Rich Rodriguez Evaluating Staff on Development of WVU’s Defense

After two lackluster performances by the WVU defense, head coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff have been searching for answers of how to fix it, and fast.

One aspect Rodriguez has consistently emphasized is putting the players in the right position, something he doesn’t believe he and the staff have done well enough to this point.

“Well, coaching-wise, obviously we got to try to find out about our guys and the right position to put them in more consistently,” Rodriguez said in a press conference on Tuesday. “By now, we should have a pretty good idea what our players’ strengths and weaknesses are so we can plan accordingly, as far as what their responsibilities are on the field.”

On the year, WVU is the 133-ranked FBS team in total defense out of 138 teams. As poorly as that side of the ball has performed, he said it’s not for a lack of effort.

“It’s frustrating because our guys are all working hard, our players are working hard, and, you know, we just haven’t had the results and haven’t played like we need to and the way we should be playing on defense,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also took a “big picture” approach to the defense. This is the second year with a large roster turnover, which means even older players are learning a new system. He compared it to his first stint at WVU over 20 years ago when discussing how fixing these issues has changed.

“And that’s probably the biggest difference for us. We got 10 new starters. We got to start all over again. And sometimes as coaches, we got to sit back and  understand that they might be 20 years old, but they’ve only been in this system for less than a year. So we got to coach accordingly, if that makes sense,” Rodriguez added.

Rodriguez also noted the added challenge of NIL and the transfer portal. However, he remains confident that players who stick with the program for more than one year will develop.

“Now, if we pick the right guy, we got to be able to retain him and be able to pay to retain him. But we also have to develop him,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not discouraged because I know our guys will keep getting better every year they’re here, not just physically but mentally in our schemes.”

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