Opinion
WVU Football Closes Smoother Spring With Saturday Festival
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With the spring practice period coming to a close on Saturday, there’s a clear different vibe around the WVU football program this year, something Rich Rodriguez even admitted after one of the final practices.
After being able to enjoy a more normal offseason and enjoy more recruiting success, Rodriguez, and the staff as a whole, can tell that the 2026 group appears more ready to go.
For Rodriguez, this spring, without a second spring transfer portal window waiting, has allowed the process to be further along at both developing the team and evaluating his players. He’s mentioned throughout the spring about being able to solidify most of the depth chart earlier in the summer, rather than going into fall camp with every position wide open again.
“We can tell from a competitive standpoint, an athletic standpoint. I think so. We had more money to spend this year than last year,” said Rodriguez, admitting that the bump in money to use to acquire players has made this spring easier and allowed him to acquire more natural talent on the roster, a roster that is mostly set in April, already a stark contrast to one year ago.
Without revealing exactly which positions exactly, Rodriguez also feels the team is deeper in certain spots than he even expect going into spring. There’s nowhere on the roster that makes him wish there was another portal window available to find new players as replacements.
What to Expect on Saturday….
And as far as what to expect in Saturday’s Gold-Blue Spring Festival, the Mountaineers will hold a scrimmage ahead of day’s festivities – Jake Owen will perform a concert for fans in attendance on the field at Milan Puskar Stadium.
WVU Football to Hold Concert to Wrap Up Gold-Blue Spring Festival
West Virginia will be split into two teams, with most of the players being “live” except for the quarterbacks. Scotty Fox, who has been practicing in a brace on his leg, and Michael Hawkins Jr., will have black jerseys on to signal no contact. To stop anything from getting out of hand, coaches will blow whistles if any defender appears poised to rush the quarterback.
The goal of Saturday is for fans to get a look at the 2026 Mountaineers and to soak up the warm weather and West Virginia fun.
Find more coverage of the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.
For a related story, WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti offered his takeaways from the spring practice he attended.
