WVU Football
Rich Rodriguez Adds to Hype for 2026 Season, Confirms Belief in Team
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Any coach can hype up a new season, but doing it after a 4-8 year campaign can be risky. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez believes his hype, and so much so that he added to it days ahead of the kicking off his second season of his second tenure in Morgantown.
During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Rodriguez consistently brought up his team’s depth and experience, even if not all collectively from time together.
For Rodriguez, the talent isn’t even what gives him the most confidence. He believes in his team because of the way they’ve been working and how motivated and engaged they all seem.
“I like the way they work and I think they’re ready to play a game,” he said as why he knows they’re ready for Week 1.
The talent, work ethic, “Hard Edge” passion and experience has also led to a healthy amount of competition, especially at key positions.
“I think overall, there is a lot more competition to play at all the positions,” Rodriguez said. “We have competition at just about every position, and we couldn’t say that a year ago.” That’s why Rodriguez referred to his players as “very coachable” before seeing them in action against an opponent wearing an another team’s colors.
However, Rodriguez hinted that his belief in having multiple players down the depth chart who are “good enough to win with” may make him unwilling to tolerate as much as he did last season. But to that end, he’s hoping for health and for his starters to impress him in games as they have to this point.
West Virginia will kickoff the 2026 season at home against Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will follow a pregame ceremony to honor program legend and member of the current coaching staff Pat White.
Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez and the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.
jackson five
September 2, 2026 at 12:05 pm
RIGHT NOW, ALL RR IS DOING IS TRYING TO SELL MORE TICKETS,, HE HAS NO IDEA WHAT THIS TEAM WILL DO,,, JUST LIKE LAST YR,,
BUT IF HE ISN’T 7-5 AT THE END OF THIIS SEASON, WE WILL WITTNESS HOW HIS COACHING ENTHUSIASM PEAKED 15 YRS AGO, OR HE’S STILL GOT IT,,,
THIS WAS A DONOR PICK NOT WREN’S THAT’S FOR SURE,,,,, I STILL REMEMBER HOW HE TURNED UP HIS NOSE FOR WVU AND MOVED TO UM AND WAS A HUGE FLOP THERE..
7-5 WOULD REALLY BE FINE WITH ME,, EXPERTS ARE SAYING 4.5 ,,, WVU WILL NEVER , I MEAN NEVER BEAT UVA THIS YR,, WON’T EVEN BE CLOSE,, SO HOPEFULLY WE ARE 2-1 AFTER 3 GAMES AND DIDN’T FLOP ON CC.
BASKEBALL LOOKS GOOD, BUT LOOKS LIKE LORIENT MAY NOT BE ON THE TEAM,, THAT WOULD BE A HUGE BLOW IMO,, MAYBE NOT..
LET’S PUT BIG MONEY ON THE BASEBBALL TEAM , THEY REALLY MADE US PROUD, AND IF WREN DOESN’T HAVE THE MONEY,, KILL THE HEAD BASEBALL COACH GOODBYE,, TONS OF TEAMS WOULD LOVE TO HAVE HIM AND DOUBLE HIS SALARY.
Pissedeer
September 2, 2026 at 8:08 pm
Any person who buys a word of the Product’s self-promotion has no business in journalism. It is one thing to report what he says, but adding all the suck-up commentary is bush league hackdom at its worst.
Mike Asti
September 2, 2026 at 9:40 pm
You clearly don’t follow this site or my coverage on the regular because I am critical when it’s warranted and complimentary when it’s warranted. I am not going to only be negative or only be positive. This team is better than last year. I certainly didn’t say they’re wining the conference. I have no reason to suck up to anyone. None.