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Rich Rodriguez Reiterates Past Comments About Controversial 2007 WVU Exit

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WVU Football Rich Rodriguez at Frisco Bowl

Even as he’s focused on the future of WVU football, Rich Rodriguez is still often asked about the past. And no matter what happens during his second tenure as West Virginia’s head coach, his controversial 2007 exit will also always be part of his story.

During a recent appearance on the “3 Guys Before the Game” show, Rodriguez reiterated his side of his departure.

Below is Rodriguez’s full response when asked why he made the decision to leave West Virginia for Michigan:

“That is a loaded question and there’s probably not a simple answer. The Pitt loss was the worst professional day of my career. It always has been and hopefully always will be the worst day. I don’t want anything worse than that, right? But that really didn’t have anything to do with it. That was non-impactful on anything that happened afterwards,” said Rodriguez to emphasize something he’s said multiple times in the past – the 13-9 loss to Pitt was not why he left WVU.

“There was some frustration I had, you know, it wasn’t as much administrative frustration as maybe what was out there, but there was some frustration because I was losing coaches and we thought we had built one of the best programs in America. And I wanted to keep them there and I wanted to keep my coaches and staff there. And well, I thought what I was asking for at the time was reasonable,” he added.

Rodriguez then brought up what he refers to as “the tipping point” for him. However, just like what he said about the Pitt loss and his frustrations, this should not be digested as new information either.

“I do remember asking for $50,000 more to pay for my staff total, not individually…$50,000 total. And I thought, ‘Jeez, we’ve had a great year’ and I thought we could probably get that. And I was told not by Eddie (former WVU AD Ed Pastilong), but by administration above him, that they’ve done all they can for me and to take it or leave it, and they wouldn’t give me the $50,000. And I was already down because we lost to Pitt, but I still thought we had a great staff and didn’t want to lose those guys, so that was maybe the tipping point for me,” said Rodriguez.

“But had I calmed down from the frustration from that and then saw where we were at and realized that it was better here than at Michigan…had I visited Michigan, I wouldn’t have taken the job because our facilities were okay, but Michigan’s had a whole lot of work to do too. They didn’t want to hear that because Michigan, you know, they like to be Michigan, and they don’t have to do anything different.”

The past can’t be changed and the past doesn’t really matter now. What matters now for Rodriguez is working to restore the WVU program back to glory.

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.

WVU Football HC Rich Rodriguez

Credit to WVU Athletics

No matter how many games he won and trophies he lifted, Rodriguez’s first WVU tenure was tainted by the way he left – bolting for Michigan following the infamous 13-9 loss to Pitt, a defeat that cost the Mountaineers a trip the BCS National Championship Game.

After his departure from WVU, Rodriguez spent three lackluster years at Michigan and six seasons with Arizona, highlighted by winning 10 games and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl in 2014. Most recently, he led Jacksonville State through a successful transition from FCS to FBS and won the 2024 Conference USA title before leaving to return to West Virginia.

For a related story, Mike Asti explains what he believes to be Rich Rodriguez’s strategy with the quarterback position going into spring ball.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez at WV Sports Now.

For anyone who needs a refresher and further proof, Rodriguez’s comments are not new, check out the videos below for reference.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Jon

    January 30, 2025 at 10:25 pm

    He left for Michigan the day after the Pitt loss how he says now he talked to Michigan after is weird because it must have been in the parking lot,now I’ve accepted he’s back but hearing him throw them under the bus over their facility is what caused his failure there is making me wonder.

  2. Bob

    January 31, 2025 at 4:54 pm

    Rich lies because if he won the Pitt game WVU is playing in the National Championship in January. Michigan wasn’t going to wait. This was told to me by a player on the team that year, a starter. Pat White got hurt but he did run Steve Slaton much , an first team All-American. Another player on that team claimed the head defensive coach had numerous arguements with Rich for changing the defenses.

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