The Lazy Conclusion Everyone Has Jumped to on WVU Football

With just a quick browse of the internet, you will quickly find that many in the college football industry are not expecting much from the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2026. The projections vary from being arguably the worst team in the Big 12 to somewhere in the 10-12 range of the 16-team league.

The number one thing, I believe, that is fueling these low expectations is the massive roster flip that WVU underwent for the second straight off-season, bringing in over 80 new players.

In the previous era of college football, bringing back very few starters and players with experience would have put you in a bind. It would’ve been fairly acceptable for everyone to assume that you weren’t going to be very good. In this era, I’m not so sure that’s the case.

West Virginia isn’t going to rip off 10 wins and be in the College Football Playoff conversation this fall, but they also aren’t going to win just three or four games as a lot of people seem to think.

On the offensive side of the ball, WVU has its answer at quarterback with Mike Hawkins Jr., added the nation's leading rusher in Cam Cook, has a strong core of receivers led by Jaden Bray, Prince Strachan, DJ Epps, and John Neider, and infused the offensive line with a boatload of experience and the hiring of Rick Trickett.

The offensive line will be one of the most improved units in the Big 12, entering the season with over 5,500 career snaps under its belt, and that’s with a true freshman expected to start. This is why an assumption of a team being bad because of a roster flip is just a lazy evaluation. Obviously, they still have to go out there and execute, but the caliber of player that will be starting on that line will have more experience and production than anybody did on that starting unit a year ago.

I’m not going to spend a bunch of time fluffing up the defense, mainly because I do believe there are some major question marks on that side of the football. That being said, they do have more playable bodies, and whether it’s by week three or the middle of the season, they should be able to figure out a two-deep that gives them a chance to win and be competitive on a weekly basis.

Rich Rodriguez — WVU Athletics Communications

The start of the 2026 schedule is very manageable for the Mountaineers as well, and if they take care of business in the first couple of weeks, they will have a chance to move to 3–0 against what will be a very good test in Virginia. Winning that game will give them a huge boost of confidence, and with three of the following four games to be played in Morgantown, they will be positioned to rattle off a few more wins early on.

I’ve always said one of the most dangerous things in college football is a young team that believes it can do something special. The schedule, on paper, set up nicely for them to build that confidence while they figure some things out.

Every roster flip is different, and that is certainly the case with the ones WVU went through the last two years.

The coaching staff had a full year to understand what they needed and how much they needed at each position, and to identify potential targets in the transfer portal before it opened, as opposed to trying to figure things out on the fly with nobody on staff aside from Rich Rodriguez and Chief of Staff Dusty Rutledge.

Many of the additions last year were just roster fillers, if we are being honest; hence, many of those who are in are no longer here. This time around, they were more intentional about who they targeted and brought in, and the results will show that during the season.

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