The Three Things at the Top of Rich Rodriguez's Christmas Wish List

What does the WVU football coach want for Christmas?

WVU Athletics Communication

Earlier this month, Rich Rodriguez received an early Christmas present when he was named the next head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, an opportunity he was unsure if he'd ever have again.

While getting the job is a great gift, there are some things that come with the job that I'm sure he'd like to have. Here are the three things I expect are on Rich Rod's Christmas wish list.

Finalize a strong coaching staff

At this stage in the game, Rodriguez has a pretty good feel as to who will be on his staff. Many of those pieces are already in place but have yet to be officially announced by the athletic department. The defensive side of the ball is where most of the question marks exist, simply due to the search for a defensive coordinator. That will be determined soon, though, and the rest of the pieces will fall into place shortly after. While it's important to get the search for assistants wrapped up quickly to be able to recruit, you can't rush the process. It's a tough balance, but the sooner the better for Rich Rod.

Retain key players/Land quality players in portal

There are several Mountaineers in the transfer portal, but not all of them are officially goners. There are a handful that could make their way back to the program under the right circumstances. Knowing who is going to be on the staff plays a piece in that as well. There are others, though, who have yet to enter the portal, such as Jahiem White, Rodney Gallagher, etc. Keeping those guys out of the portal would be a massive win for Rich Rod and his staff. A reminder: the current portal window closes on December 28th.

The other part of this is securing commitments and, eventually, signatures from talented players in the transfer portal. With the number of players exiting the program, Rodriguez will have a bunch of holes to fill on all three sides of the ball. Every coach would like to have a high hit rate in the portal, but when you have to rely on the portal in your first season, you absolutely have to hit on more than you miss.

Earn back the trust of West Virginian's

This one is easy, and if it weren't for the pressing matter of finding a staff and putting a roster together, this would, without question, be at the top. And who knows? Maybe, in some ways, it is. Fan support has always mattered, but it may mean more than ever now with the fans' ability to directly assist the program in landing quality talent. He needs the fan base to buy in and trust that the program is in good hands, especially after what happened 17 years ago. Some folks may never forgive him for the move to Michigan, but at the bare minimum, he needs their support.

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