Rich Rodriguez has been a lot of different places in his career.
But he’s happy to be home in West Virginia.
Rodriguez loved his time at Jacksonville State, where he led the Gamecocks to a 27-10 record over three seasons and transitioned the program from FCS to FBS.
“We were having success going to bowl games, won the conference and all of that. And so I’d have been perfectly happy just finishing my career out there,” Rodriguez said on The Triple Option Podcast.
But the allure of home was simply too much to pass up in the end.
Especially when you consider that not only is West Virginia home for the Grant Town native, but his success in his last stint here, having the program on the doorstep of a national championship appearance.
“We were close the last time we were here. I think we can win a national championship. I hadn’t seen the facility since I left and they did a fantastic job with our facility,” Rodriguez said. “And so all the pieces are in place for us to have a chance to win it all. And ultimately, that’s it.”
Rodriguez plans for this to be the final stop and he already has the familiarity of the school, having not only attended and played there to being the coach before.
“I've been here, done that,” he said. “So it was an easy transition from that. The only hard part is I think I’ve got two players on the team that have started games.”
Rodriguez has inherited a roster that is essentially entirely different from the one from a year ago, but he does have the added benefit of the facilities to build around.
“I know the town. I know the school. I’ve got a great staff put together and we’re constructing our roster every day,’ he said. “So, we’ll get after it and see what happens.”
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