Football: Rodriguez State Coach of the Year
April 23, 2006 08:27 AM | General
April 23, 2006
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| Rich Rodriguez |
MORGANTOWN – Rich Rodriguez, who guided West Virginia University to an 11-1 record and No. 5 national football ranking last season, has been voted the state’s college coach of the year for 2005-06.
He will be honored by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association at its 60th annual Victory Awards Dinner on Sunday, May 7, at the Lakeview Golf Resort and Conference Center here. Tickets, priced at $20, remain available from member writers throughout the state.
It is the third time Rodriguez has won the Furfari Award, for which state college coaches of all sports are eligible. He was the recipient in 2002-03 at WVU and in 1993-94 at Glenville State College.
John Beilein, WVU men’s basketball coach who won the award in 2004-05, finished as runner-up this year. He directed the Mountaineers to the NCAA tournament round of Sweet 16.
Other top vote-getters in the writers’ balloting were: Sherry Winn, University of Charleston women’s basketball; Cal Bailey, W.Va. State baseball; Mitch Jacobs, Marshall U. volleyball; and Monte Cater, Shepherd College football. All won conference championships and advanced to postseason play.
Last season WVU not only won a third consecutive Big East football championship but also upset SEC champion Georgia, ranked No. 8, in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, 38-35, at Atlanta.
“Any coach award is always a team and staff award,” Rodriguez said of his selection. “So we all obviously share in that.
“I have a tremendous amount of support here not only in athletics but also in the community and among West Virginia’s boosters everywhere. So there are a lot of factors that go into having a successful season.
“I’m proud to be coaching in the state of West Virginia. There’s a tremendous amount of outstanding coaches in our state at a lot of schools.”
Since a disappointing 3-8 record in his first season at WVU, Rodriguez has produced teams that posted impressive 9-4, 8-5, 8-4 and 11-1 records for a five-year mark of 39-22. His teams have played in three consecutive New Year’s bowl games.
Six of his victories were over nationally ranked teams, including a stunning 28-7 upset of Virginia Tech in 2003 when it was No. 3 – the highest rated victim in Mountaineer history.
With a strong nucleus returning from last year’s squad, WVU is being boomed nationally for Top 5 projection in Rodriguez’s sixth season at the helm. He obviously has his program on a firm foundation and squarely in the limelight.
From 1990-96, Rodriguez turned around the football fortunes at Glenville, where his teams captured four straight WVIAC titles and posted a seven-year record of 43-28-2. He was named state conference coach of the year in 1993 and 1994 and NAIA national coach of the year in 1993.
That came after he had taken his team to the NAIA national championship game.
His players set five national career records for Division II competition.
He was inducted into the Glenville Sports Hall of Fame in October of 2003.
Rodriguez, a native of Grant Town, Marion County, served outstanding stints as an assistant coach under Tommy Bowden for two years at Tulane (19-4 record) and two years at Clemson (15-9) before taking over at WVU.
He and wife Rita have two young children.
