Playoffs? It's a Matter of When, Not If, for Rich Rod, West Virginia

When Rich Rodriguez was first re-hired as the head football coach at West Virginia, I'll admit, I was a little unsure of how a second tenure would go. The success he had at Jacksonville State, a program that just recently made the jump to FBS, is certainly noteworthy, but the challenges of today's era at the Power Four level are no joke.

In the days leading up to his hire, there was a lot of talk within WVU circles that by bringing Rich Rod back, the Mountaineers would be in a terrific spot financially because of the backing he has from some of the school's biggest donors. Everyone knows about his relationships with Ken Kendrick, Ike Morris, Pat McAfee, and others. However, until action was taken, it's hard to truly believe that the money would be there to help build this thing back up.

So far, they've stayed true to their word. West Virginia not only held onto star running back Jahiem White and a few other key young players on the roster, but they beat out Ole Miss for Nevada cornerback transfer Michael Coats Jr., landed the AAC Defensive Player of the Year in EDGE Jimmori Robinson, grabbed former SEC lineman Ty'Kieast Crawford, and a bunch of other really talented players in the transfer portal that were pursued by many.

In addition to that, the Mountaineers were able to successfully poach a sitting defensive coordinator, Zac Alley, away from Oklahoma. That's a big deal. It would be one thing if he came from, say, Vanderbilt or Kentucky or some low-level SEC program. But we're talking about one of the few blue bloods in college football, opting to leave his post to join Rodriguez's staff. Brent Venables' job security might have had something to do with his decision, but still, they had to outbid Oklahoma for him, and they did.

Oklahoma's Zac Alley shouts during the Red River Rivalry college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. Texas one 34-3. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The transfer portal and NIL are tricky things to deal with. Most coaches Rodriguez's age get burnt out over the idea of constantly having to worry about other schools poaching their players or guys on their roster complaining about not getting enough in NIL. In some cases, they're afraid to coach the kid up too much in fear of him transferring out. Not Rodriguez. That, to me, is what will be one of the biggest reasons this thing works. He's going to go do his job - coach - and let the his General Manager Chuck Lillie and Director of Football Ops Cole Dial manage the roster.

Of course, Rodriguez will have the final say in who the team pursues in the transfer portal and at the high school level, but he's not going to be the type of head coach who is going to wear 20 different hats. He trusts the people he's hired to do their jobs at a high level, so the main thing he has to worry about is coaching. And to be quite honest with you, I firmly believe that was the reason for Neal Brown's downfall. He tried to have his hands on a little bit of everything, and it ultimately cost him his job.

But getting back to Rodriguez, what's the ceiling for this team in his second go-around?

The sky is the limit, in my opinion. I'm not sure if they will ever be able to make a run all the way to the National Championship game because doing so now is a much more difficult thing to do than when he had the Mountaineers on the doorstep 17 years ago, but I'm not going to be the one that says it's impossible. At every place he's ever been, with the exception of Michigan, Rodriguez has always surpassed expectations and done things that no one thought to be possible.

“There’s a lot of opinions, and a lot of them are uneducated, and some of them don’t know the resources. But what we’ve tried to do at every place we’ve been to is build the best football program in America, and some had different challenges," Rodriguez said. "I’m really proud of what happened at Jax State, the players, and the staff we had there. We went from a 1-AA team to a 1-A team, and nobody’s ever done that and went to two straight bowls and won a conference championship in their second year. There’s a lot of Power Four teams that wouldn’t want to play Jax State right now, I can tell you that. As I mentioned earlier, if I was the same coach now that I was in 2007, then I didn’t follow my own guidelines for my players and my staff about getting better every day. I know the landscape has changed. The goalposts have moved, and we’ve moved with it. The great part about it is that this opportunity for me was so good, not only because it was home. Not only because I wanted to come back and make it right but because the school, Wren (Baker), and everybody associated with President Gee and the Board are committed to us having a seat at the table and trying to win. They’re not just trying to compete. They want to win, and we’re used to winning here.”

My belief is it's a matter of when Rodriguez will lead the Mountaineers to the College Football Playoff and how many times, rather than if he'll get them there. Will it happen in 2025? I'll go out on a limb here (not really) and say probably not. But it wouldn't surprise me whatsoever that if, by year three or four, they punch their ticket to the dance or are knocking on the door of that first-ever appearance.

West Virginia University head coach Rich Rodriguez | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

One of the biggest concerns from some fans is that he won't be able to have the same level of success at WVU this time due to the stark difference between the Big 12 and the Big East. There are no gimmes in this league, but there's also no one West Virginia should fear. Every game on the schedule is winnable, and you can say that for just about everyone in the conference. Coaching and development of players is what will be the separator in this conference, and as we all know, Rodriguez has always done more with less. I mean, heck, he nearly took an island of misfit toys to the national title game.

“I don’t know that from a football standpoint, ability-wise or schematic-wise or what have you, that it’s a whole lot different. It’s just a difference in the location," Rodriguez said when asked about the difference in leagues. "Most of the schools in the Big East, you’re competing against them in recruiting because everybody is in the same region. Now, everybody is everywhere, but so is recruiting is everywhere because of the transfer portal. When I was talking to Wren about that and looking at the Big 12, I’m like, I’m more familiar with these teams than maybe any other league because of my time in the PAC 12. You’re talking about Arizona, Arizona State, Utah…even played BYU a couple of times. I probably know those programs, know those regions, know how they recruit or how they’ve recruited in the past more than any other league.”

While the Big 12 is certainly a few steps up in degree of difficulty, Rodriguez also has more to work with from a resource standpoint than he did 17 years ago. They have a state-of-the-art locker room, endless amounts of recovery options, and a lot of money invested into nutrition, which ultimately raises the bar. He now has everything he wanted back in 2007 and then some. Plus, he'll never have to worry about having the resources available to keep key coordinators, assistants, and "front office" personnel. Continuity means something, even if the roster is ever-changing.

After nearly two decades of being hated by a large portion of people from his home state because of his decision to leave for Michigan, Rodriguez is on a mission to earn trust back. And I have a hard time counting a guy out who has a massive chip on his shoulder. The last time he was coaching in Morgantown, he was a part of the worst day in WVU football history, the 13-9 game against Pitt. You know that game still eats at him, even if he tries to bury it in the back of his brain. That result won't happen again.

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