Rich Rodriguez Shares the Story of How Badly He Wanted Kevin Brown to Join West Virginia

If you had told Rich Rodriguez a few months ago that he would be able to flip Penn State offensive line commit Kevin Brown, he would have been able to take a huge deep breath and feel much better about the future despite having brutal offensive line play this season.

In mid-November, Brown officially flipped his commitment to West Virginia in an announcement on The Pat McAfee Show, making Rodriguez the happiest person in the state.

“He was committed to Penn State, and we said, well, let’s just have him come down to camp, and he did," Rodriguez said. "And then guys like him a lot of times don’t want to work out. Well, Kevin was just the opposite. I mean, he was doing every drill and all that, and it hurt my feelings even more after watching him work out because I mean, this dude, he was a monster, right? All I did was, like, we’ve got to get him somehow because you saw him at camp and he was everything you thought he would be. At least he came here, and I was just like, let’s keep plugging away and plugging away. And then when they had their change-up there (at Penn State), it gave us a little bit of a crack. When he came down for his visit, it was a great visit. Not a good visit, a great visit. It was good to see his dad (Tim) and his family. He’s everything you want in a football player.”

This is a guy who could not only start from day one, but be an all-league type of player from the jump. Maybe it's second-team, third-team, or honorable mention, but nonetheless, he's going to be one of the best offensive linemen in the Big 12, and his presence will go a long, long way in fixing all of the issues at the point of attack.

He's a tone-setter for not only the 2026 team, but the future of West Virginia football. It all starts in the trenches, and the Mountaineers have at least one foundational piece to build with.

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