Thinking Big: Rich Rod Still Firmly Believes 'You Can Win it All' at West Virginia

The last time West Virginia was truly nationally relevant for an entire season, Rich Rodriguez was strolling the sidelines in Morgantown. Sure, there were some moments here and there in 2012, 2016, and 2018 where the Mountaineers had things rolling, but they were never in the national championship conversation from start to finish like that bunch in 2007 was.

After stops at Michigan, Arizona, Jacksonville State, and a few other places in between as an assistant, Rodriguez found his way back to his home state to lead the Mountaineers for a second time, hoping this time around he can chase down that elusive first national title.

Yes, Rich Rod believes the Mountaineers can still win it all, even in today's climate. He said it at his introductory press conference, a few times throughout the spring, and once again in a recent interview with CBS Sports' Josh Pate.

“We’re going to have all the things you got to have to win a national championship. We might not have the extra stuff that some of the programs have, but we’re going to have enough. What we got to have, what is non-negotiable, is the earned success model and the hard edge mentality that we’ve got to exhibit every day. I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t think we could win a national championship. I had a great situation at Jax State. I could have stayed there and finished my career, but I wanted to come back. It’s home. People that I care about, the school that I love, and you can win it all here. There’s always going to be challenges, but when you do well here, it is so neat to see everybody in the state come together.”

Although turning a program around can be a much quicker process because of the transfer portal, it's still going to require a little bit of patience. Building a winning culture doesn't happen overnight. It takes at least two years to put in place. Regardless, there is a belief that it can be done, which is something the two previous head coaches never publicly talked about.

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