Asti: Keeping It Real on Rich Rodriguez, Why His Return to WVU Wouldn’t Guarantee Success

Because there will always be WVU fans who bring up Rich Rodriguez and want him back coaching the Mountaineers, the total picture of his coaching career needs discussed to show why there’s no guarantee his return would lead to success.

And for the necessary clarifier, I have no personal issue with Rich Rod, but I think people aren’t looking at the full picture of his career.

First off, for those who think he would instantly walk in the door and start winning, bringing all the vibes from his first tenure back, there’s no guarantee of that at all and that was not what happened the last time he led the Mountaineers.

He had to endure a horrible 3-win season in his first year (worse than Holgorsen or Brown’s worst season). I get the circumstances of that year, but there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t need at least a year like that again.

Now even for those who are willing to deal with a rough season or two with the hope Rodriguez eventually provides a higher ceiling than what Neal Brown has produced, his career doesn’t show that’s a lock to happen either.

Rodriguez’s WVU tenure was obviously elite, but he’s basically had only one great season within the Power Four (then Power Five) level at both Michigan and Arizona combined. He won 10 games and led Arizona to an appearance in the 2014 Pac-12 Championship Game (thanks to winning a division, a format and path that won’t exist in the Big 12).

Because there will always be people who bring Rich Rod up and want him back coaching WVU, this all needs said.

And to put this out there, I have no personal issue with Rich Rod, but I think people aren’t looking at the full picture of his career.

1. He had to endure a…

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) November 17, 2024

And when looking more recently at what he’s doing at Jacksonville State, yes, he’s having success and deserves credit for that, but it’s not like he’s steamrolling that schedule and his big turnaround is due to dropping three-straight games to open the season, something that if happens at WVU, fans would freak out before even allowing him to fix the year.

It’s also fair to bring up that he’s not exactly playing a schedule anything close to what he would have in the Big 12/WVU’s usual OOC slate. Say what you want about the Big 12 lacking any great or elite team that can contend for a national title, there are still four teams ranked in the current College Football Playoff and the Associated Press’ poll. Rodriguez will never have four ranked teams to worry about in a conference like Conference USA. Period.

And no matter how much some people just want Rodriguez back no matter what, pretty much everyone I’ve talked to close to him doesn’t think he’d ever even want to deal with everything that comes with coaching WVU again, especially not at this point in his career and life.

Think about it this way, too: as things stand right now, Rodriguez will forever go down as one of the greatest coaches in program history and the man responsible for one of the most exciting tenures ever in college football. As things stand, he will forever be a “what if??” story. A “what if?” story is better than knowing he couldn’t do it again in this era.

And if he returns to the WVU sidelines and his second tenure ends up not matching the hype, or worse…failing to even accomplish what Dana Holgorsen did, his legacy will be forever ruined.

And another important reminder, a West Virginia connection isn’t required to coach WVU and coaches without one have had success.

Turning to Rich Rod feels like looking back, not forward with no assurance of success.

In November 2022, WVSN’s Mike Asti asked WVU legend Rasheed Marshall if he would ever want Rich Rodriguez to return as head coach of the Mountaineers during an episode of their past “All Three Phases” podcast.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez at WV Sports Now.