Former Mountaineer head coach Rich Rodriguez has returned to his home state to finish what he started. Rodriguez was named West Virginia’s 36th head coach early Thursday morning. He previously coached at West Virginia from 2001-2007 and then spent time at Michigan, Arizona, and Jacksonville State.
Rodriguez went 60-26 during seven seasons with the Mountaineers. He won the Big East championship four times and led the team to five bowl games winning two. Pat Mcafee, Pat White, and Rasheed Marshall were key players under the direction of Rodriguez.
After a controversial departure, Rodriguez spent three years with Michigan managing only one winning season and a record of 15-22. He spent six seasons at Arizona with an overall record of 43-35, leading the Wildcats to a top-25 finish in 2014. Rodriguez was then fired in 2018 following a lawsuit.
In his most recent position, Rodriguez took Jacksonville State from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. Jacksonville State recently won its first conference championship. Rodriguez had a record of 27-10 with the Gamecocks.
Rodriguez hopes to bring the Mountaineers a winning record. Rodriquez will be introduced with his initial press conference on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. EST.
