Football
Sometimes, you have to go back to move forward. And there’s a good chance that when Wren Baker announced the 36th head coach in WVU football history, the Mountaineers do exactly that.
There’s a lot of momentum with former WVU header and current head coach of Jacksonville State, Rich Rodriguez. Others are still in contention for the job, but it’s starting to look more and more like the Grant Town native could return home.
Rodriguez had a virtual interview with West Virginia last week, which is believed to have taken place on Thursday. As others have reported, a second interview has been scheduled, but it’s unclear when that will happen or if it already did.
A couple of tweets made their rounds on X in the last 24-48 hours, stating that Rodriguez was flying to West Virginia on Monday evening and that there would be a team meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning at Jacksonville State. Both “reports” are untrue. There was a meeting held on Monday, but that was already planned, and as of Monday evening, Rodriguez was still in Alabama.
Timing is key in this search for WVU. A target date of December 10th (today) was the hope, and that could still happen, but sometime over the next couple of days is just fine with the decision-makers. One of the other candidates, Jeff Monken of Army, has a game this week against Navy. It’s one of the most storied rivalries in all of sports, and it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to squeeze in time in the coming days to speak with WVU.
Meanwhile, Jax State has yet to go into full bowl prep mode, partially because they are coming off a conference championship and partially because they won’t depart for the Cure Bowl until early next week. They are also in the midst of figuring out who plans on entering the portal and which of those players still plans to play in the bowl before leaving.
Rodriguez has something the other top candidates don’t have – time.
He also has the strongest backing of any candidate in consideration for the job, as some of WVU’s biggest boosters are prepared to donate big dollars to assist Rodriguez in the turnaround of the football program.
Coaching searches can take all sorts of twists and turns at any moment. There’s no such thing as a “done deal” until papers are officially signed. But as things currently stand, Rich Rod appears to be in a great spot.
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