WVU Football
Rich Rodriguez Shares Timeline to Announce WVU Staff, Talks Names Rumored

Now that West Virginia’s 2024 season is officially over and Rich Rodriguez is a full week removed from his introductory press conference as head coach, the big news fans are waiting for is who will joining him on his staff.
While reports are circulating about decisions Rodriguez has already made, he was asked directly about who he may bring in and a timeline for the news by Hoppy Kercheval during his Friday appearance on the West Virginia MetroNews’ Talkline show.
Rodriguez declined to give any information, but did admit to having conversations with the likes Jeff Casteel, his top defensive coach from his first tenure who also stayed with the Mountaineers through 2011 and then recently returned to coach linebackers under Neal Brown, or Rick Trickett, his assistant head coach and offensive line coach at WVU until 2006 and his offensive line coach at Jacksonville State since 2022.
Report: WVU Football Coach Being Retained in Midst of Major Changes
The only real piece of news offered by Rodriguez are his plans for how he will unveil the news and his timeline to announce the hires publicly.
Rodriguez said he expects to make his final decisions on key members in the coming days, but will wait until January to completely share the news of his whole staff. He added that he even prefers to let each hire be announced one at a time instead in one big press release.
To support what WV Sports Now has been hearing, a report by FootballScoop suggests Rich Rodriguez has made some big decisions as he prepares to put together his new staff for his second tenure in West Virginia.
Rodriguez will be retaining Blaine Stewart, who has worked at WVU the past two seasons as a tight ends coach, for an unspecified role. Blaineโs father, Bill Stewart, worked under Rodriguez on his first WVU staff and then took over upon his exit to Michigan in 2007.
This means the likes of Chad Scott, Jeff Koonz, Matt Moore, Bilal Marshall, Tyler Allen, Andrew Jackson, ShaDon Brown and Victor Cabral will not be back with the WVU football program in 2025.
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.
But no matter how many games he won and trophies he lifted, Rodriguezโs first WVU tenure was tainted by the way he left โ 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 for West Virginia.
For a related story, here are a couple of the top candidates for the role of defensive coordinator under Rich Rodriguez.
Also, WVU legend Pat White openly discussed his desire to return to West Virginia and work for his former coach.