Where Does WVU’s Rich Rodriguez Rank Among P4 Head Coaches?

The main reason WVU fans believe their Mountaineers can have success in 2025 is their belief in Rich Rodriguez. However, their confidence in Rodriguez as a winner may lead to being upset about where one national outlet ranks him among Power Four coaches.

Despite his track record and resume, CBS Sports has Rodriguez as only the 42nd best head coach within the current Power Four conferences.

“Welcome back to the rankings, RichRod! Rodriguez returns to West Virginia, where he enjoyed his greatest success after leading Jacksonville State to a 27-10 record the last three seasons. That includes an 18-8 mark in their first two seasons as an FBS program,” explained the CBS crew about where Rodriguez stands entering his debut season in his return to West Virginia.

Image credit to WVU Athletics

Since several analyst worked together to put together this list, they had to settle on a compromise placement for Rodriguez. He was ranked as high as No. 28 by one and as low as No. 57 by another.

Rutgers’ Greg Schiano, who Rodriguez remembers from his old Big East days, occupies the spot right behind him at No. 43 and Big 12 counterpart Willi Fritz of Houston is right ahead of him at No. 41.

While career resume wise Rodriguez could argue a much higher spot, he’s ranked where he is due to the uncertainty about how his recent to the major conference level. Of course, Rodriguez is coming off building up the Jacksonville State program from FCS to a consistent bowl team and Group of 5 conference champion, but the last time he enjoyed success in what was considered a major conference was back in 2014 with Arizona in the Pac-12.

WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose

WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose

And to be fair, other coaches with notable resumes who have yet to prove themselves in this era of the sport were also ranked below where their body of works may suggest they belong. In fact, Bill Belichick, often regarded as the greatest NFL coach of all-time, is only No. 54 since he’s yet to prove his championship pedigree will translate to college football.

For another Big 12 example and a coach Rodriguez will meet during the 2025 regular season, UCF’s Scott Frost sits at No. 61. Much like WVU bringing back Rodriguez, UCF is trying to harken back to their glory days by re-hiring Frost.

After leaving UCF to take over at his alma mater, Frost is back after failing in the Big Ten with Nebraska and his past accomplishments when UCF was a Group of 5 school now don’t mean as much.

For a related story, Rich Rodriguez explains why he expects WVU to contend for a Big 12 title right away.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez at WV Sports Now.