Morgantown, West Virginia – With the likelihood of Neal Brown being fired as the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers increasing every day, rumors of his eventual replacement are swirling.
One name that continues to gain steam in the past couple of days is Rich Rodriguez, the former head coach of the Mountaineers and the current head coach at Jacksonville State.
Rodriguez, 59, grew up in Grant Town, West Virginia, played defensive back for the Mountaineers and took the football program to unprecedented heights as the head coach of the team from 2001-2007.
Although Rodriguez has baggage, he has a groundswell of support from West Virginia fans who want to return the football program to prominence. In fact, one major donor has been rumored to be willing to make a donation to West Virginia University if the school is willing to bring Rich Rodriguez back as the head coach of the Mountaineers.
Couz’s Corner, a popular YouTube channel dedicated to covering West Virginia athletics, has heard from a source that “has connections with someone who has coached under Rich Rodriguez and knows him really well” that a “major donor for West Virginia University has stated that he’s willing to pay the entirety of Neal Brown’s buyout if West Virginia will bring Rich Rodriguez back.” Remember, Brown’s buyout will be approximately $16 million at the end of the season.
Although Rodriguez is an extremely divisive figure in the state of West Virginia, winning cures all and there’s little doubt that Rodriguez would have tremendous success if he were to get a second chance at leading the Mountaineers.
Rodriguez, who is 7-2 in his first season at Jacksonville State, is currently making a base salary of $500,000 a year. He has said that he is happy and content where he’s at, but if West Virginia called and asked him to return home to return to the Mountaineers football program to its former glory, he would almost certainly return in a heartbeat.
Check out the entire video from Couz’s Corner below and be sure to SUBSCRIBE to his outstanding channel while you are there:
Would you be okay with Rich Rodriguez returning to be the head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers? #WVU
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) November 1, 2022
