Rich Rodriguez's Offseason Checklist for a Successful Year One at WVU

The five things that Rich Rod must accomplish over the next few months.

Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's about to be an extremely busy offseason for "new" West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez as he will spend the next three to four months constructing his coaching staff and roster for the 2025 season.

Many things have to happen all in a short period of time, thanks to the NCAA's botched handling of the recruiting and transfer portal calendar. What is it that Rodriguez must accomplish this offseason?

A home run hire at defensive coordinator

Rich has admitted he has two guys in mind for the position, although others could be in the mix. I've been told those two are Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Zac Alley and Louisiana Tech defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson. While Alley would be a terrific hire, it's unlikely that he will leave his post at Oklahoma, where he has deep ties with Brent Venables, for the job at West Virginia. Johnson feels like the favorite, and if he is indeed the guy, the defense will be just fine. Coming away with one of these two is key.

Retain the following key players

I could make a case for way more players than I'm about to list, but I don't want to bore you to death, so we'll keep it to those they absolutely can't let get away. Those guys are QB Nicco Marchiol, RB Jahiem White, RB CJ Donaldson, WR Hudson Clement, WR Traylon Ray, WR Rodney Gallagher III, TE Treylan Davis, LG Tomas Rimac, and LB Trey Lathan. That's your core. If you keep those guys around, you'll be in good shape.

Add a quarterback who can compete for the job

I've had this as a part of the list before I had knowledge of Ryder Burton entering the transfer portal. I'm a firm believer in competition. And while Nicco Marchiol may be the best guy for the job, he needs to be pushed. Most coaches who take a new job will add a quarterback out of the portal unless they inherit a proven star. Again, Marchiol could turn into that, but at this stage in his career, there are still a lot of question marks around him and his ceiling. Bring someone in and let the best man win the job. Plus, Rich Rod is going to need a solid No. 2 option in case QB1 were to go down with an injury. I'm not sure Khalil Wilkins is quite ready for that role just yet.

Get faster on defense...a lot faster

In my opinion, this is one of the biggest issues with the current roster. They just aren't fast enough. There's a reason why teams had so much success through the air - WVU couldn't chase guys down in the open field, and they got beat consistently on shot plays. Speed in the secondary is a must, but I'd even say upgrading the speed at linebacker is just as critical. You can expect several new faces to populate that side of the ball in 2025, regardless of who the defensive coordinator is.

Compete in the portal

There's nothing wrong with grabbing guys from the lower levels (Group of Five of FCS), but West Virginia needs to be able to land some Power Four talent as well. The big-money donors say they fully support Rich Rodriguez, and if that's the case, they need to assist right away. There's no need to wait until year two or three to piece together lucrative NIL packages for top-tier talent. I'm not suggesting spending millions of dollars on a handful of players. Just get two or three guys who, in the past, you wouldn't have had the means to do so.

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