Cam Cook Opens Up About Why West Virginia, His Fit in System

Since Cam Cook didn’t play for Rich Rodriguez at Jacksonville State – Rodriguez was already back in home in West Virginia when Cook was become the nation’s leading rusher, he wanted to do his homework before agreeing to transfer to WVU.

Cook opened up about why he felt joining Rodriguez was the right decision for him during a recent appearance on the “3 Guys Before the Game” podcast.

“I definitely looked into their past history and their style,” said Cook. That’s something I didn’t look into when I got to TCU. When I was a senior in high school, I wasn’t looking for what kind of play style fits me and what was good for me. I was just…this is close to home; I can be around my family still and still ball out. But at the end of the day, I just think that the play style hadn’t fit how I wanted to play. So going into the portal the first time, that’s something I looked at.”

And despite not playing for Rodriguez at Jacksonville State, he can reflect back now and realize the system he was apart of with the Gamecocks is similar to what WVU employs.

“I went to Jax State, and it definitely fit me. This is a similar scheme. We play fast, too, want to run the ball, and Coach Trickett came. The way he coached and the way he was so hard on our o-line, everybody was going to do their job. You didn’t have to worry about nobody. Everybody was going to go out there and put their best foot forward regardless. They trying not to get yelled at. He’s going to yell at you. He’s going to yell at me. He’s going to yell at everybody there, so you want to do whatever you can to be right around him,” he said.

Cam Cook Is Confident He Can Carry WVU Offense: ‘I’m Going to Do Whatever It Takes’

Not worried about the workload expected of him in 2026, Cook discussed carrying the ball so much last year and why that prepared him for being Rodriguez’s next star running back.

“I definitely felt the carries, but it didn’t mean nothing to me. I think before the season had started, I had talked to those coaches, and they told me what it was going to be, so I locked in on making sure my body was ready for that, making sure I was prepared for that. Making sure after every game, stay in the training room and make sure I get my body back to 100.”

Find more coverage of Cam Cook and WVU football at WV Sports now.

For a related story, Rich Rodriguez explains why he targeted Cam Cook in the transfer portal.