Morgantown, West Virginia – To be truly successful at West Virginia, coaches must be willing to think outside the box and use unorthodox methods. The Mountaineers will never out-talent the very top programs in the country and must find gimmicks to compete at the highest level.
West Virginia most recent major successes have been the Rich Rodriguez era, when the Mountaineers ran Rich Rod’s innovative run pass option (RPO) spread offense. Of course Rodriguez had Pat White, Steve Slaton, among many other talented athletes, but remember, these players were not highly-regarded out of high school.
Back in 2015-2016, at the height of Press Virginia, West Virginia basketball was able to beat far more-talented teams because opponents found it hard to prepare for Huggins’ relentless, full-court pressing style.
West Virginia football’s current offense is a mess with the team’s top wide receivers leaving the program and now Neal Brown is tasked with hiring an offensive coordinator. Whether you like the way Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia or not, it’s impossible to question his ability to put a powerful, difficult-to-stop offense on the field.
Rich Rodriguez is an offensive genius and one of the very best to ever do it. He’s a native West Virginian and he knows the importance of winning for the state.
Although he made a poor decision that he certainly regrets making by leaving West Virginia for Michigan, he is precisely what the Mountaineers need right now. His unfortunate decision from almost two decades ago shouldn’t keep him from being forgiven and hired again at WVU.
West Virginia will not be able to run the Air Raid offense next season with their current roster. Instead, the Mountaineers will have to focus on their ground game and lean on their running backs, quarterbacks and offensive line.
Imagine Garrett Greene and CJ Donaldson running Rich Rodriguez’ spread offense behind a veteran offensive line. Or Garrett Greene and Jaylen Anderson running behind Wyatt Milum, Doug Nester, Zach Frazier and company.
Rodriguez loves the state of West Virginia and would certainly leave his current position at Jacksonville State for an opportunity to return home.
Although it seems far-fetched, Neal Brown should be creative, think outside the box and really consider hiring Rich Rodriguez as the team’s offensive coordinator.
