Neal Brown and Rodney Gallagher had a close bond over the last two football seasons. With Neal Brown’s departure, many believed that Gallagher would transfer. However, the 4 start recruit decided to stay with West Virginia and the media finally received insight into what led Gallagher to make that decision.
“My thought process was just to be patient,” said Gallagher, “I wasn’t planning on doing anything just because I needed to meet one-on-one with Rich Rod and see what his plans were for me.” So that is what he did, and when Gallagher had that one-on-one conversation with the new head coach, he was all in. “his plans were great for me,” said Gallagher.
Gallagher was a four-star recruit coming out of high school as a two-way, where he boasted a four-star rating in basketball as well. For the Mountaineers, Gallagher has mainly been seen in the slot. In 2023, Gallagher saw minimal playing time and tallied 10 receptions for 74 yards and zero touchdowns in his true freshman season at West Virginia. However, Gallagher would make massive improvements for the 2024 season as he tallied 26 receptions totaling 288 yards and three touchdowns. Gallagher was a jack of all trades for Neal Brown as Gallagher was used in the slot, the RPO, pure rushing where he has a total of 31 career carries for 138 yards, and even on defense as a free safety.
The jackknife of a player that is Rodney Gallagher does not come around often and Coach Rich Rodriguez looks to use Gallagher’s talents on the field to produce something special for the Mountaineers this season. Will the fans see Gallagher on the defensive side of the ball more, will he be lining up in the back field more? Nobody knows but if Rodney Gallagher has made the strides he has needed to make in the offseason, he could be a real weapon in many areas of the Mountaineer’s schemes.
