Which Coaches Could Land at WVU with Rich Rodriguez? Here Are 15 Names to Watch

A list of assistants who may be on Rich Rodriguez's initial coaching staff at West Virginia.

Schuyler Callihan | 3 Hours Ago

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West Virginia Mountaineers

Rich Rodriguez is on his way back to Morgantown to coach the West Virginia Mountaineers, and he has a lot of work ahead of him. Aside from establishing relationships with those currently on the roster, he needs to put a staff together and get to work on recruiting out of the transfer portal.

Who could populate Rich Rod's initial staff? Here are 15 names you'll want to keep an eye on.

Pat White - Free agent

One of the greatest players, maybe the greatest, to ever put on the Old Gold & Blue is looking for a new job. How special would it be to see White reunite with his college head coach? White does have a few years of coaching experience under his belt, spending time at Alcorn State, South Florida, Alabama State, and the Los Angeles Chargers. The fact that he has experience recruiting helps his case.

Rod Smith - Jacksonville State Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach

Smith was Rich Rod's quarterback at Glenville State from 1993-96, and ever since, the two have had an almost inseparable relationship. You may remember that he served as Pat White's quarterback coach in 2007 before following Rodriguez to Michigan. There, he developed Denard Robinson into one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country.

From 2012-17, he was Rich's co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona and played a big part in the development of Anu Solomon and the early parts of Khalil Tate's career. Rodriguez hired him to be the offensive coordinator and QBs coach in 2022, and in two years at the FBS level, the Gamecocks' offensive unit ranked 38th and 16th in yards per game.

Tyler Allen - West Virginia Quarterbacks Coach

Allen is the only member of Neal Brown's staff to have worked for Rich Rodriguez as well. After leaving WVU in 2020, he became the quarterbacks coach at Jacksonville State for two years, one of which was for Rodriguez. Allen is well thought of in the coaching industry and may be worth keeping in place considering his relationships with the current quarterbacks on the roster and those on the recruiting trail.

Travis Trickett - Free Agent

Trickett and his father, Rick, have a longtime relationship with Rodriguez. Travis spent five years as a student assistant on Rich Rod's staff from 2003-07, where he worked with quarterback Pat White. He returned to Morgantown in 2019 as a part of Neal Brown's initial staff before becoming the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at South Florida. He was let go as the offensive coordinator in the middle of the 2024 season at Coastal Carolina. He's primarily worked with quarterbacks, receivers, and tight ends throughout his coaching career, so he has some positional flexibility.

Chad Scott - West Virginia Running Backs Coach/Interim Head Coach

There's a reason why Scott was tagged with the interim title - he has the respect of the players and knows how to lead a group of men. Not only has he been phenomenal as a developer of talent, but he's one of West Virginia's best recruiters. I would be shocked if Rich Rod didn't at least sit down and have a conversation with him to see if he'd be interested in staying put. The proposed role will play a factor for sure, but he's earned it.

Tony Dews - New York Jets Running Backs Coach

Dews may be in the NFL, but he has a long history with Rich Rodriguez and could consider a move back to WVU under the right circumstances. This is probably a long shot now that he's been in the league for seven years, but who knows? Dews was on Rodriguez's staff in 2007 and then followed him to Michigan. He spent one year with Pitt before reuniting with Rodriguez at Arizona from 2012-16. You may remember that Dews came back to Morgantown for one year as the running backs coach on Dana Holgorsen's staff before taking a job with the Tennessee Titans.

Ryan Garrett - Jacksonville State Wide Receivers Coach

Garrett, the Gamecocks wide receivers coach, first connected with Rodriguez in 2019 at Ole Miss, where he first entered coaching as a grad assistant. In 2020, he was named the wide receivers coach at West Virginia State, but due to COVID-19, their season was cut short. In 2021, Garrett reunited with Rodriguez at UL-Monroe, where he was a grad assistant on Terry Bowden's staff. He followed Rich Rod to Jax State and has been with him ever since.

Garin Justice - SMU Associate Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach

Justice played for Rodriguez at West Virginia but has also spent some time briefly on his staff as an assistant at Arizona in 2017. He then moved on to UNLV to take over as the o-line coach/offensive coordinator before going to Miami (FL). After two years there, he followed Rhett Lashlee to SMU, where he's been the associate head coach/o-line coach.

Rick Trickett - Jacksonville State Offensive Line Coach

To those who are diehard college football and WVU fans, Rick Trickett needs no introduction. He's one of the best offensive line coaches in the game. He's coached at Mississippi State, Auburn, LSU, West Virginia, Florida State, Jacksonville State, and several other stops. Over 35 of his offensive linemen have reached the NFL, and over 40 of them earned all-conference honors. He rejoined Rich Rod at Jacksonville State in December of 2021.

Matt Moore - West Virginia Offensive Line Coach

I'm not saying there's zero chance Matt Moore stays, but Rodriguez has several quality options, one of which is arguably one of the best o-line coaches in the country, Rick Trickett. But considering the job Moore has done with this group, he's worth mentioning.

Blaine Stewart - West Virginia Tight Ends Coach

Of course, Rodriguez had Blaine's father, Bill, and his staff, and it would only make sense to offer Blaine a spot. He's done a great job on the recruiting trail, he keeps some level of familiarity around, and he's done a pretty darn good job developing the talent in that room.

Willie Green - Jacksonville State Defensive Line Coach

The Jacksonville State defensive line coach was a player on the Florida Gators' 2008 national championship team. For his career, he totaled 53 tackles, 11 for a loss, and 2.5 sacks. Green was on the same staff as Rodriguez at UL-Monroe and was one of the handful of coaches he brought with him to Jax State.

Jahmile Addae - Buffalo Bills Cornerbacks Coach

Like Dews, Addae has a pretty good gig right now in the NFL, but his ties to WVU are much stronger. He played for Rich Rod and has spent three years as a WVU staff member (2007, 2019-20). Addae also spent two years on his staff as a grad assistant at Michigan and then five years with him at Arizona as a defensive analyst and defensive backs coach. The expectation is that Rodriguez will consider multiple options for his defensive coordinator position, perhaps Addae could fill that role.

Brandon Napoleon - Jacksonville State Safeties Coach

The former West Virginia cornerback is off to a tremendous start in his coaching career. In 2023, he was named to 247 Sports' Top 30 coaches under 30 list during his time at Rhode Island. Everywhere Napeoleon has been, he's coached an All-American or All-Conference selection. Syeed Gibbs - Rhode Island freshman All-American (started at Georgia Tech this year), Shelton Gibson - Susquehanna Unanimous All-American, Jordan Colbert - Rhode Island safety who got picked up by the Miami Dolphins, Brent Jackson - Rhode Island safety All-Conference, James Clark - Geneva CB 1ST team All-Conference, Zechariah Poyser - Has the numbers to be a freshman All-American this year (safety), and Antonio Carter - Jax State safety who has numbers this year to be an All-Conference selection this year.

Pat Kirkland - Jacksonville State Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers

Kirkland is currently the special teams coordinator/linebackers coach at Jax State. He and Rich Rod also go back several years. He served as WVU's Director of Recruiting and then as an assistant for five seasons on Rodriguez's staff at WVU, coaching the secondary and also some time as the fullbacks/tight ends coach.

He does have a decade of head coach experience under his belt, leading the University of Charleston (D-II) to a 70-41 record. Since taking over the responsibilities of the special teams unit at Jax State, he's produced one of the best punt and kick cover units in Conference-USA, and the country. In his first year on the job, the Gamecocks ranked fourth nationally in net punting, 10th in kickoff returns, and seventh in blocked punts.