Everything WVU Head Coach Rich Rodriguez Said at Big 12 Media Day

Rich Rod had his turn at the main stage this afternoon in Frisco.

WVU Athletics Communications

West Virginia head football coach Rich Rodriguez was the final coach to take the stage at Big 12 Media Days and was asked a variety of questions surrounding his roster. Here is everything he said about this year's group.

Bringing Mike Hawkins Jr. in, Scotty Fox Jr. returning at QB

"We kind of flipped the roster again. Eighty new guys again this year. We just had to because there were a lot of seniors last year. We had a little bit more money this year, a lot more time, a little bit more intent on who we wanted to get out of the portal, so now I think we only got like 14 or 15 seniors. We wanted to get competition at every position and legitimate competition. And we wanted guys that had production, not potential. So at the quarterback spot, Scotty coming back, he had played as a really young true freshman last year and competed well; he's gotten better. But we wanted a guy we think could compete with the starting job and maybe take us to a whole other level, and that was Mike Hawkins, who had a great spring. He can run, he can throw. The thing I was most impressed with Mike and Scotty, both in spring, was their decisiveness. I'm excited about those two leading the charge there, but I'm also excited that we were able to get competition at almost every position. We look more for production as opposed to potential — guys that had been very productive, whether it's at a Group of Five school or what have you, and have started and played in college games and wanted to play at the highest level. I think the few returning players we have coming back have done a great job of helping us re-establish the culture. I feel pretty confident that we're better all the way around."

What he learned in his return to Power Four football last year

"The game is constantly evolving. I said this last year — you could brag about having so many years of experience, but if you never learned or grew from your experience, you don't have 20-some years of experience. You got one year repeated 20-some times. Now that's especially true with where college athletics is at, college football in general. I mean, you got to be able to manage the money, and you got to pay the right guys. If you make a mistake, you got to own up to it and make an adjustment. If you make the right move, you have to make sure you lock them in. Money helps solve a lot of problems. You can make more mistakes if you got more money, but you still got to make the right decisions on staffing, players, and play calls. As tough as it was at times last year, I think it was our biggest learning year going forward to this year. We knew we'd have a little bit more (money). We have a full rev share now; last year, we didn't have that. We had more time to find guys that were productive at other schools, as opposed to we didn't have any offensive linemen that started games last year. We got more guys that we thought were ready to play and more competition at all positions. To win in college athletics, you have to be aligned all the way from the top down — your board, your president, your athletic director, your coaches, and your players, and your fan base as well. We have that at West Virginia. We are aligned with where we want to go to. I feel confident that we'll be a lot better this year...probably a lot better than people predict, but we've got to prove that first."

The nation learning, "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

"It's become viral, has it not? It used to be just a little thing we played after we won a game. We started it in 2002, then our baseball team makes the great run, and they see it nationally. And now there's World Cup teams playing Country Roads. I don't know if they truly know the meaning of it, but I'm kind of glad they do that because West Virginia...I'm a West Virginia native, I'm a West Virginia guy, and it's not really a secret to me how fabulous our state is, but every time Country Roads gets sung and every time it gets played, the people of our state have a lot of pride. If you're from West Virginia or went to West Virginia or you're a West Virginia fan, it means something to you. I take a lot of personal pride in the fact that we're such a small state. I think we might be the sm,allest state that has a Division I Power Four program. We're the only Power Four program and no NBA, NFL, or other team so there's a lot of pride that goes into our sports teams and in particular, our football program. I want our players to understand that. Our players are from all over. We got 20-some states, three different countries, but when they get to West Virginia, those Country Roads binds them all together."

Offensive lineman Nick Krahe's development

"Nick, last year, was probably our most productive and best offensive lineman. Nick can play tackle, but we brought in Coach Rick Trickett, and he wanted to try him at guard and he thought that would be Nick's natural position, and he had a great spring at guard. He knows the system, and he's kind of the leader up front. I don't need rah-rah leaders, and Nick's not that guy, but from his work ethic, from his talent, from the way he represents our program, he's everything we want leading the guys up front. I think Nick will be one of the best linemen in our league this year, and he's still getting better. With Coach Trickett's coaching and Nick's ability and work ethic, I think he's an all-conference guy."

Adding fullback Kayden Luke

"The fullback position kind of went away for a long time. A lot of time, nowadays, you just use a tight end in that role. There's no secret that we like to run the football, and I didn't know if we had a guy that was a true fullback in the old school ways, and Kayden popped up there in the portal, and I'm like, he's got a role to play in. We didn't really have a true fullback kind of guy that we could use in our offense, and Kayden was a guy that popped up, and he fits the bill. He doesn't care if he's going to run it...you can block him every time, so he's going to play a role for us there."

Importance of having Cam Cook on the roster

"Our running back room was going to be completely new. I mean, not one person returning, so we wanted to get a veteran guy that we knew could play at this level and had some experience. Cam was the leading rusher in the country, he played in a similar system at Jax State last year, has played in the Big 12 before. He's a complete player. He can run, obviously. He's a great pass protector. Got great ball skills. He's kind of the bell cow in that room, and he had an outstanding spring."