The Big 12 Championship Trophy on display during Big 12 Media Days. Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rich Rodriguez Believes WVU Can Win Big 12 This Year Despite 72 New Players

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 12:44 PM ET

Winning won't come easy for Rich Rodriguez and the West Virginia Mountaineers in year one, but the ultimate goal is the same as it would be for a guy like Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, who just won the league a year ago, or Kyle Whittingham, who is entering his 22nd year on the job - capture the Big 12 crown.

Rodriguez, unlike his predecessors Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown, has not been shy about placing lofty expectations for the program in the short term and in the future. He's stated on numerous occasions that he believes he can win a national championship at WVU, and he echoed many of those championship sentiments in an interview with Speak on FOX.

“Our goal is to win the league every year. People worry about what you think about the playoffs and I could give a crap about the playoffs. If you win the league, you’re in. That’s our goal every year is to win the league. What do we got to do to win it? Now, I have unknowns. I mean, it’s not coachspeak, I have 72 new players. Three-fourths of my team are new, and half of those weren’t here for the spring, so I think I know what I have, but until we go through August camp, I won’t know for sure. But we’ve got enough talent. We’ve got enough good players that if we play really well and we have some fortune, we can win it. I think we can win it all at West Virginia. It’s going to take a lot of work. We’re maybe not going to be ready right away, but things are in place to do that.”

Last year, in a similar situation at Jacksonville State with a massive roster turnover, the Gamecocks lost their first three games, but won eight of their last nine games in the regular season to clinch a spot in the C-USA championship game. There, his squad obliterated Western Kentucky, 52-12.

Can he do the same thing at West Virginia this fall?