Newly named West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez was on MetroNews Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval Friday morning, addressing his decisions to leave and return to his alma mater.
After leaving WVU nearly two decades ago for Michigan, the West Virginia native spoke about his former and current career standings. He also expressed regret for leaving the program at its height in the 21st century.
Now, at 61, Rodriguez doesn’t have a ton of time left to lead a program, but he said if he were to go anywhere else at this stage of his career, it would be back home in West Virginia.
“I said ‘If I was going to make another run at this point of my career, the best place for me to do it would be back home at West Virginia if that ever came about’,” Rodriguez said. “The timing’s been perfect. And I know I’ve got to win games. There’s still a lot of folks that are upset, so I got to earn their support back, but we’re willing to do that, and we got to do everything we can to have West Virginia football to be relevant in the national scope again.”
The Mountaineers were on the verge of playing for a national championship just before Rodriguez left for Ann Arbor. He said he’s felt the need to address the situation for a long time.
“I felt that on my own. I probably should have explained things more when I left, so there were some mistakes on my part from a messaging standpoint,” Rodriguez said when asked if there was anything he needed to say to WVU President Gordon Gee and Vice President/Director of Athletics Wren Baker when interviewing. “I should’ve. I owed that to the state and to the great people in the state. So, I’ve made some mistakes to not addressing some things. And I don’t know if that would’ve helped at all, but it would’ve made me feel better. And I think some folks could have maybe understood some reasons.”
Some may still find Rodriguez’s hire controversial because of his exit. Although he acknowledged his wrongdoings and said the past didn’t need to be discussed, he wanted fans to know that he regretted his decision in 2007.
“Life does go on. And I wanted to have the opportunity to come back now and say, ‘Listen, we don’t need to talk about the past in the exit a lot.’ But I do want people to know I did regret it; it was a mistake,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t need Wren (Baker) or President Gee or anybody to tell me that. I wanted to say that for a long time. I just kind of never gave a lot of interviews about that West Virginia situation.”
Kercheval asked Rodriguez if he thought he’d changed, and he undoubtedly said yes.
“I’m a better coach now than I was a year ago and a lot better than I was 20-something years ago,” Rodrguez said. “I also think my experiences over the last 17 years in the other places helped me. And so, it hasn’t been like all negative. Every place I’ve been to, has been a unique experience for me and has helped me grow and help me learn. And also helped me appreciate not just my time at West Virginia, but the other places I was at.”
Now in his second tenure and towards the end of his coaching career, Rodriguez looks to rebuild a WVU that has already seen nearly 20 players enter the transfer portal and a deep class of seniors graduate. As he navigates the new landscape of college football, players and fans may not know what to expect.
