Rich Rodriguez Discusses Big News of Day, Future of WVU Football on Pat McAfee Show

WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez was in a much better mood on Tuesday and appeared on the Pat McAfee Show to celebrate the good news of the day.

While Rodriguez can’t talk directly about a recruit before he officially signs, he joined the show immediately after West Virginia landed top offensive line prospect Kevin Brown.

“I heard we’re having a good day, I guess,” said a smiling Rodriguez at the start of his segment.

"We're having a great day..

I hear there are couches that are burning" 😂😂@RealCoachRod #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/wmdEM0shpN

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 18, 2025

Rodriguez then got into what he’s looking for in players, all attributes that Brown conveniently possesses.

“As a coach you wanna find guys that love football.. Those are the guys that we want at West Virginia and they’re out there.”

Even though the 2025 season did not go as planned, Rodriguez believes in the process and believes WVU will become a national contender once his culture is fully in place, something he feels may happen as soon as next year.

“We had to make sure that we set the culture our first year and that’s painful sometimes. We think we’re getting there and this time next year we expect to be talking about the College Football Playoff.”

"We had to make sure that we set the culture our first year and that's painful sometimes..

We think we're getting there and this time next year we expect to be talking about the College Football Playoff" ~ @RealCoachRod #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/6nYjTpU9Xb

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 18, 2025

Once Rodriguez has his next great Mountaineer team in place, it will display a mental and physical toughness WVU fans once grew accustomed to seeing every Saturday.

“You have to be mentally and physically tough.. That serves you well not only in football but for the rest of your life.. There’s gonna be adversity and we want our guys to handle adversity better than anybody in the country.”

"You have to be mentally and physically tough..

That serves you well not only in football but for the rest of your life..

There's gonna be adversity and we want our guys to handle adversity better than anybody in the country" ~ @RealCoachRod #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/pFwztXkbx6

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 18, 2025

Brown ended his flirtation with West Virginia by committing live on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.

Brown’s commitment came after taking an official visit in late October and even wearing WVU gloves while leading his high school team to a win.

A four-star recruit out of Harrisburg High School, Brown committed to Penn State in July of 2024. Brown ending up as a Mountaineer brings his football journey full circle for his family. His dad played for Rich Rodriguez during his first WVU tenure.

Top 50 National OL Kevin Brown Commits to WVU Football Live on Pat McAfee Show

For an historical context, Brown now becomes WVU football’s highest rated national recruit since Noel Devine.

But beyond the legacy connection, West Virginia pursuing Brown so hards makes sense on the field above all else.

As a prospect, Brown is rated as the No. 2 in Pennsylvania in his class via 247 Sports’ Composite Rankings and a top 10 offensive tackle in the country.

Brown also visited Ohio State and had offers from major brands like Alabama, Auburn, Boston College, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Tennessee, Wisconsin among others.

Find more coverage of WVU football recruiting on WV Sports Now.

For a related story, WVU OL commit Kevin Brown says he wants to reignite past tradition in Morgantown.