WVU football fans hoping for a massive turnaround in 2026 after the Mountaineers finished with just four wins last season. And there are plenty of national college football analysts who think that it's a real possibility – especially with the possibility of Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr. at signal caller.
Recently on the Cover 3 Podcast by CBS Sports, host Chip Patterson and CBS analysts Bud Elliott, Tom Fornelli, and Danny Kanell had a discussion about which teams could be in line for a turnaround this coming season. And when highlighting teams that missed a bowl in 2025 that retained their head coach, the first program mentioned was the Mountaineers – with a focus on the favorability of their schedule.
"One that I wrote that I was not expecting, honestly, to be a team that I felt kind of optimistic about heading into it, and we talked about it on the show earlier, West Virginia," Fornelli said. This is a team that last season did not have the greatest year, they went 4-8, they have the same coach – but if you look at their schedule this year, there's a lot of things going their way."
"Schedule wise there is a lot of room to maneuever and get wins here, and I don't think West Virginia is going to jump up like, we're going to talk about teams like Kennesaw State that win from 2 to 10 wins, that's not going to be West Virginia. But I do think you're looking at a situation where you can go from 4-8 to 7-5 and maybe even 8-4 if things break you way."
Cover 3 Podcast sees bright future for Michael Hawkins Jr. in Rich Rodriguez offense
But Fornelli was not the only member of the show who is high on WVU entering this season, with the others all touching one way or another that they are particularly intrigued by the idea of Hawkins Jr. inside a Rich Rodriguez offense.
"They got Michael Hawkins, right? Who I think could be a really good fit in his system and what he wants to do," said Kanell, who is a former Division 1 and NFL quarterback himself.
"And remember Chuck [Lillie], who is the GM at West Virginia, I believe was at Oklahoma with Brent [Venables]," Elliott added. "So he would have seen him and been fairly familiar with him, like in practice, or at least been around the kid. I generally like when a team goes and gets a quarterback that they have a connection to, because otherwise, if you knew about him and you didn't like him clearly you wouldn't get him."
And while the podcast had previously been a bit harsh on Hawkins Jr. during his stint at Oklahoma, the Mountaineers, Patterson pointed out that it was more about the situation he was in with the Sooners rather than Hawkins Jr. as a player. But those on the show all seemed to be in agreement that the Big 12 and Rich Rodriguez are a great combination to unlock his potential.
"If you put him with Rich Rodriguez with some time to prepare and you're playing against that schedule that Tom [Fornelli] just detailed, I think there's a very different ceiling," Patterson said. "Great opportunity for Michael Hawkins in the Big 12 with West Virginia."