Rich Rodriguez Acknowledges ‘Conservative’ Play-calling, Clears Up Aftermath of Coastal Carolina Win

Fully aware of the criticism he’s been receiving since WVU opened the 2026 season with a 31-24 win over Coastal Carolina, Rich Rodriguez addressed his play-calling and other aspects of the game on Monday night.

Rodriguez was frustrated in what transpired in the second half – Coastal Carolina scored all 24 of their total points in the second half and mound a comeback that seemed to just run out of time.

“It was one of the first times I’ve ever had a staff meeting directly after the game,” said Rodriguez. “I wanted to have that meeting while I was still pissed off. We know what we did wrong. A lot of the stuff was avoidable. We lost contain 10 times that game and had stupid penalties that gave them first downs. The discipline part was the problem.”

While the offense looked explosive at times and showed enough to make fans excited, the defensive struggles canceled that out for some as well. Defensively, West Virginia held Coastal Carolina to only 52 yards on the ground, a testament to the defensive line and linebackers. However, quarterback Deuce Bailey was still able to lead his offense down the field by dicing up the Mountaineer secondary. Bailey threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

“We had bad eyes more than bad angles. We play match coverage a lot, which is kind of half man-half zone. There were a couple times when we matched the wrong way and had bad eye discipline.”

And after saying he at least liked the effort following the game, Rodriguez was singing a different tune during the WVU Coaches Show.

Coastal Carolina QB Deuce Bailey being chased by WVU defender during the 2026 season-opener. (WVN photo by Kelsie LeRose)

“There were a few times when guys were on the ground on defense when they should’ve popped right back up. The ground should be a hot stove, when you touch it you get back up. We were treating it like a sofa,” he said.

As far as the play-calling and why the offense failed to show the same spark from one half to the next, Rodriguez admitted getting too conservative upon reflection, but was hoping to get out of the game with the win without having to open up the playbook or expose their future plans too much.

“I got a little conservative. There were some times when they were bringing everybody towards the end of the game. I could’ve just thrown a pass and probably scored a touchdown. But I was mad that they were just scrambling around on us so I just wanted to get the game over with.”

But no matter what Rodriguez says after the fact, the game is in the past, and fortunately for West Virginia, it does go down as a win. It’s now up to WVU to try to impress in a tuneup type game against UT Martin before heading to Charlotte, N.C. for a neutral site showdown with the Virginia Cavaliers.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez and the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.