Four Reasons Why Rich Rodriguez Will Have West Virginia Nationally Relevant Again

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated May 25, 2025 11:29 AM ET

It's been a while since West Virginia was nationally relevant for an entire season. The 2012, 2016, and 2018 teams each had their moments, but were not considered national contenders from start to finish.

The last time that happened, Rich Rodriguez was strolling the sidelines in Morgantown. Now, he's back.

Why should Mountaineer fans be confident that he'll rebuild the program again and put them back in the national conversation?

Strong support

In today's era of college athletics, donors, boosters, and relationships with folks who have big money are more important than ever. One of the biggest reasons Rodriguez was Wren Baker's choice is because he knew he had a strong backing. Pat McAfee, Ken Kendrick, Ike Morris, and so on. WVU is expected to be at or near full rev share for 2025, and those relationships Rodriguez has will help that be the case in the years to come. The more he wins, the more others will want to get involved.

Championship mindset

I've said this probably a hundred times this offseason, but when is the last time you heard a West Virginia head coach, especially in football, talk so much about winning a national championship? Sure, those outside of the state may think he's crazy for even bringing it up, but it's incredibly difficult to build a championship culture if the leader believes it's an impossible feat to accomplish.

I can't remember a single time Neal Brown mentioned national championship and WVU in the same sentence in the six years that he was at the helm. Rich Rod has said it about 75 times in the six-plus months he's been back. He truly believes it can be done. Without that belief, you're not going anywhere.

He knows what works here

West Virginia is not for every kid, and every kid is not for West Virginia. There's a certain type of player that fits best at WVU, and Rich Rodriguez knows exactly what that looks like - an underrated, overlooked, tough, hard-nosed, physical player who wants to be coached hard and who is loyal. Although this is a different era, he knows what it takes to win here. At the end of the day, the recipe is pretty much the same. The only thing that's changed is the acquisition process of players.

A more favorable schedule

In the past, WVU had scheduled two Power Four opponents for its non-conference slate. They were one of the handful of the teams who were playing 11 P4 games annually, ultimately putting them at a disadvantage. That won't be the case moving forward, with the exception of next year. Wren Baker realizes how playing a challenging non-con schedule does more harm than good. The easier start to the season alone will help WVU get off to better starts each September.