Each offseason, Athlon Sports surveys coaches around the Big 12 for anonymous, unfiltered takes on every team in the conference. This year’s batch includes some honest thoughts on West Virginia as Rich Rodriguez enters his first season back at the helm.
One coach noted that Rodriguez hasn’t backed away from setting the tone in his return to Morgantown:
“Rich hasn’t been shy about expectations going into his first year back.”
The offensive backfield remains a focus, both in terms of identifying a lead ball-carrier and settling in at quarterback.
“They need to find that group of backfield workhorses for the system to run. A lot of the guys they brought with them from Jacksonville State are at other positions, so the biggest thing to watch is how fast they lock on their ball-carriers and the QB. If that clicks, everything else will adjust quicker.”
Defense is still viewed as a concern, especially up front:
“I don’t think they have the bodies yet on defense, especially up front. They’re going to struggle on that side of the ball, unless they can really jump out on offense and keep them off the field.”
Overall, the expectation is that this will be a foundational season for Rodriguez and his staff.
“This is an adjustment year where they can put in the culture and the scheme.”
Still, one coach suggested that if things come together quickly, WVU could exceed expectations.
“If they can lock in the offensive line and find their next guy in the backfield, they could finish ahead of schedule.”
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe
