Rich Rodriguez Takes Thinly-Veiled Dig at Heated Rivals Before 2025 Season Clash

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt De Lima | Last updated May 15, 2025 4:15 PM ET

There's certainly no love lost between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Pitt Panthers.

The rivalry between the two programs, known as the Backyard Brawl, dates back to 1895. However, the Brawl was put on hiatus in football from 2012 to 2021 as the rivalry peaked and the two teams were no longer together in the Big East Conference.

In 2022, the two programs reunited on the football field for the first time in nearly a decade. Pitt has won against West Virginia in two of the last three matchups. In 107 meetings all-time, the Panthers lead the series 63-41-3.

With head coach Rich Rodriguez back with the Mountaineers, West Virginia seeks to return to some of the classic Backyard Brawl games from the coach's last run with the program.

From 2001 to 2007, Rodriguez led the Mountaineers to a 60-26 record, including three straight 10-win seasons and top-ten finishes in the Coaches Poll. During this stretch, West Virginia was 4-3 against Pitt in their games.

On Thursday, "Rich Rod" again stoked up rivalry flames by taking a shot at Pitt and remixing a line he said when WVU first rehired him.

"I say too many four-letter words. There's none worse than P-I-T-T."

He also said, "Eat (expletive), Pitt."

On the same day he returned to the Mountaineers and appeared on the Pat McAfee Show, Rodriguez said, "I misspoke when I said the two worst four-letter words were 'soft' and 'lazy.' I left out Pitt."

Expectations are low for the Mountaineers this season as the team was ranked No. 64 in Athlon Sports' college football rankings.

Steven Lassan's WVU write-up noted, "The return of coach Rich Rodriguez to Morgantown has brought plenty of optimism. However, the Mountaineers lost all five starters on the offensive line and return just three starters overall."

West Virginia will host Pitt on September 13.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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