Rich Rodriguez spent a bulk of his time during spring break evaluating 2026 prospects.
The head coach had a total of around 110 players that he watched tape on and then moved onto the current players on the roster with what time he had remaining.
And one of the things that West Virginia plans to place an emphasis on more moving forward than in the past are those players that can potentially bring more to the table in terms of handling multiple roles. That’s more critical than ever due to the upcoming shift in roster sizes down to just 105 players.
That might seem like a lot, but Rodriguez would like to have several options that could either play on both sides of the ball or fill multiple roles on special teams.
“I think you'll see a little bit more than that,” he said.
Travis Hunter stood out doing both this past season, winning the Heisman Trophy at Colorado as a cornerback and a wide receiver and while that might be an extreme example, Rodriguez believes that there are players that are either on the roster now or they will recruit that could handle dual roles.
Whether that be playing defensive end and tight end, or wide out and wide receiver or down all of the special teams roles that will be part of the coaching staff’s evaluation for 2026 prospects and the current roster.
“Those guys that create more value for themselves that way create more value for the team, as well,” he said. “So, all that's kind of getting evaluated, and I think that gets evaluated anyway, but now we'll probably be more intentional in who we go to the season with based on some of those factors.”
In terms of the current team, Rodriguez references the meeting rooms, which he refers to as truth rooms as he wants all of his players to understand that there are hard decisions to make when it comes to the roster. Some players are going to be on that edge and being able to showcase the ability to do more is key.
That is why there has been a focus on putting players in competitive situations in order for the coaches to see how they handle things
“You do something to differentiate yourself from that other guy,” he said.
That’s a different style of approach than in the past, when players were essentially married to either the offensive or defensive sides of the ball with special teams work splashed in between. While that won’t be the case for all players, it does help to be active in attempting to add as much as you can to your portfolio.
“You have to find ways to make yourself valuable. What can this guy do? The guys that can do the most are going to be kept. The guys that play on punt, guys that can run down on kickoff, KOR, you name it, I would advise anybody to do that as far as learning new jobs and new skill sets and that sort of thing. Whatever you can do to make yourself valuable to a team that’s what you can do,” linebacker Reid Carrico said.
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