Winning Big? Three Reasons Why It Could Happen for WVU in Year One Under Rich Rod

Rich Rodriguez is ready to get the Mountaineers back in the national spotlight.

West Virginia University head coach Rich Rodriguez / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

West Virginia is a sleeping giant in the Big 12, and perhaps the hiring of Rich Rodriguez woke the giant up from its slumber. There's a strong belief that Rich Rod will get the Mountaineers back on track and in the national spotlight, but could it happen as early as 2025?

Here are a few reasons why it's possible.

Strong support/NIL pool

It was not the reason why Rodriguez was brought back to Morgantown, but money talks, and in some cases, it screams. Wren Baker knew that a Rich Rod return would bring a lot of big dollars into the program, not only from big donors/boosters such as Ken Kendrick, Ike Morris, Pat McAfee, and others, but fans would be more willing to donate to Country Roads Trust.

Why? Nostalgia.

As bad and ugly of a breakup it was, they will choose to remember the good times under Rich and believe that he can lead the Mountaineers back to the national spotlight if he has the resources needed. If you remember, that was one of the biggest issues between Rodriguez and the administration he worked under from 2001-07. He felt like the program wasn't going to be able to compete on the big stage on a yearly basis with the resources available. Now, he'll have that. He even joked in his presser, saying, "I love what you've done with the place," when referring to the Milan Puskar Center.

Lighter schedule

For the last five years, West Virginia has played eleven Power Four opponents. That's brutal scheduling. No one in the country does that. It would have been six of the last seven straight years if Hurricane Florence hadn't canceled their matchup with NC State in 2018.

Rodriguez's first game back in Morgantown will be against Robert Morris on August 31st and then they'll head over to Athens to face the Ohio Bobcats before returning home for the Backyard Brawl against Pitt on September 13th. Yes, 9/13.

As far as league play is concerned, there's no telling who will be good and who will struggle. The last two teams picked to finish dead last, West Virginia and Arizona State finished nowhere near the bottom. The two teams picked at the top this year, Utah and Oklahoma State, found themselves in the cellar. Having a lighter non-conference schedule and the Brawl being at home, makes for a favorable first month.

Completely different mindset

I'd argue this is the number one factor. The two previous head coaches, Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown weren't big on revealing expectations. Although, at times, they hinted that winning big was difficult to do in Morgantown.

Holgorsen said, "We weren't going to get high school kids at West Virginia that we were going to win the Big 12 with."

Brown recently stated that ten wins this season weren't likely with the schedule they played. He also caught some heat from fans for his "We're 5-5, not 0-10" comment.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez said on the day of his introductory press conference, "You can win a national championship at West Virginia."

Whether you believe that or not, you have to have that mindset. You can't hope to win games. You can't hope to win the Big 12. You can't hope to make the College Football Playoff. It has to be your goal. When players hear you say something like "You can win a national championship at West Virginia" on your first day on the job, it gets everyone's attention and sparks belief that something like that is possible.

There is a certain level of confidence in Rodriguez that permeates throughout his teams. They expect to win and win big. Over the last decade or so, that swagger and belief hasn't been evident. That will change under Rodriguez.

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