MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Former West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez has had a great deal of success at his latest stop at Jacksonville State, leading the Gamecocks to a 17-5 overall record and 10-1 record in conference play. With success comes new opportunities, and Rodriguez is certainly aware that his name will come up in coaching searches over the next several months.
“If somebody is mentioning you for a job in a good way, that’s a good thing. It means your program is doing okay, you don’t want it to be the other way around,” Rodriguez told The Gadsen Times. “I’ve been on the other way before. I’m in a great situation here at Jax State, I have a great staff. I’m biased, but I don’t think there’s a better Group of 5 staff in the country, so I want to keep them.”
Rodriguez, who has completely turned about the football program at Jacksonville State and is currently 8-3 this season, went on to say, “I’ve been a head coach for 26 years, I’ve been handling it for a while, in a good way sometimes. I don’t think you ever…You got to be honest with your people, if someone is talking or you’re interested in something. But I’m 100% dialed into what we’re doing.”
Pat McAfee, who was the kicker/punter for the Mountaineers under Rodriguez, recently said that his former coach would be a perfect fit to replace Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M: “Give Rich Rod the bank at A&M and let him roll!” Although Rodriguez’s name hasn’t popped up in actual coaching searches yet, there will be plenty of openings and he will certainly be a strong candidate for many top programs.
What Jax State football Rich Rodriguez said about his future and the NCAA after win over LA Tech https://t.co/IqaCT9PaTC via @gadsdentimes
— Maxwell Donaldson (@_Max_Donaldson) November 19, 2023
