On Monday evening, WVU football head coach Rich Rodriguez decided to throw some shots at the only other Division 1 program in West Virginia
During the Week 2 edition of The Rich Rodriguez Show, Rodriguez was asked about his high school basketball career after a fan noticed an old yearbook from Rodriguez's days at North Marion High School mentioned him earning a national basketball award as a prep player. During the conversation, the subject was broached of which schools had offered him to play basketball at a collegiate level. One of those offers allegedly came from a rival of the Mountaineers, and Rodriguez made sure to take a moment to throw some shade at the school.
“My basketball offers were from small schools, like Marshall," Rodriguez said with a laugh.
WVU Rich Rodriguez on where his offers for basketball were out of high school:
— Spencer Ripchik (@RipchikSpencer) September 1, 2025
“My basketball offers were from small schools like Marshall.”
He followed it up with mentioning he had a few offers from "I-AA programs" – or in modern parlance, FCS programs – insinuating that the Thundering Herd are still associated in his mind with the lowest levels of Division 1 athletics. Marshall last played at that level in football in 1996. Rodriguez is not the only Mountaineer to take shots at Marshall in recent months, as former WVU standout Bruce Irvin tossed shade towards the Herd this summer.
Whether or not the Mountaineers and the Thundering Herd should reignite their in-state rivalry on the field in the subject of persistent debate for fans in The Mountain State. The two teams last met on the gridiron in 2012, and WVU football is 12-0 all-time in the series.
The initial scenario that brought about the Marhsall comments does pose an interesting historical "what if" to think about, though – what if Rodriguez had pursued a college basketball career in Huntington rather than a college football career in Morgantown, and how does that change the trajectory of WVU football?
It's possible Rodriguez never advances to coaching football in that scenario, or at the least doesn't have the requisite connections to earn a spot on WVU's staff in-between stops at Salem (WV) and Glenville State (WV). And if he does still end up a football coach, he doesn't have the connections to the program in Morgantown that helped bring him to WVU as a head coach.