Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Jacksonville State Transfer Cook Expected to Boost Mountaineer Ground Game
July 10, 2026 10:53 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Cam Cook was the one running back sitting out there in the transfer portal last winter that Rich Rodriguez really wanted.
Last year, during a rebuilding season at West Virginia University, Rodriguez would sometimes turn on the TV to watch his old team Jacksonville State whenever they were playing midweek games.
And the guy who always seemed to show up was Cook.
"I'm watching them, and this guy is running all over the place, and I'm on my coaches, 'Why didn't we go after him a year ago? He got into the portal, why didn't we go get him?' Rodriguez said earlier this week during Big 12 media days in Frisco, Texas. "I guess we didn't have the time or the money then, but I said, 'We aren't going to let that pass by twice.' We've got to go after him now!"
To Rodriguez, running the football is to his offensive system what oxygen is to life, and last year's running game was clearly on life support.
On the surface, the team's 157.5 yards-per-game average doesn't look too bad, especially when considering how poorly the Mountaineers ran the ball during Neal Brown's first years here in Morgantown, but it wasn't close to Rodriguez standards.
WVU's top ground gainer rushed for only 335 yards and 19 different players carried the football, including every quarterback who saw playing time.
In their last two games of 2025 against Arizona State and Texas Tech, the Mountaineers' rushing attack struggled mightily, and Rodriguez knew personnel changes were required.
Another roster flip ensued and the guy at the top of Rodriguez's shopping list was Cook, the nation's top returning ground gainer whose 1,659 yards last year at Jacksonville State were just 231 fewer than WVU gained as a team.
"He was the first guy that we targeted at the running back position in the portal," Rodriguez admitted.
To sweeten things, Rodriguez opted to rehire Cook's Jacksonville State offensive line coach Rick Trickett and bring along some of Jax State's top offensive linemen Amare Grayson and Cam Griffin.
In Trickett, Rodriguez is reuniting with an experienced offensive line coach who has a proven track record of success in the spread offense. It was during Trickett's second stop here at West Virginia in 2002 (he began his coaching career on Frank Cignetti's WVU staff in the late 1970s) when the Mountaineers ranked second in the country in rushing, averaging 283.6 yards per game.
That season, West Virginia employed a two-running back system that took advantage of Avon Cobourne's and Quincy Wilson's unique talents, in addition to the running ability of quarterback Rasheed Marshall.
Trickett also was responsible for recruiting quarterback Pat White out of Daphne, Alabama, which put the Mountaineers on the path to the unprecedented success that they enjoyed later in the decade.
Now, Rodriguez is hopeful Trickett's relationship with Cook can deliver some more Mountaineer magic in 2026.
"Thankfully, some of my coaches coached him. Coach Trickett had a relationship with him, and it was a good fit," Rodriguez said.
When you examine some of Cook's advanced statistics, there are a couple of numbers that really stand out. One of them, according to Pro Football Focus, is gaining more than 1,100 yards after-contact, which represents more than 65% of his total rushing yardage. That's impressive.
His other significant advanced stat was him leading the country with 101 missed tackles forced, another impressive figure.
Possessing one or the other is certainly noteworthy, but combining the two is what really has his coach encouraged.
"You want a back who can make the first guy miss, and I know some of it is who you are playing against and all that, but Cam kind of has a sneaky way about him," Rodriguez observed. "He's faster than you think, and he's a really athletic guy. For a lack of a better word, he just understands football."
West Virginia junior offensive lineman Nick Krahe agreed.
"Coach Trickett always preaches that Cam Cook is never going to get tackled by the first guy – he's always going to make him miss – so I think if we were to mess up, he's going to make us right," Krahe said, adding, "you still want to be as good as you can, obviously, but if there were to be a problem, he can make us right."
That's the hope, because successfully running the football in Coach Rodriguez's system is going to help make West Virginia football right once again.
The 29-player Preseason All-Big 12 team voted on by conference media and released earlier this week included Cook – the only West Virginia player to make the list – so there is instant respect there.
Perhaps Cook's time spent at TCU earlier in his career also factored into the equation. Regardless, he's a player to be watched this season.
"He's just one of those guys that understands like, 'This is where I've got to go on this route' or 'this is where the play is supposed to go,'" Rodriguez said of Cook. "You tell him, 'This is the design of the play, and this is the press point after the exchange' and he just gets it. He is a very, very intelligent football player. Even though our system is not exactly the same (as Jacksonville State's last year), there are a lot of similarities.
"And he's fit in very quickly," Rodriguez added.
As for the blocking, Rodriuez has seen enough football through the years to know that's always going to be a work in progress, no matter who is coaching them.
"I hope (the blocking) will be better, but I know it's not going to be perfect. I can tell you that," he laughed.
Which is why getting a back of Cook's caliber was so important to Rich Rodriguez during the offseason.
West Virginia will begin preseason work in August in preparation for its season opener against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 5, at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The game will kick off at noon and will be televised nationally on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max.
Last year, during a rebuilding season at West Virginia University, Rodriguez would sometimes turn on the TV to watch his old team Jacksonville State whenever they were playing midweek games.
And the guy who always seemed to show up was Cook.
"I'm watching them, and this guy is running all over the place, and I'm on my coaches, 'Why didn't we go after him a year ago? He got into the portal, why didn't we go get him?' Rodriguez said earlier this week during Big 12 media days in Frisco, Texas. "I guess we didn't have the time or the money then, but I said, 'We aren't going to let that pass by twice.' We've got to go after him now!"
To Rodriguez, running the football is to his offensive system what oxygen is to life, and last year's running game was clearly on life support.
On the surface, the team's 157.5 yards-per-game average doesn't look too bad, especially when considering how poorly the Mountaineers ran the ball during Neal Brown's first years here in Morgantown, but it wasn't close to Rodriguez standards.
WVU's top ground gainer rushed for only 335 yards and 19 different players carried the football, including every quarterback who saw playing time.
In their last two games of 2025 against Arizona State and Texas Tech, the Mountaineers' rushing attack struggled mightily, and Rodriguez knew personnel changes were required.
Another roster flip ensued and the guy at the top of Rodriguez's shopping list was Cook, the nation's top returning ground gainer whose 1,659 yards last year at Jacksonville State were just 231 fewer than WVU gained as a team.
"He was the first guy that we targeted at the running back position in the portal," Rodriguez admitted.
To sweeten things, Rodriguez opted to rehire Cook's Jacksonville State offensive line coach Rick Trickett and bring along some of Jax State's top offensive linemen Amare Grayson and Cam Griffin.
In Trickett, Rodriguez is reuniting with an experienced offensive line coach who has a proven track record of success in the spread offense. It was during Trickett's second stop here at West Virginia in 2002 (he began his coaching career on Frank Cignetti's WVU staff in the late 1970s) when the Mountaineers ranked second in the country in rushing, averaging 283.6 yards per game.
That season, West Virginia employed a two-running back system that took advantage of Avon Cobourne's and Quincy Wilson's unique talents, in addition to the running ability of quarterback Rasheed Marshall.
Trickett also was responsible for recruiting quarterback Pat White out of Daphne, Alabama, which put the Mountaineers on the path to the unprecedented success that they enjoyed later in the decade.
Now, Rodriguez is hopeful Trickett's relationship with Cook can deliver some more Mountaineer magic in 2026.
"Thankfully, some of my coaches coached him. Coach Trickett had a relationship with him, and it was a good fit," Rodriguez said.
When you examine some of Cook's advanced statistics, there are a couple of numbers that really stand out. One of them, according to Pro Football Focus, is gaining more than 1,100 yards after-contact, which represents more than 65% of his total rushing yardage. That's impressive.
His other significant advanced stat was him leading the country with 101 missed tackles forced, another impressive figure.
Possessing one or the other is certainly noteworthy, but combining the two is what really has his coach encouraged.
"You want a back who can make the first guy miss, and I know some of it is who you are playing against and all that, but Cam kind of has a sneaky way about him," Rodriguez observed. "He's faster than you think, and he's a really athletic guy. For a lack of a better word, he just understands football."
West Virginia junior offensive lineman Nick Krahe agreed.
"Coach Trickett always preaches that Cam Cook is never going to get tackled by the first guy – he's always going to make him miss – so I think if we were to mess up, he's going to make us right," Krahe said, adding, "you still want to be as good as you can, obviously, but if there were to be a problem, he can make us right."
That's the hope, because successfully running the football in Coach Rodriguez's system is going to help make West Virginia football right once again.
The 29-player Preseason All-Big 12 team voted on by conference media and released earlier this week included Cook – the only West Virginia player to make the list – so there is instant respect there.
Perhaps Cook's time spent at TCU earlier in his career also factored into the equation. Regardless, he's a player to be watched this season.
"He's just one of those guys that understands like, 'This is where I've got to go on this route' or 'this is where the play is supposed to go,'" Rodriguez said of Cook. "You tell him, 'This is the design of the play, and this is the press point after the exchange' and he just gets it. He is a very, very intelligent football player. Even though our system is not exactly the same (as Jacksonville State's last year), there are a lot of similarities.
"And he's fit in very quickly," Rodriguez added.
As for the blocking, Rodriuez has seen enough football through the years to know that's always going to be a work in progress, no matter who is coaching them.
"I hope (the blocking) will be better, but I know it's not going to be perfect. I can tell you that," he laughed.
Which is why getting a back of Cook's caliber was so important to Rich Rodriguez during the offseason.
West Virginia will begin preseason work in August in preparation for its season opener against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 5, at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The game will kick off at noon and will be televised nationally on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max.
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