Barber Shop Mentality: Rich Rodriguez Gives Thoughts on the Upcoming Alabama Series

This September, West Virginia and Pitt will meet for the final time on the gridiron until the 2029 season.

There was some hope that the SEC would go to nine conference games, which could have opened the possibility of WVU and Alabama calling off their home-and-home series in 2026-27 and giving the Backyard Brawl a chance to be scheduled those two seasons. Pitt would have had to make some changes to their schedule as well, so it wouldn't have been a sure thing, but there would have been a shot, albeit slim.

Since we're one year away from WVU hosting the Crimson Tide, it's unlikely that the series will come off the books, so I asked head coach Rich Rodriguez his thoughts on getting a crack at Alabama on the latest episode of In the Gun, and his response is exactly what you would expect.

“It’s a good question. It’s a fair question. And I’m not giving you a coach-speak answer, but I’m not even thinking about the first game this year. You know what I’m thinking about? Tomorrow’s workout. We’ve got skill development with our guys tomorrow, and then Friday we got a camp. I give a sh*t but it’s the singleness of purpose. There will be some point where I’ll sit down and look at the whole schedule and figure it out, but games are scheduled so far in advance. But people ask me why aren’t you playing this school or whatever, and I’m like, are they on the schedule next? Everything to me is like the barber shop. What do they say in the barber shop when your hair gets done cuttin'? Next. What’s next? That’s all I’m worried about. Right now, it’s 5:35. I’m going to eat dinner with a recruit in 15 minutes; that’s what’s next on my schedule.”

Obviously, the series with Alabama won't be as hyped up with Nick Saban no longer leading the Tide, but it's still a chance to take down one of the premier programs in all of college football early in the season. Those opportunities don't come around all that often.

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