Rich Rodriguez is Driven by One Main Goal for His Second Tenure at WVU

Before agreeing to return, Rich Rodriguez wanted to make sure the WVU program shared his mindset. Earning a chance at redemption back in West Virginia was a dream scenario, but for Rodriguez, it wouldn’t be worth it if the Mountaineers were not striving to achieve the same common goal.

much like the WVU football program through its history, Rodriguez has won a lot of games, won conference titles and has lifted major trophies. However, there’s still something left for Rodriguez to accomplish before putting away his whistle for good to enjoy life with his family and two little dogs.

The now 61-year-old Rodriguez wants to win a national championship, doing so would be the only way to truly finish the job he started two decades ago.

Even though WVU director of athletics Wren Baker needed some questions answered from the coach before pulling the trigger on bringing the native son home, Rodriguez needed to know one thing from Baker before taking the job. He needed to be sure Baker and West Virginia as a program would do everything possible to try to win that elusive national title. Otherwise, Rodriguez wouldn’t bother and would ride off into the sunset at Jacksonville State, a place he built up, was comfortable and would likely have ultimate job security.

Baker, who has publicly said WVU is in a position to complete financially at a level that will allow an opportunity to contend within the Big 12 and on a national level, was sold. And more importantly, Rodriguez was sold on WVU’s vision as well.

“We’re going to have all the things you got to have to win a national championship. We might not have the extra stuff that some of the programs have, but we’re going to have enough. What we got to have, what is non-negotiable, is the earned success model and the hard edge mentality that we’ve got to exhibit every day,” said Rodriguez in a sit-down interview with CBS Sports’ Josh Pate.

“I wouldn’t have come back if I didn’t think we could win a national championship. I had a great situation at Jax State. I could have stayed there and finished my career, but I wanted to come back. It’s home. People that I care about, the school that I love, and you can win it all here. There will always be challenges, but when you do well here, it is so neat to see everybody in the state come together,” reiterated a confident Rodriguez.

But Rodriguez has been honest that his second tenure, much like his first one, will be a process. He knew he would need to completely overhaul the roster, and he has. He knew it would take time to administer his “hard edge” philosophy to a new generation of players who may have different motivations than he does. He spent most of the spring practice period doing that. He also knows he can’t endure the type of first season he did back in 2001.

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Rodriguez has also been honest about knowing he simply can’t go 3-8 this time around. The WVU program expects more, the fans demand more and he’s taking that seriously.

Is it fair to expect instant national title contention right away? No. But Rodriguez believes that a positive of this era of the sport is it’s actually easier to turn a program around in one year in many respects. Curt Cignetti managed to get Indiana, a football program with a far worse history than WVU, into the College Football Playoff in his first season at the helm. If Cignetti can do it there, Rodriguez believes it is possible at West Virginia.

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Rodriguez, a West Virginia native, currently holds a 190-128-2 overall coaching record. He experienced most of his success while leading the Mountaineers from 2001-2007. At WVU, Rodriguez won four Big East titles and was named conference Coach of the Year twice. He added a third Coach of the Year honor in the Pac-12 in 2014 with Arizona.

As for WVU, West Virginia stands as the winningest program (15th overall) without a national championship claim. The Mountaineers have 15 conference titles, but have failed to even reach a Big 12 Championship Game since joining the conference in 2012.

And while some argue WVU should claim a national title from the 1922 season – West Virginia went 10-0-1 that year, capturing the schools’ first-ever bowl win, in a season teams with fewer wins and a worse record claim a share of the title – the current 12-team College Football Playoff format creates a path to an undisputed title no one could deny, and that’s what keeps Rodriguez going.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez at WV Sports Now.

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