Rich Rod Shares Biggest Concern & When He'll Know If WVU Will Be Alright

Things are headed in the right direction, but so much newness creates a certain level of concern.

Oct 25, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez argues a call during the third quarter against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Today marks day three of fall camp for West Virginia, and with it being so early in August, head coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff are still unsure of how good this team will be. That's the case for every staff around the country this early on.

Rodriguez was pleased with the progress that was made in winter workouts, spring ball, and the summer workouts that the players ran, but until you get deep into fall camp, it's hard to truly know what you have, especially when you have over 80 new faces on the roster.

Rich Rod does seem to be more confident in this group, but he'll need to get through a couple of weeks of practice before that confidence can be truly validated.

"The concern is that it’s the first year, first season for a lot of guys. Now, we don’t have 40 seniors like we had last year. I don’t know what we have, like 16 or 17 seniors- so we’ll have a lot of the guys back, I think, unless they get bought out somewhere or whatever the case may be. But I think we’re getting closer to developing the type of culture and environment that we want, but I can’t make that statement after one practice. I would like to say, if you ask me this in two weeks, is the environment, the attitude, the intensity, how hard they play, is it where you think you should be after two weeks? If I’m not sure then, then I have concerns. But I think in two weeks, they’ll be where I want them to be.”

Experience and production should help ease that concern

WVU Athletics Communications

When Jahiem White went down a year ago, WVU was scrambling to find an answer while trying to get Tye Edwards up to speed. And then he got hurt, and it really sent the Mountaineers' run game spiraling.

What a year a difference makes. Now, they have the nation's leading rusher, paired with a talented freshman in Amari Latimer and a JUCO product in Martavious Boswell, who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season.

The starting offensive line is among the most experienced groups in the entire country, logging over 5,000 snaps. Putting an experienced group with Rick Trickett should lead to much better results in the trenches.

Defensively, WVU may be replacing all 11 starters, but the caliber of player they have brought in is much higher than what they had in 2025. They actually played at their previous stops and made an impact. That certainly beats journeymen, former walk-ons, and guys that barely sniffed the field.