right now. But he’s throwing the ball better today and he’ll throw a little bit more tomorrow. We’re prepared either way. Hopefully, he can get in there a little bit on Saturday, maybe a lot of bit.”

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