Between The Eers: Why West Virginia Will Return to the National Spotlight Under Rich Rod

It's been a long, long time since the West Virginia Mountaineers were a national title contender in college football. There was a brief moment in 2018 when it looked possible, but that all came crashing down when they lost to Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to end the regular season.

Before that, you'd have to go back to the last time Rich Rodriguez strolled the sidelines back in 2007. After a dreadful six years under Neal Brown, the program received a huge boost of optimism along with a complete culture change, simply by bringing Rich Rod back to Morgantown.

The "hard edge" slogan isn't just a fun buzzword, as QB Nicco Marchiol stated on Monday. It's a way of life. For a school like WVU to get back in the national picture and stay there, you have to have a certain standard set by the head coach and other key individuals who are in charge. When they are all singing the same song and beating the same drum, that's when you give yourself a chance. Being aligned is half of the battle.

After what we've heard over the last handful of days from Marchiol and defensive coordinator Zac Alley, it's clear that there's only one way to play the game — to be mentally and physically tough. If a player doesn't put that on display, they won't see the field. It's that simple.

On today's episode of Between The Eers, I discuss why the Mountaineers needed a coach like Rich Rod at this very moment and why they will return to national relevance under his leadership.

If you haven't yet, please go over to our YouTube page, West Virginia On SI (@SI_WVU), and subscribe. You'll get a notification the second a new episode of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru GameDay Show, or Mountaineer Postgame drops.

Football season show schedule:

Between The Eers: Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays

The Walk Thru GameDay Show: Thursdays

Mountaineer Postgame: Immediately after the game

Football season show schedule:

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI