Rich Rodriguez Details Vision for Making College Football Regional Again

Trying to win in the current climate doesn’t preclude Rich Rodriguez from fantasizing about how college football should be in his eyes. Rodriguez even took time out of his speech about the 2026 Mountaineers to reiterate a point he’s made in the past.

The now 63-year-old WVU head coach wants college football to become regionally focused again. And if he’s named God of the sport, he’s ready to implement a clear plan to put every school in their proper place.

“I love the Big 12, but it would be nice to have some regional [matchups]. Can’t we all come together and shake hands and give each other a group hug, and then have an Eastern Regional, a South Regional, a North Regional, and everyone just share the money?,” asked Rodriguez.

He then continued his rant.

“There’s money for everybody and we can all get along. Sixty of us or so. I think that would be great. I’m gonna put my pitch right now – I’m not speaking for anybody but Coach Rod, and he would like for all the Power Four teams to come together, shake hands and let’s get the biggest TV package in the history of TV packages, and [WVU] could have Pitt and Virginia Tech and Penn State and Maryland, Cincinnati and maybe Virginia and North Carolina. All right there. Fans could drive to it. Rivalry every year….. I got a lot more time behind me than ahead of me. I want to get this thing right before I leave.”

Fully aware he can only control what he can control, Rodriguez can still emphasize with fans who wish the sport could get back in time, especially in terms of the schedule.

His most recent comments come after he first brought up his ideal conference as part of an interview with Pete Nakos of On3 Sports, the 63-year-old head coach spoke candidly about what his ideal landscape for both WVU and the sports as a whole would look like. It’s one that resembles what we he knew, not what’s going on and where the sport is headed.

“We should all come together in one league and have regions as they do in the NFL. We have Pitt and Penn State, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Virginia, Cincinnati — all those schools right around us in our area. Our fans would eat that up. That would be great, wouldn’t it? I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen because there are TV agreements for the next six or seven years, but I’d love to play Pitt every year.”

WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez looks on after winning the 2025 season opener – his first win as West Virginia’s head coach since 2007. (WVSN photo by William Wotring)

All of that may sound like music to the ears of Mountaineer Nation, but in reality, college football has morphed into a professional league, granted one without the results and regulations required in the NFL, the NBA, MLB or the NHL.

Part of that transformation has been a series of conference realignments that’s led to just four conferences retaining their “power” distinction and a noticeable difference in actual power from the Big Ten and SEC to the Big 12 and ACC.

West Virginia is now a decade and a half into its tenure as a member of the Big 12, a period that has failed to result in one single conference title and now a seven-year drought without appearing in the Associated Press poll. The last WVU Football conference title came in the program’s final season in the old Big East, resulting in hanging 70 points on Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

In addition to the decline in terms of on field success, WVU plays a Big 12 schedule that requires traveling all over the country. It means playing teams in Arizona and Colorado, all the way to Florida, with Cincinnati as the closest to Morgantown.

It also means playing nine league games, leaving only three left for non conference opponents. That makes scheduling regional rivals extremely difficult. It makes scheduling more than one in a season literally impossible. While WVU has played all of the teams Rodriguez mentioned in the last decade, and all but Maryland in recent years – only Pitt appears on a future schedules.

Also, and in an effort to keep West Virginia on as much of a level playing field as possible, director of athletics Wren Baker will employ a model that only permits one P4 opponent outside of the Big 12. The other non conference games will be against FCS and Group of 5 competition, just as is the case for most major programs.

Prior to Baker being able to fix the schedule, WVU was playing 11 Power Four opponents each season, although this was happening during a period most similar schools capped themselves at 10.

So barring an unforeseen turn of events, there’s no reason for realigning the conferences to a top priority for Rodriguez as he faces pressure to turn West Virginia into a winner.