Rich Rodriguez Takes Ownership of ‘Misevaluations’ in Recruiting WVU Roster

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In an effort to provide more clarity on WVU’s struggles this season, Rich Rodriguez made a big admission on Tuesday.

As West Virginia sits at 2-5 and 0-4 in Big 12 play, Rodriguez admitted he “misevaluated” some of the transfer players he recruited during the offseason. And in addition to admitting he thought more of certain players, though he wouldn’t call anyone out by name, he has also come to terms with the fact it may take longer than he expected to fully ingratiate his “Hard Edge” culture into the entire program.

WVU HC Rich Rodriguez admits maybe he went too hard on selling how "Hard Edge" the Mountaineers would be right away to the fans. He says it takes time to fully get a culture into a program. He admits he was fooled that the team was fully "Hard Edge" throughout the offseason.

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 21, 2025

“I thought it was there, but it really wasn’t,” said Rodriguez about falsely believing this team was fully “Hard Edge” after their comeback win over rival Pitt in the Backyard Brawl.

Despite how bad 2025 has been, all hope is not lost for Rodriguez in terms of his ability to turn West Virginia into a national power again. He even disputed any thought the UCF, a program dealing with a similar situation, is as head of the WVU program as the final score of their matchup may indicate.

But Rodriguez is also not denying the disappointment of the 2205 season, even regardless of all of the injuries.

“We still have a ways to go… I think you have to play a whole season, but I thought we were further with that,” said Rodriguez.

WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez looks on during the 2025 season opener against Robert Morris. (WVSN photo by William Wotring)

Rodriguez’s latest comments about some “misevaluation” come on the heels of also confirming WVU was handcuffed from a financial perspective, something he promises has been rectified and won’t be another issue again.

It should be noted WVU defensive coordinator Zac Alley made a similar admission about screwing up the evaluation process for particular defensive players.

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

For a related story, WV Sports Now asks how much time Rich Rodriguez should get to fix the Mountaineers?