It's a different era of college sports than your parents grew up watching, and even a different one than you grew up watching yourself. And a large part of that has to do with money.
It also turns out that, according to WVU football head coach Rich Rodriguez, a large part of the struggles the Mountaineers have seen during their 2-5 start during Rodriguez's first year after returning to the program. Wu-Tang Clan said it best, perhaps, when they uttered that now-famous phrase: "cash rules everything around me."
On his radio show Monday night, Rodriguez said that there were several players he would have liked to keep from last year's team that ended up hitting the transfer portal and leaving the program, and that there were also some players that he had wanted to grab from the portal, but the Mountaineers just didn't have their finances straight. Rodriguez also said that he's worked with the administration to try to ensure that it won't be a repeat issue.
"We'll be better positioned financially than we were a year ago....we're in a completely different spot now," Rodriguez said.
WVU Rich Rodriguez said he wasn't able to get certain players because WVU didn't have the finances. Rodriguez said WVU is in a better position now.
— Spencer Ripchik (@RipchikSpencer) October 20, 2025
Rodriguez also criticized the current model of college sports – not that players are finally getting paid, or that they have more freedom to move around, but that the NIL and revenue system is set up to allow the codification of an unfair system where some teams can spend over $50 million on a roster while others spend $16 million, and will still be expected to compete with each other.
Rodriguez pointed to the NFL's salary cap system as a fairer way to handle things, but also said that he and the administration at WVU can't just complain but not adapt to the way things are trending – and that he believes things are now on the right path.
"The goal posts have moved, and we've got to move with it," Rodriguez said.