Terrelle Pryor at West Virginia? Rich Rodriguez Believes He Would've Been 'Phenomenal'

The Buckeye star could've landed at West Virginia if Rich Rod stayed in Morgantown.

Jan 4, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; Ohio State Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2) scrambes in the first quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the 2011 Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome . Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Rich Rodriguez had the West Virginia Mountaineers humming from 2005-07, winning 11 games in three consecutive seasons. WVU was consistently ranked and inside the top ten, spending a fair amount of time in the top five, and climbing to as high as No. 2.

As we all know, the dynasty came to an abrupt end in 2007, shortly after the Mountaineers fell to a then-three-win Pitt team, keeping WVU out of the national championship. Rodriguez left for the Michigan job, which led to a brief head coaching stint for Bill Stewart before the program was passed off to Dana Holgorsen, and then Neal Brown.

Had Rodriguez stayed at WVU and turned down the Michigan job, the Mountaineers could have become perennial national title contenders. Pat White and Steve Slaton still had a year of eligibility, and although Slaton left early for the NFL, Noel Devine was waiting in the wings to take over as the guy in the backfield.

What most people outside of West Virginia are probably unaware of is that WVU was in a terrific spot to land quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who eventually landed at Ohio State and had a terrific career in Columbus.

Rodriguez was asked point-blank if he thought Pryor would have been a Mountaineer had he stayed at WVU in a recent interview with Pete Thamel and Rece Davis.

“That still would have been a hard get because Ohio State, obviously, they had a big brand, but I think our style of play and what Pat (White) was doing drew a lot of his interest. I think he would have been phenomenal, of course, in that (offense). We tried to get him at Michigan because they had all of their quarterbacks leave there.”

Going from Pat White to Terrelle Pryor would have kept WVU atop the Big East and remaining nationally relevant post-Pat White.

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