Five players Suspended from West Virginia Football 🏈

Five players Suspended from West Virginia Football 🏈

Rich Rodriguez won four Big East championships in seven seasons during his first stint at West Virginia, coming one haunting loss short of reaching college football’s national championship game.

Fans who endured mediocrity for the past six seasons under previous coach Neal Brown are counting on Rodriguez to resurrect the magic that produced double-digit wins in his final three seasons with the Mountaineers from 2005-07.

That could take some time. If nothing else since Rodriguez was hired from Jacksonville State last December, they’ve had Sept. 13 circled, when West Virginia hosts archrival Pittsburgh, whose 13-9 win as a heavy underdog in Rodriguez’s final game at WVU still stings. Two weeks later, Rodriguez left for Michigan.

A huge roster turnover will make it challenging for Rodriguez to compete right away for a Big 12 championship. West Virginia hasn’t won a title since joining the league in 2012 and hasn’t been ranked since 2018, the last time it had back-to-back winning seasons.

“I like my team, I just don’t feel better about where we’re at,” he said. “We’ve got time.”

Rodriguez has always used a no-huddle, up-tempo offense and is no less demanding now than when he first arrived at his alma mater in 2001. He has no tolerance for a lack of hard, physical play. Angered by such at a preseason practice, he stopped the drills and made his players run as punishment.

“Way too many moments of softness,” Rodriguez said. “It can’t ever be allowed. Up front, the O-line and D-line sometimes look like they’re tango dancing instead of playing football. People say, ‘You like to yell.’ No, I like to win.”