'Nuts, Crazy, Unheard Of' — David Pollack Reacts to Rich Rodriguez’s Challenge at WVU

Rebuilds are a fairly common thing in college football when a new head coach takes over, but the one Rich Rodriguez is entering at West Virginia is something we've never really seen before, aside from Deion Sanders' first year at Colorado.

The Mountaineers have over 70 newcomers on the roster, most of whom will take a spot in the starting lineup or two deep. Only a handful of players from last year's team will be in a position to contribute this fall, and an even smaller number of them will start.

Because of this, it's difficult to gauge how good (or bad) this team will be. They could be this year's Arizona State, or they could be exactly what you think would happen when you have over 70 new players - a team that struggles to become bowl-eligible.

Former ESPN College GameDay crew member David Pollack recently discussed Rodriguez and the Mountaineers on his podcast, "See Ball Get Ball," saying he hopes WVU gets things turned around.

“Rich Rod, you talk about hard edge…that’s one thing if you’re around Rich Rod, like Rich Rod is demanding. I like that. You’ll have some accountability.

“We could go down this list (of players) and we could go QBs, okay, none. Whole (new) room. Whole (new) offensive line. They have 38 total catches coming back. Like total. That’s just nuts, and crazy, and unheard of. But Rich Rod specializes in running the football. When he was at his prime and at his peak, Noel Devine, (Steve) Slaton - those were freakshow ballers. Can his offense create space? He’s the reason the offenses all went to spread. He is one of the founding fathers of that. Everybody else is now caught up, now what’s his next move? I’ll be interested to watch because he’s so innovative and fun. Can he bring some fun to Morgantown? Because that’s a place that’s going to be blaring John Denver Country Roads and they’re going to be burning couches, and it’s fanfreakingtastic. It’s a great fanbase that you’d love to see have a reason to cheer.”

The "fun" factor may not come in year one as far as having a flashy, high-octane offense, but Rodriguez has made it clear - his team will play hard and be competitive. For year one of this thing, that's about all you can ask for. Anything more than that is just the cherry on top.

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