Rich Rodriguez Did Not Hold Back on What Went Wrong in the Transfer Portal

When Rich Rodriguez was hired last December, West Virginia was behind in recruiting the transfer portal, and by the time he got his staff in place, the portal was pretty picked over. It would have been a completely different situation if the Mountaineers just needed a dozen or so players, rather than the 80-some they ended up bringing in.

Monday night, Rodriguez talked extensively about the misfires in the portal and how they were in a challenging position last offseason compared to the setup they'll have this winter.

“The difference is, we’ll be better positioned financially than we were a year ago. Without going into all the details, there were a lot of holes that we needed and didn’t basically have the type of ability to get and fix those holes financially. Some of the ones here were going to get a bigger payday no matter what happened, but there were others that we wanted to bring (or keep) and all that, but we’re in a different place. I’m fortunate we have an athletic director and we have a board, and we have supporters that know what needs to happen and understand what we got to do moving forward. We’re in a completely different spot.

“We rushed on some," Rodriguez continued. "Not to pick on a spot, but the offensive line… like gosh, the top ten guys are gone. That’s first and second team. We got to find somebody that can be at least first or second team, and where are you going to find it in January with a new staff? We were a little bit late to that party, right?”

In addition to not being in a great spot financially and having to sort through a picked-over portal, WVU had no idea what they actually needed.

“We know more now what our true problems are than we did because I hadn’t gone through a spring practice with them," he said. "I watched two bowl practices, and that wasn’t enough. I watched game film, and that wasn’t enough. The guys we were playing in the spring weren’t playing in the bowl game. It’s a whole bunch of things. I’m not going to make excuses, but the reality is, the longer the staff is here, the better they’re going to be in filling our roster up.”

After going through spring, summer workouts, fall camp, and a full 12-game slate, it's pretty obvious where West Virginia needs to improve and what position groups are in decent shape. Just by simply knowing what your needs are should increase your hit rate in the portal, as will bringing in a smaller portal class, even if it's still considered large by normal standards.

Knowing the needs and having the resources will go a long way in fielding a much more competitive roster in 2026.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI