Rich Rodriguez Not Giving up on WVU’s 2025 Season: ‘I Want to Win Yesterday’

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sitting at 2-4 through WVU’s first six games, fans are busy shifting their focus to next year and beyond. While he always has to have his mind on the future, Rich Rodriguez wants to emphasize he’s not giving up on this season.

Rodriguez spent most of his weekly press conference discussing what his team worked on during the bye week and how they can finish the rest of the 2025 season strong. He did talk about the overall landscape of the sport – he’s still advocating for a salary cap on how much schools can spend even in this revenue sharing era – and clarified his plan to bring in a top high school class and then sprinkle in transfers when needed, but did so all while making it clear he still believes in his current group.

“I am not giving up on this year’s team at all. I like our guys. They still work,” said a still confident Rodriguez on Tuesday leading into a road trip to Orlando to face UCF, another Big 12 program looking for a return to glory.

WVU HC Rich Rodriguez: "I'm not giving up on this season at all."

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 14, 2025

“I want to win yesterday,” said Rodriguez in the midst of admitting he has far less patience now than he did at the start of his first tenure. That’s part of why he spent most of this past offseason professing how West Virginia can win right away and a two or three-win year – his first WVU team finished 2001 at 3-8 – would be unacceptable.

To that end, Rodriguez believes WVU has to put more energy into themselves than worrying about what any opponent. He feels the Mountaineers have beat themselves above all else in their losses to Ohio, Kansas, Utah and BYU.

Rodriguez challenged his coaching staff, asking them if they have done everything possible to put the players in the best position to win right now. So aside from the injuries, Rodriguez still views the first six games as missed opportunities for who has been on the field.

Showing Rodriguez’s players are still bought in, veteran linebacker Ben Cutter, one of the few holdovers from the previous staff, said the 2025 Mountaineers can start winning if they just stay together.

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

For a related story, WVU is viewed as a touchdown underdog against UCF.