When the West Virginia Mountaineers kick off their 2025 season against FCS opponent Robert Morris, all eyes will be on one individual pacing up and down the home sideline.
WVU football head coach Rich Rodriguez will lead the Mountaineers onto the field this Saturday, coaching his first game for the Mountaineers since December 1, 2007. That day will forever be nightmare fuel for Mountaineer fans everywhere for one big reason. 6,482 days later, the second tenure for Rodriguez in the old-gold-and-blue begins. This is a surreal feeling, one that is sure to come with all sorts of emotions for Rodriguez, those involved in the program, and fans throughout the state of West Virginia and the world.
One Storyline Stands Above the Rest
The primary storyline heading into West Virginia’s first game is less about what happens on the field (though there are certainly several things to keep an eye on) and more about the man leading the charge for the Mountaineers. It has been nearly 18 years since Rodriguez left Morgantown, departing for the head coaching job at Michigan.
In collegiate athletics or in the business world, moments where an individual returns to the same job after being away from it for 17+ years are few and far between. To Mountaineer fans everywhere, this has been a mind-blowing off-season, and it’s only going to feel more weird on Saturday afternoon.
While we can debate all day long about who should be the starting quarterback, what running back is going to step up and help Jahiem White with the workload, or break down Zac Alley’s defensive scheme, these all pale in comparison to the simple fact that Rich Rodriguez is the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Sure, it remains to be seen what kind of success Rodriguez will have during this tenure with the Mountaineers, but expectations for the future of the football program are higher than they have been over the course of the last few years. Rodriguez has an opportunity to “make it right,” as he said in the early stages following his acceptance of the head coaching position.
Since returning to WVU in the winter, the head coach has been apologetic and views his leaving the University in 2007 was a “mistake”. During his introductory press conference in December, Rodriguez said, “I never should have left”. Rodriguez has also expressed a desire to win over the fans who are still struggling with forgiving the coach regarding how things went down in 2007. To those fans, he has stated his intent to “earn your support and your trust back.”
On Saturday afternoon, Rodriguez gets his first opportunity to earn the support and trust of Mountaineer fans everywhere.