Rich Rodriguez’s Spring Showcase Takeaways

Head coach Rich Rodriguez has wrapped up his first spring back at West Virginia, capped off by a spring showcase to allow the fans to get a look at the team, which he followed by going into detail about his thoughts on the practice season.

The Mountaineers are going into a 2025 season with almost an entirely new roster and coaching staff that have all had to adjust to the new schemes and systems, something that usually takes a while before everyone gets fully on the same page.

“I think it was a solid spring. Every coach in America would tell you that they didn’t get everything done that they wanted to get done. I thought the guys got better, fundamentally we got a little better, understanding the schemes and terminology that’s new. I think we got better at that,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez is known for running a fast-paced and high-tempo offense that is unique in many ways. He expects that to translate to success at this level.

“Our pace is non-negotiable,” Rodriguez said. “We didn’t do much with it today. That’s part of the process of learning. Typical things, you teach things slowly until they get it and you can speed things up,” Rodriguez said.

Saturday’s annual spring game looked a bit different from years past, serving more as a showcase. The offense ran plays against the defense with players rotating in and out on both sides of the ball.

“That today was more like a practice. It wasn’t a true game. We weren’t keeping score. I did that one time having a certain scoring system,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also expressed confidence in the quarterback position that is headlined by Nicco Marchiol and Jaylen Henderson. On Saturday, all quarterbacks had chances to run the offense, and players like Max Brown were able to showcase their skill set before the end of spring ball.

“I’ll probably judge it better watching the film. I thought they ran pretty well, but I think we need to get rid of the ball quicker at times. There were a couple of throws we missed, but it’s a very conscientious group. They want to be good,” Rodriguez said.

Despite the practice format, Rodriguez capped off the day with the playing of Country Roads, something that he has not experienced since 2007.

“I told the players afterward that this is personal to me; this whole thing is. I’ve played here and coached here a couple of times,” Rodriguez said.

WVU will now be faced with difficult decisions after spring ball, and with the transfer portal opening again on April 16 and having to trim the roster down to 105, the Mountaineers will have to make decisions to make on who will be on the roster by the time the team takes the field again.