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West Virginia closing in on Rich Rodriguez

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mark Pszonak | Last updated Dec 11, 2024 7:47 PM ET

Just as UCF recently did by bringing Scott Frost back to Orlando, West Virginia looks poised to return to their history by hiring Rich Rodriguez. Rumors have been swirling about Rodriguez since Neal Brown was fired, but now it seems like reality.

Coach Rod Rodriguez is a legend in Morgantown. He led the Mountaineers to a 60-26 record in seven seasons and brought success to the program that fans have craved since his departure. After days of back-and-forth between West Virginia and Rodriguez, the end of this journey is close:

Sources: Rich Rodriguez has been offered and is expected to be the next coach at @WVUfootball
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) December 12, 2024

While I’m not a big believer in Frost returning to UCF, I do believe that this is the right move for West Virginia. The situations, while similar, are also very different. Frost was only with the Knights for two seasons and then faceplanted at Nebraska. He never had an opportunity to prove himself as a good coach at a different school before returning to Orlando to try and reignite the program.

Rodriguez failed at Michigan, but found success at other schools before his likely return to West Virginia. He had a 10-win season in 2014 with Arizona that led them to the Fiesta Bowl and most recently has led Jacksonville State to an 18-8 record and two bowls. These accomplishments aren’t award worthy, but compared to what Frost did at Nebraska, they might be.

Only time will tell if this was the right decision for West Virginia, but at least for the short term the excitement will return to Morgantown. Then Rodriguez will have to prove to everyone that he can bring back the success that he initially had almost 20 years ago.

My guess is that he will.

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

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