Rich Rodriguez Will Silence the Critics and Win Big Again at West Virginia

It won't be long before Rich Rod has the Mountaineers back in the national conversation.

West Virginia University Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker introduces football head coach Rich Rodriguez / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

What Rich Rodriguez did 17-19 years ago in Morgantown resulted in the best three-year stretch in WVU football program history. From 2005-07, the Mountaineers went 33-5 with a pair of BCS bowl wins over Georgia and Oklahoma.

Since his departure from Michigan, West Virginia hasn't been in the national spotlight nearly as much. Sure, they've had some moments here and there during the Geno Smith-Tavon Austin-Stedman Bailey days, and then once again in 2018 with Will Grier, David Sills V, and Gary Jennings, but the attention never lasted for an entire season, much less carried over from year to year.

The plan is for that to change as the prodigal son makes his return to the Mountain State.

The moment West Virginia announced the re-hire of Rodriguez, it created a lot of buzz locally and even nationally. A large group of fans believe he will return WVU to its winning ways and have the Mountaineers in the conversation for the College Football Playoff in the very near future. But some out there doubt he'll be able to repeat what he did two decades ago, especially after spending the last handful of years at a lower level.

“There’s a lot of opinions, and a lot of them are uneducated, and some of them don’t know the resources. But what we’ve tried to do at every place we’ve been to is build the best football program in America, and some had different challenges," Rodriguez said at his introductory press conference.

"I’m really proud of what happened at Jax State, the players, and the staff we had there. We went from a 1-AA team to a 1-A team, and nobody’s ever done that and went to two straight bowls and won a conference championship in their second year. There’s a lot of Power Four teams that wouldn’t want to play Jax State right now, I can tell you that. As I mentioned earlier, if I was the same coach now that I was in 2007, then I didn’t follow my own guidelines for my players and my staff about getting better every day. I know the landscape has changed.

"The goalposts have moved, and we’ve moved with it. The great part about it is that this opportunity for me was so good, not only because it was home. Not only because I wanted to come back and make it right but because the school, Wren (Baker), and everybody associated with President Gee and the Board are committed to us having a seat at the table and trying to win. They’re not just trying to compete. They want to win, and we’re used to winning here.”

Another thing that critics will point out is that Rodriguez had most of his success after the old Big East got ripped apart. Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College all left for the ACC, prompting the league to add Connecticut, Louisville, and Cincinnati. How does that watered-down Big East compare to what Rodriguez is about to experience in a deep Big 12 Conference?

“I don’t know that from a football standpoint ability-wise or schematic-wise or what have you that it’s a whole lot different. It’s just a difference in the location," Rodriguez stated. "Most of the schools in the Big East you’re competing against them in recruiting because everybody is in the same region. Now, everybody is everywhere but so is recruiting is everywhere because of the transfer portal. When I was talking to Wren about that and looking at the Big 12, I’m like, I’m more familiar with these teams than maybe any other league because of my time in the PAC 12. You’re talking about Arizona, Arizona State, Utah…even played BYU a couple of times. I probably know those programs, know those regions, know how they recruit or how they’ve recruited in the past more than any other league.”

The league is more challenging than the Big East, without question. However, it is a wide-open league and one that doesn't have multiple bluebloods running it on a yearly basis, such as the ACC, Big 10, and SEC. There is a path to being a perennial contender in the Big 12 at West Virginia and at the other 15 institutions, for that matter The question is, who will be the handful of programs that emerge as the top dogs? With the financial backing Rich Rod has, West Virginia can be one of them.

The biggest difference between Rich Rod and the two coaches that came before him is that he truly believes you can win big at West Virginia and do so regularly. Dana Holgorsen believed he couldn't win the Big 12 at WVU and Neal Brown said in an interview with MetroNews following his firing that you can win if you "catch lightning in a bottle."

Rodriguez has mentioned a National Championship a handful of times since his return. People outside of the state may give him a weird look when he says it, but he believes it to be possible. You need your head coach to believe that something like winning the natty is attainable. If not, you create a lack of confidence, which then results in somewhat of a defeatist attitude.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Phil Steele Reveals His Best Bet for West Virginia's Bowl Game vs. Memphis

ESPN Bracketology: West Virginia Continues to Climb, Earns Higher Seed

How Does WVU Replace Josiah Trotter? Here's a Handful of Transfer Linebacker Options

Five QB Options West Virginia Should Consider in the Transfer Portal