Insider Look: WVU is a 'Much Different-Looking Football Team' with Serious Upside

Tomorrow, we'll hear from West Virginia head football coach Rich Rodriguez for the first time since his signing day press conference all the way back in early December. Topics likely to be touched on will be new members of the staff, new personnel, and the plan for spring ball, which will get underway this week.

Recently, WVU sideline reporter and my co-host on the In The Gun podcast, Jed Drenning, was able to spend some time in the building and get a feel for what this new group could be made of. I expected a positive response when I asked him for his opinion on our recent episode, but I wasn't expecting the level of optimism he responded with.

“When you get eyes on this football team, this ’26 iteration of the Mountaineer football team, first of all, it leaps out at you how physically they look. I mean, it’s a much different-looking football team. We didn’t have a lot of guys that look like Amari Latimer last year. We just didn’t. Or Tobi Haastrup. There just weren’t a lot of those body types around the program a year ago. Right away, when you step off the bus, you look like you won the game. It’s that type of team. It speaks to where we are at this juncture versus the same time last year. I’m excited about the possibilities and what this is going to look like with all these new faces folded into the mix with some of the returners. Nick Krahe is the best I’ve ever seen Nick Krahe look. Some of these guys that are coming back for us, Scotty Fox…I’m really excited. This is a good-looking football team.

"Now, right now, you’re not doing anything necessarily football-oriented or anything you would consider resembling actual football, but so far, so good," he continued. "We addressed a lot of needs. It’s nice to see (Rick) Trickett back around. It’s nice to see Coach Rod up in people’s grills. I mean, if you’re there for ten minutes, you’re going to get an earful from Rich, and hearing him let his feelings be heard. It’s serious business. They’re acting like September is here, and they’re very serious about what’s going on right now in that building.”

He's right. Physically speaking, this group is much bigger in pretty much every area of the roster. They added more beef in the trenches, more length in the secondary, and heavier backs that can handle a large workload. Execution may not be flawless by fall camp or by the start of Big 12 play, for that matter, but you won't see WVU get overwhelmed physically as they did a year ago.