MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Rich Rodriguez will coach a football game at West Virginia come 2 p.m. Saturday for the first time in three months short of 18 years.
When the Mountaineers welcome Robert Morris of the FCS to Milan Puskar Stadium for a 2 p.m. kickoff to open the 2025 campaign, it will be the official start of Rodriguez’s second tenure as WVU head coach after he left the program to accept that same title at Michigan in December 2007.
It’s been more than eight months since Rodriguez was officially brought back on board in Morgantown, though there’s been no change since then to his 60-26 career record at WVU. That’ll change by week’s end.
“It’ll be a little bit surreal like it was the opening press conference. I don’t want it to be about me or new coaches,” Rodriguez said. “It’s about West Virginia. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be back here and grateful for all the people on the staff. The fans have been unreal. It’s been phenomenal to be back and feel everybody’s support for the program and what we’re trying to build here. That part is going to be really nice. Once we get on the field, it’s did we win the toss, lose the toss, what are we starting with and let’s go from there.”
Because the Mountaineers have 79 new players and an entirely new coaching staff, there are more unknowns than ever before leading into the start of the season.
That makes it challenging for Rodriguez and his staff to know what exactly will best-suit the Mountaineers and who will largely be responsible for ensuring that.
“It’s a lot harder from a roster standpoint,” Rodriguez said of preparing for an opener. “Certain guys, particularly quarterbacks or defensive backs, you’re trying to evaluate strengths and weaknesses, and it was easier to do with a returning starter when you have film on them. Now everybody has so much transition, that makes it a little bit more difficult. The first couple games, the scheme part of it is new and different.
“But it’s just 11 guys. It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out where they’re going to be.”
However, with the abundance of unknowns comes an extra element of anxiousness, something Rodriguez says he will feel to start his 28th year as a head coach, including 20th at the Division I level.
“There’s still probably as many or more nerves in this first game, because it’s the first game and you have so many unknowns. It’s OK to be nervous for a little bit,” Rodriguez said. “It’s OK for our players to be a little bit nervous, because it means it matters to you. But you have to be focused, too.”
With what is largely a new cast of personnel for the Mountaineers and the Big 12 Conference opting against a preseason poll this season, expectations are somewhat tough to gauge surrounding West Virginia.
Rodriguez is hopeful extra offseason work from players to better acclimate themselves to his offensive system and the defensive system in place from coordinator Zac Alley will prove beneficial.
“If there’s no hope, it’s kind of hard to think about the positive things as much, but our guys have given each other hope because of the way they’ve worked,” Rodriguez said. “They’ve really tried. The staff has done a great job. The players have adapted really well and it’s hard. When you’re talking about 79 new players, a bunch of new coaches, new schemes and different ways of doing stuff, it doesn’t mean our way is the best way, but it’s the way we do it. I’m really proud of the team for the way they’ve adapted to new coaches and new systems. I want them to play well, because they’ve worked hard to earn that.”
Saturday will mark Alley’s first game at West Virginia after he worked with Rodriguez at Jacksonville State and then spent last season at Oklahoma.
“I have a pretty good feel for who we are and what we are going to be,” Alley said. “We have a lot of guys that have never played here. I don’t know if we have anybody on defense that’s started more than maybe two or three games overall — somewhere in that number. Just excited to see how those guys perform.
“Some guys come from schools where there’s 65,000 people out there screaming and some guys had no fans in front of them. It depends a little bit on how they’re going to react and take in the environment of what they get on game day. But as far as the ability and how we’re putting the pieces together, I feel pretty good about where we’re at.”
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Last week’s temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction granted by U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey to four football players against the NCAA has since been appealed by the governing body for college sports.
Three of those four players — wideout Jeffrey Weimer, running back Tye Edwards and safety Justin Harrington have since practiced with WVU, though Jimmori Robinson, the fourth plaintiff to have the ruling go in his favor has not.
The NCAA claimed Robinson is not academically eligible during deliberations last Tuesday, an issue that is still preventing him from participating in team activities.
A bandit known for his pass-rushing prowess, Robinson was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year last season after recording 10.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss while starring at UTSA.
“We’re still waiting on [Robinson]. We have our general counsel that’s working with the NCAA, Big 12 and our compliance department to make sure we’re interpreting the judge’s order correctly,” Rodriguez said. “The order was favorable to those guys being able to play, but they’re still discussing [Robinson’s academic standing]. Jimmori has not practiced, but the other three are practicing.”