Rich Rodriguez Accuses Ex-Assistant of Trying to Extort Him for $7.5 Million

Former Arizona Wildcats head football coach Rich Rodriguez says his former assistant attempted to extort him for $7.5 million before she filed a lawsuit alleging he sexually harassed her.

According to the Arizona Republic's Anne Ryman and Craig Harris, Rodriguez informed the University of Arizona, the United States Attorney's Office and the FBI of the alleged extortion.

Arizona fired Rodriguez without cause Jan. 2.

The Arizona Daily Star reported a woman, identified as Melissa Wilhelmsen by Ryman and Harris, had filed a $7.5 million notice of claim with the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The report outlined how Rodriguez and others allegedly kept a "hideaway book" that included the phrase "Title IX doesn't exist in our office."

Deadspin's Lindsey Adler and Diana Moskovitz reported the filing included allegations Rodriguez sexually harassed and groped Wilhelmsen and that Rodriguez had pressured Wilhelmsen to hide an extramarital affair he was having.

In a statement provided to USA Today's Dan Wolken, Rodriguez acknowledged having an affair but also said, "The claims by my former assistant are simply not true, and her demands for a financial settlement are outrageous:"

According to Ryman and Harris, Wilhelmsen's attorney notified Rodriguez's representation on two occasions (Nov. 2 and Nov. 4) of the harassment allegations. The attorney, Augustine Jimenez, reportedly then sent an email Nov. 8 in which he said Rodriguez would need to pay "multiple million dollars" to make the allegations go away.

The University of Arizona hired a law firm to investigate the allegations before it fired Rodriguez. In a statement released to the media, the university said the allegations "could not be substantiated based on the evidence and witnesses available to it" but that the university had "[cause] to be concerned with the direction and climate of the football program."