West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez has had a lot of time in the coaching profession but has tried to treat every stop of his career as a learning experience.
Rodriguez, now in his second stint atop the Mountaineers football program, believes that every one of his jobs, both in his 27 years as a head coach and over 30 years in the business has helped to shape who he is now.
“It’s been the experiences we’ve had in different leagues, coaching in different leagues. Coaching in different regions of the country,” Rodriguez said on the College GameDay Podcast.
But Rodriguez also has evolved as a head coach. After a successful stint in Morgantown from 2001-07 leading the program to 60-26 record and two trips to BCS bowls, he has had stops as a head coach at Michigan, Arizona and Jacksonville State as well as assistant jobs at Mississippi and Louisiana-Monroe.
And during that time, he’s evolved as a head coach.
“We’re doing a lot of stuff we did 20 years ago but there’s a lot of stuff we think is better,” he said. “You’re always trying to grow.”
The opportunity to come home to West Virginia was one that Rodriguez didn’t necessarily ever see as a possibility with the way his first departure unfolded but he is grateful for the chance to finish his career in the place that he grew up, played college football and had his first major head coaching job.
The head coach admitted that during the podcast that he should have addressed leaving to take the Michigan job the first time in a press conference setting but it’s just something else that he has learned from over the course of his career.
“I had to learn a lot from that experience, and I did learn a lot not only from a personal standpoint but what this program had meant to the state of West Virginia to a lot of people,” he said.
Rodriguez had a great three seasons at Jacksonville State, where he led the Gamecocks to a 27-10 record as he transitioned the program from the FCS to the FBS level. That included the 2024 Conference USA Championship, but the draw of coming home was simply too much to pass up.
“It’s home for us and the people we love. I am very grateful for the opportunity to come back,” he said.
It’s a much different situation that Rodriguez is walking into this time around with the rise of the transfer portal and essentially college free agency, but in order to be successful, you must adjust. The head coach expects that when it comes to his roster, around 75 will be new players.
“The goal posts have certainly moved a long way, and you have to adapt to it,” he said.
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