Sunday Morning Thoughts: Rich Rod Isn't Going to Cut Corners in This Rebuild

Losing 49-0 is not how anyone expected the season to end for West Virginia.

Everyone knew the challenges that Texas Tech presented and knew it would likely be a two-score or more defeat. Still, the belief was that the Mountaineers would show some fight, keep it interesting for a little while, and for goodness' sake, at least get some points on the board.

None of that happened.

The good thing about it? It's over.

That should be as bad as it ever gets in Rich Rodriguez's second stint at West Virginia. The level of competitiveness will improve, the depth will improve, and you'll start to see this team resemble its coach by playing hard all of the time as opposed to some of the time.

Getting WVU back on the national map may take some time, though, which no one wants to hear. When you take a massive high school recruiting class and only plan on adding a dozen or so transfers, you bank on the evaluation and development of those in this 2026 class.

And for what it's worth, I believe it's the right thing to do.

You need to establish the culture, and the best way to do that is by getting guys who only know your way of doing things. Of course, not all 30-40-some freshmen are going to be hits, but the bigger the class, the better chance you have to hit on certain spots.

Not all of those freshmen are going to be able to step in and take on a starting or contributing role from day one, which is why this thing may not be flipped into a Big 12 contender by next fall. Then again, if you have enough hits in this class, big strides in internal development, and have a high hit rate in the transfer portal class, anything is possible.

I'm not in any way, shape, or form ready to put a ceiling on next year's team because doing so would be silly without knowing who is going to be here. We'll know that much sooner than we did last year because of just one transfer portal window.

What I am really trying to get at here is that there is a chance that taking a big freshman class is more of a play on the future. For WVU, that's the best way to have sustained success. Sure, you can cut corners and try to piece this thing together largely through the portal, but unless you have deep pockets, you're playing with fire.

The best way for programs to have sustained success is by building it through the high school ranks. Rodriguez will get this thing fixed, and you'll start to see that on the field next year, even if the Mountaineers aren't in title contention.

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