The Three Coaches WVU Should Center Its Focus on as the Search Narrows

A few candidates that make the most sense for West Virginia.

Dave Hyatt / Special to the Gadsden Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the next few days, we should know who the next head football coach is at West Virginia University. There have been a ton of names linked to the job, several of which have already been interviewed for the job.

So, out of all the names that have been tossed around, who makes the most sense for the Mountaineers? Here are my three leaders, in no particular order.

Jon Sumrall - Tulane Head Coach

Some folks may be turned off by the idea of hiring Sumrall because he was the head coach at Troy for two years, which just happens to be the place the former WVU head coach was at before coming to Morgantown. I would tell those folks that not every situation is linear. Just because Brown had success at Troy and didn't work out at WVU, that doesn't mean the same will happen with Sumrall. Plus, he's proven to be a winner at two Group of Five schools which should hold some weight.

Hiring Sumrall would also be going against the grain of previous hires at WVU. The Mountaineers have prioritized hiring offensive-minded coaches in its last two searches, landing on Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown. You can even say three of the last four if we want to include Rich Rodriguez in this conversation. Sumrall is a former linebacker and has spent his entire coaching career coaching that side of the ball.

He was the defensive coordinator at Kentucky in 2021, a unit that finished 17th nationally in total defense. In his two years as the head coach at Troy, the Trojans ranked 15th and 13th in total defense. This year, Tulane currently ranks 15th. Notice a trend? The man can put a defense together, and that's something that's been missing in Morgantown for several years.

Andy Kotelnicki - Penn State Offensive Coordinator

It took a couple of years for Kotelnicki and Lance Leipold to get things turned around at Buffalo, but they finally got it going and Kotelnicki helped put together a pair of top 50 offenses with the Bulls.

The first year in Lawrence went as expected, but years two and three were much different. Kansas accomplished things they hadn't done in several years, such as getting out to a 6-0 start and getting ranked. Kotelnicki played a massive part in the Jayhawks' turnaround and the development of QB Jalon Daniels. Earlier this season, you could tell that his departure for Penn State affected the Jayhawks, who kept finding themselves on the wrong side of several one-score losses. Jalon Daniels also took a massive step back in his first year without Kotelnicki, completing just 57% of his passes and throwing 12 picks.

In his first year as the play-caller in Happy Valley, Kotelnicki worked his magic again by turning the 60th-ranked offense in 2023 into the 11th-best in yards per game this season with virtually the same players minus a handful of key pieces such as offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, center Hunter Nourzad, offensive lineman Caeden Wallace, tight end Theo Johnson and wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who transferred to Auburn.

Rich Rodriguez - Jacksonville State Head Coach

Rich Rod is probably the most popular choice amongst the WVU fan base, which is weird to say. But I guess the thought of him potentially returning brings back the better memories of his tenure in Morgantown rather than what happened at the tail end of it. If Rodriguez is hired, there will be a divide in the fan base. But at the end of the day, if he wins, everyone will be on board.

West Virginia has had some moments of being in the "national" picture over the last 17 years, but it didn't last long, nor was it consistent. The 32-5 stretch he had from 2005-07 is the best three-year stretch in program history. While re-creating that domination is unlikely, he knows more than anyone who is being considered for the job what it takes to win here. He grew up following the team, played for WVU, and, of course, was the man in charge for a while.

Sure, he doesn't have an 11 or 12-win season in his two years at Jacksonville State, but for a team making the transition from FCS to FBS, he's done way more than anyone ever thought to be possible. It goes to show Rich Rod still has the winning DNA in him, and perhaps he can finish out his career back at home.

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