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West Virginia Mountaineers are hoping to overcome years of mediocrity with former coach Rich Rodriguez at the helm in 2025

West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez speaks during the Big 12 NCAA college football media day in Frisco, Texas, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero) | LM Otero

Editor’s note: Sixth in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2025

There was no Big 12 football preseason media poll this summer, but if there were, the West Virginia Mountaineers probably would have been picked to finish near the bottom of the 16-team league’s standings.

Simply put, it is time for a rebuild in Morgantown, and school officials brought in a familiar face to oversee that project: Rich Rodriguez.

Having been hired away from Jacksonville State, where he established one of the best offensive attacks in all of college football, Rodriguez inherits a program that wasn’t bad in 2024 but left administrators wanting more.

The Mountaineers tied for eighth in the Big 12 last year with a 5-4 league mark, but were blown out 52-15 by Texas Tech late in the year, which led to Neal Brown’s firing after six seasons.

Brown was 37-35 during his tenure at West Virginia.

Enter “Rich Rod,” who has also been a head coach at Salem University, Glenville State College, Arizona and Michigan, in addition to being the Mountaineers’ head coach from 2001 to 2007.

“This is really surreal,” Rodriguez said at his introductory news conference. “I never should have left.”

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Rodriguez signed a five-year contract with an average base salary of $3.75 million per year over the course of the deal. The contract is loaded with incentives after Rodriguez went 60-26 in his first stint in Morgantown.

Rodriguez hasn’t wasted time since getting the job last December, bringing in dozens and dozens of transfers in what has been described as a total rebuild.

As for returning home, as he called it, he said the familiarity has enabled him to hit the ground running, for the most part.

“Typically it takes you six to nine months to kind of get a lay of the land, not just your roster, but the town, the school and the community and all that kind of stuff,” he said.

“Well, West Virginia took six to nine minutes. But coming back home, I know where all the bodies are buried and the traps are laid and kind of understand, you know, the environment, so to speak, so that made it an easier transition. But then again there’s also times of change. We’re in a new league.”

At least two of the best offensive players are back — running back Jamiem White and quarterback Nicco Marchiol — and Rodriguez has added one of the top transfer portal receivers around, SMU’s Jaylan Knighton. He also brought receiver Cam Vaughn with him from J-State.

The issue could be the offensive line, which is undergoing a complete overhaul and nothing like the one that steamrolled BYU in Morgantown in 2023 to the tune of a 37-7 whipping. Also, running back CJ Donaldson transferred to Ohio State.

What is certain is that the Mountaineers will play fast on offense, a Rodriguez trademark.

“Our pace is non-negotiable,” he said after what he called WVU’s Spring Showcase. “It is a very conscientious group. They want to be good.”

Even the defense, which was not very good in 2024. The Mountaineers finished last in the Big 12 in total defense last year, allowing 415 yards and more than 31 points per game.

Two of the better defenders in 2024, linebackers Josiah Trotter and Trey Lathan, transferred to Missouri and Kansas, respectively.

West Virginia did bring in one of the top edge rushers in the portal, former UTSA star Jimmori Robinson. He was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year last year.

West Virginia hosts Utah on September 27 and then visits BYU for the first time ever on October 3, a Friday. That’s a quick turnaround, obviously, compounded by playing at elevation in Provo.