Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Rodriguez’s Expectations Surpass Those of Preseason Prognosticators
July 24, 2026 04:00 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – College football doesn't play its games during the summer. That's the time of year for opinion making and pontificating, which can be good or bad depending upon what's being said about your favorite team or your personal tolerance for opinion making and pontificating.
As far as West Virginia is concerned, it might be better to just put your phone on mute or save yourself a few bucks on those preseason publications that are now populating the magazine racks at your favorite local supermarket or bookstore.
I'll save you some time and some of your hard-earned quid.
The most optimistic (and typically the most accurate) of them is Phil Steele, who talks to just about every football coach in America before his yearly issue goes to press. This year he has the Mountaineers finishing tied for seventh in the Big 12 with UCF, Kansas State, Arizona State and Cincinnati, which I'm not entirely sure actually places them seventh.
Steele's West Virginia team capsule begins like this: "In '23, Neal Brown and (West Virginia) were motivated by being picked last in the Big 12 media poll and they went 9-4 including a 30-10 bowl blowout of North Carolina."
Steele's inferences to being overlooked and underappreciated will certainly be used as "ammo" by veteran coach Rich Rodriguez for his football team.
"I expect us to be a lot better," he said earlier this month in Frisco, Texas, during Big 12 media days.
If you go back and look at Rodriguez's track record, particularly during his first go-around here at West Virginia, his teams usually finished ahead of where they were predicted when the predictions were low, and typically on target when they were picked higher than normal.
West Virginia's 4-8 record last season was an anomaly when compared to his prior campaigns.
"I can't look back on it because I just get pissed because we played so bad, but you learn a little something every day, and we kind of knew some of the issues that were going to come up," Rodriguez explained. "We didn't know the quarterback situation would have so many guys hurt and the running back situation …
"We learned a lot, and I think we made some adjustments in who we brought in and then, obviously, we had another roster flip this year, but I feel so much more comfortable because we have had everybody except for four or five guys throughout the whole spring and we just look more athletic," he added.
As someone who has watched West Virginia football practices going back to the early 1990s, this year's roster is more on par with what fans usually expect to see from better Mountaineer teams. There is much more athleticism, particularly in the defensive secondary, where opponents last year really took advantage of West Virginia.
Rodriguez mentioned this, too, unsolicited.
"Our guys played hard and they were in the right positions at times, but they just got 'Mossed' (as in Randy Moss), so we tried to add some length at DBs with guys who are 6-3 and 6-4," he explained.
During last winter's transfer portal shopping spree, production over potential was the operative word for West Virginia. The Mountaineers also had a much bigger budget to do a little more big-game hunting than bargain shopping as was the case during the previous recruiting cycle.
"We kind of thought that way last year, we just didn't have enough money to buy anybody who had the production," the coach pointed out. "This year, we had a little bit more money and a lot more time (to evaluate players). We had a little bit more of a purposeful intent, if those are the right words, in who we added on to the roster."
Avid practice watcher and former coach Wren Baker says he can see the across-the-board improvements being made.
"There is a lot of work being accomplished and I think we look better at every position," West Virginia's AD proclaimed. "We certainly look bigger, faster and stronger. I'm really excited, and I definitely feel like we've taken a step forward in year two."
Some of the incoming high-end talent might be very young, such as freshman manchild Kevin Brown, but not overmatched.
Junior offensive lineman Nick Krahe calls Brown "a monster" who physically looks more like a 27-year-old father of two playing his fifth season in the NFL than he does an 18-year-old still watching cartoons and eating Pop Tarts.
"He's a freak athlete, for sure. It takes you aback when you look at him," Krahe marveled.
"His dad (Tim Brown) played for me, so we knew about him, and he was committed to Penn State, and then he came to our camp," Rodriguez said. "Most guys won't work out - they'll just come to camp and kind of run around a little bit – and he couldn't wait to take reps. He was taking reps like he had no offers. I'm like, 'Oh gosh' and I fell in love with him even more. 'This is the kind of guy we want to have,' and physically he looks like it, too.
"Then, when the thing went down with Penn State (James Franklin getting fired) we kind of jumped all over it. He's been everything we thought he'd be since he's been here because of his work ethic," Rodriguez added. "Before he signed, we thought he'd play as a true freshman and now that he's been here, we know he's going to play."
Brown's offensive line coach is 78-year-old Rick Trickett, back for his third stint at West Virginia. Trickett's second one from 2001-06 represented the start of one of the most successful periods in Mountaineer football history.
Trickett parlayed West Virginia's success into even greater success at Florida State where he teamed with coach Jimbo Fisher to help the Seminoles to the 2013 national championship.
When you watch Trickett get around on the practice field, he looks more like he's 48 than someone pushing 80.
"Trick still coaches like he's a 22-year-old GA trying to prove himself, which is kind of a neat thing for our young coaches to see," Rodriguez said. "This is a guy that's done it and done it at the highest level for a long, long time, and he still coaches with the same type of passion and intensity that everybody should coach with. I've seen a difference in our O-line, not just because of Coach Trickett, but also because of who we've brought in and who we've got coming back up front."
With that area now stabilized, Rodriguez can resume concentrating on other areas that need his attention, such as wide receiver. The receiver position, collectively, has been really lacking since Dana Holgorsen's departure after the 2018 season, which incidentally, was West Virginia's last appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
That was the position group Rodriguez mentioned first when asked which area could demonstrate the most improvement in 2026.
Of course, a lot of time was spent in the transfer portal hunting for field-stretchers to join holdovers Jaden Bray, Armoni Weaver-Bomar and Cyrus Traugh.
"Jaden being healthy is a good start, but you've got (Troy transfer) DJ Epps who has played and was very productive, and (Connecticut transfer) John Neider. Those were highly productive guys," Rodriguez said. "Even though it doesn't look like we've got more experience, we've got more experience at wideout than we've had. And I like our tight ends."
The quarterback position with returners Scotty Fox Jr. and Max Brown, and Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr., will keep people's minds occupied during August leading up to the season opener against Coastal Carolina.
Rodriguez won't tip his hand beforehand and will let that play out right up until noon on Saturday, Sept. 5. Your first indication who will be the starter might be revealed by veteran play-by-play announcer Tony Caridi during MSN's pregame radio show – maybe.
Running back, with Jacksonville State transfer Cam Cook and a talented freshman group that includes 6-foot, 228-pound four-star prospect Amari Latimer, is expected to be much improved.
Rodriguez has been adamant that things remain simple on both sides of the ball so his new players can understand what they're doing to play much faster than they played last year. Some predictability at the expense of trying to call the perfect play can be tolerated if the guys running the plays are executing them confidently, quickly and effectively.
In that regard, there will be plenty of time this fall for defensive wizard Zac Alley to employ his complex array of blitzes.
Defensively, Rodriguez concedes there are still some unknowns on that side of the football.
"I hope that we play faster and more efficient," he observed. "We've got to be better up front on the O-line, and I think that's coming along with the players that we added and some of the adjustments that we made. I think we're going to be more athletic defensively and a lot bigger on the back end.
"And it's the second year, so we should be playing faster and with less mistakes than we did a year ago," he added.
At any rate, keep all of this in mind when you pick up a summer copy of Athlon Sports, which picked West Virginia 10th, Lindy's Sports, which has the Mountaineers 12th, or Sporting News, which has WVU slotted dead last in the Big 12 at 16th.
Frank Woodworth is the guy responsible for Sporting News' Big 12 writeups, in case you were wondering.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Mr. Woodworth's work plastered all over the weight room walls - and remain there throughout the season. It's more "ammo" for Rodriguez and his coaches.
Krahe admits he's taken notice.
"No one is talking about us and that's how we like it," he mentioned. "We like to be under the radar on every Saturday and then go out there and give it our best effort.
"I'm pumped. I can't wait to get out there and show everybody what we're capable of," he added.
"You can feel the excitement and the energy over there for the upcoming season, and now we've just got to make it happen," Wren Baker concluded.
Preseason training camp is slated to begin on Wednesday, Aug. 5, one month before the home opener against Coastal Carolina.
As far as West Virginia is concerned, it might be better to just put your phone on mute or save yourself a few bucks on those preseason publications that are now populating the magazine racks at your favorite local supermarket or bookstore.
I'll save you some time and some of your hard-earned quid.
The most optimistic (and typically the most accurate) of them is Phil Steele, who talks to just about every football coach in America before his yearly issue goes to press. This year he has the Mountaineers finishing tied for seventh in the Big 12 with UCF, Kansas State, Arizona State and Cincinnati, which I'm not entirely sure actually places them seventh.
Steele's West Virginia team capsule begins like this: "In '23, Neal Brown and (West Virginia) were motivated by being picked last in the Big 12 media poll and they went 9-4 including a 30-10 bowl blowout of North Carolina."
Steele's inferences to being overlooked and underappreciated will certainly be used as "ammo" by veteran coach Rich Rodriguez for his football team.
"I expect us to be a lot better," he said earlier this month in Frisco, Texas, during Big 12 media days.
If you go back and look at Rodriguez's track record, particularly during his first go-around here at West Virginia, his teams usually finished ahead of where they were predicted when the predictions were low, and typically on target when they were picked higher than normal.
West Virginia's 4-8 record last season was an anomaly when compared to his prior campaigns.
"I can't look back on it because I just get pissed because we played so bad, but you learn a little something every day, and we kind of knew some of the issues that were going to come up," Rodriguez explained. "We didn't know the quarterback situation would have so many guys hurt and the running back situation …
"We learned a lot, and I think we made some adjustments in who we brought in and then, obviously, we had another roster flip this year, but I feel so much more comfortable because we have had everybody except for four or five guys throughout the whole spring and we just look more athletic," he added.
As someone who has watched West Virginia football practices going back to the early 1990s, this year's roster is more on par with what fans usually expect to see from better Mountaineer teams. There is much more athleticism, particularly in the defensive secondary, where opponents last year really took advantage of West Virginia.
Rodriguez mentioned this, too, unsolicited.
"Our guys played hard and they were in the right positions at times, but they just got 'Mossed' (as in Randy Moss), so we tried to add some length at DBs with guys who are 6-3 and 6-4," he explained.
During last winter's transfer portal shopping spree, production over potential was the operative word for West Virginia. The Mountaineers also had a much bigger budget to do a little more big-game hunting than bargain shopping as was the case during the previous recruiting cycle.
"We kind of thought that way last year, we just didn't have enough money to buy anybody who had the production," the coach pointed out. "This year, we had a little bit more money and a lot more time (to evaluate players). We had a little bit more of a purposeful intent, if those are the right words, in who we added on to the roster."
Avid practice watcher and former coach Wren Baker says he can see the across-the-board improvements being made.
"There is a lot of work being accomplished and I think we look better at every position," West Virginia's AD proclaimed. "We certainly look bigger, faster and stronger. I'm really excited, and I definitely feel like we've taken a step forward in year two."
Some of the incoming high-end talent might be very young, such as freshman manchild Kevin Brown, but not overmatched.
Junior offensive lineman Nick Krahe calls Brown "a monster" who physically looks more like a 27-year-old father of two playing his fifth season in the NFL than he does an 18-year-old still watching cartoons and eating Pop Tarts.
"He's a freak athlete, for sure. It takes you aback when you look at him," Krahe marveled.
"His dad (Tim Brown) played for me, so we knew about him, and he was committed to Penn State, and then he came to our camp," Rodriguez said. "Most guys won't work out - they'll just come to camp and kind of run around a little bit – and he couldn't wait to take reps. He was taking reps like he had no offers. I'm like, 'Oh gosh' and I fell in love with him even more. 'This is the kind of guy we want to have,' and physically he looks like it, too.
"Then, when the thing went down with Penn State (James Franklin getting fired) we kind of jumped all over it. He's been everything we thought he'd be since he's been here because of his work ethic," Rodriguez added. "Before he signed, we thought he'd play as a true freshman and now that he's been here, we know he's going to play."
Brown's offensive line coach is 78-year-old Rick Trickett, back for his third stint at West Virginia. Trickett's second one from 2001-06 represented the start of one of the most successful periods in Mountaineer football history.
Trickett parlayed West Virginia's success into even greater success at Florida State where he teamed with coach Jimbo Fisher to help the Seminoles to the 2013 national championship.
When you watch Trickett get around on the practice field, he looks more like he's 48 than someone pushing 80.
"Trick still coaches like he's a 22-year-old GA trying to prove himself, which is kind of a neat thing for our young coaches to see," Rodriguez said. "This is a guy that's done it and done it at the highest level for a long, long time, and he still coaches with the same type of passion and intensity that everybody should coach with. I've seen a difference in our O-line, not just because of Coach Trickett, but also because of who we've brought in and who we've got coming back up front."
With that area now stabilized, Rodriguez can resume concentrating on other areas that need his attention, such as wide receiver. The receiver position, collectively, has been really lacking since Dana Holgorsen's departure after the 2018 season, which incidentally, was West Virginia's last appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
That was the position group Rodriguez mentioned first when asked which area could demonstrate the most improvement in 2026.
Of course, a lot of time was spent in the transfer portal hunting for field-stretchers to join holdovers Jaden Bray, Armoni Weaver-Bomar and Cyrus Traugh.
"Jaden being healthy is a good start, but you've got (Troy transfer) DJ Epps who has played and was very productive, and (Connecticut transfer) John Neider. Those were highly productive guys," Rodriguez said. "Even though it doesn't look like we've got more experience, we've got more experience at wideout than we've had. And I like our tight ends."
The quarterback position with returners Scotty Fox Jr. and Max Brown, and Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr., will keep people's minds occupied during August leading up to the season opener against Coastal Carolina.
Rodriguez won't tip his hand beforehand and will let that play out right up until noon on Saturday, Sept. 5. Your first indication who will be the starter might be revealed by veteran play-by-play announcer Tony Caridi during MSN's pregame radio show – maybe.
Running back, with Jacksonville State transfer Cam Cook and a talented freshman group that includes 6-foot, 228-pound four-star prospect Amari Latimer, is expected to be much improved.
Rodriguez has been adamant that things remain simple on both sides of the ball so his new players can understand what they're doing to play much faster than they played last year. Some predictability at the expense of trying to call the perfect play can be tolerated if the guys running the plays are executing them confidently, quickly and effectively.
In that regard, there will be plenty of time this fall for defensive wizard Zac Alley to employ his complex array of blitzes.
Defensively, Rodriguez concedes there are still some unknowns on that side of the football.
"I hope that we play faster and more efficient," he observed. "We've got to be better up front on the O-line, and I think that's coming along with the players that we added and some of the adjustments that we made. I think we're going to be more athletic defensively and a lot bigger on the back end.
"And it's the second year, so we should be playing faster and with less mistakes than we did a year ago," he added.
At any rate, keep all of this in mind when you pick up a summer copy of Athlon Sports, which picked West Virginia 10th, Lindy's Sports, which has the Mountaineers 12th, or Sporting News, which has WVU slotted dead last in the Big 12 at 16th.
Frank Woodworth is the guy responsible for Sporting News' Big 12 writeups, in case you were wondering.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Mr. Woodworth's work plastered all over the weight room walls - and remain there throughout the season. It's more "ammo" for Rodriguez and his coaches.
Krahe admits he's taken notice.
"No one is talking about us and that's how we like it," he mentioned. "We like to be under the radar on every Saturday and then go out there and give it our best effort.
"I'm pumped. I can't wait to get out there and show everybody what we're capable of," he added.
"You can feel the excitement and the energy over there for the upcoming season, and now we've just got to make it happen," Wren Baker concluded.
Preseason training camp is slated to begin on Wednesday, Aug. 5, one month before the home opener against Coastal Carolina.
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