MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Sometimes a picture really does say it all.
Michael Hawkins Jr. standing on Mountaineer Field beside Pat White might just look like a cool picture of a current West Virginia quarterback with a Mountaineer legend, but there is a lot more to it than that. Hawkins is wearing the Old Gold and Blue preparing for what is expected to be his first season as WVU’s starting quarterback, while White is standing beside him as one of his coaches. Nearly 20 years ago, White was the dynamic young quarterback running Rich Rodriguez’s offense at West Virginia. Now he’s helping teach that same offense to a quarterback who possesses many of the same physical tools that made White nearly impossible to defend.
It’s the past and present of WVU quarterbacks in one picture.
The Past and The Future #WVU pic.twitter.com/IEwDOHmdba
— The Voice of Morgantown (@voicemorgantown) August 16, 2026
And let’s get something out of the way immediately: Michael Hawkins Jr. has a long, long way to go before he should ever seriously be compared to Pat White in terms of accomplishments. White isn’t simply a great former WVU quarterback. He’s one of the greatest players in the history of West Virginia football and, in my opinion, one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time.
White finished his Mountaineer career with 6,049 passing yards and 56 touchdowns while rushing for an incredible 4,480 yards and another 47 scores. That’s 10,529 yards of total offense and 103 touchdowns. At the time his career ended, no quarterback in NCAA history had rushed for more yards. But with White, the statistics were almost secondary to one thing: the guy just won football games.
West Virginia went 35-8 with White as its starting quarterback. He became the first quarterback in college football history to start and win four bowl games, and those weren’t meaningless victories, either. White helped lead WVU past Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and absolutely embarrassed Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. He won two Big East Offensive Player of the Year awards, was a three-time first-team All-Big East selection and finished sixth in the 2007 Heisman Trophy voting. His No. 5 is being retired by West Virginia this season, putting him exactly where he belongs among the greatest players to ever represent the University.
For those of us who watched White play, though, you don’t need the statistics to explain how special he was. You remember it.
Every time White pulled the ball from Steve Slaton’s stomach and took off around the edge, it felt like something big was about to happen. Defenses knew exactly what Rich Rodriguez wanted to do and couldn’t do anything about it. White could turn what looked like a five-yard run into a 60-yard touchdown almost instantly. His speed changed the geometry of the entire field.
And now look at the guy standing next to him in this picture.
Hawkins certainly looks the part. He’s a bigger quarterback than White was, has legitimate speed and possesses a strong arm. More importantly, he’s now playing in an offense perfectly suited for everything he does well.
That’s where this becomes really interesting.
White isn’t simply some former player who happened to stop by practice and pose for a picture with Hawkins. He’s coaching him.
When Rich Rodriguez returned to West Virginia, he brought White back with him. White now serves as an assistant quarterbacks coach and assistant to the head coach, meaning Hawkins gets to walk into the quarterback room every day and learn from the guy who mastered this offense better than anyone who has ever played in it.
Think about how valuable that could be.
When Rodriguez explains a read and Hawkins has a question about what the quarterback should be looking for, Pat White is standing right there. When Hawkins needs to understand when to pull the football and when to give it to the running back, White has made that decision thousands of times. When he needs advice about using his speed without taking unnecessary hits, White has lived it. And when Hawkins eventually walks onto Mountaineer Field as WVU’s starting quarterback with 60,000 people expecting him to win, his coach knows exactly what that feels like, too.
There might not be a better mentor in America for Michael Hawkins Jr. than Pat White.
And apparently, White sees something pretty special in his young quarterback.
White has said Hawkins possesses the speed and skill to potentially be even better than he was. Coming from anybody else, I’d probably roll my eyes at that statement. Coming from Pat White? You have to pay attention.
That’s an unbelievable compliment.
Again, let’s not get carried away. Hawkins hasn’t taken a meaningful snap for West Virginia yet, while White has a résumé that very few quarterbacks in the history of college football can match. Nobody should put that kind of expectation on Hawkins before his WVU career even begins.
But physically? You can understand why White is excited.
Hawkins showed flashes of his ability during his time at Oklahoma. He was thrown into action as a true freshman in 2024 and became the first true freshman quarterback to start for Oklahoma since Caleb Williams. His time with the Sooners wasn’t perfect, but you could see the raw ability. Now he’s older, more experienced and playing for a coach who has built his entire career around getting the most out of athletic quarterbacks.
This offense was practically made for someone like Hawkins.
Rodriguez doesn’t want a quarterback who simply stands in the pocket and distributes the football. The quarterback is part of the running game. Every time Hawkins puts the football into Cam Cook’s stomach, a defender has to decide whether Cook has it or whether Hawkins is about to pull it and take off in the opposite direction. Add Hawkins’ arm talent to that equation and suddenly the defense has a whole lot to worry about.
Sound familiar?
Nobody is suggesting Hawkins and Cook are suddenly going to become Pat White and Steve Slaton. Those guys are Mountaineer legends and earned that distinction over several incredible seasons. But for the first time in a long time, WVU has the coach, the system and the type of quarterback that naturally brings back memories of those days.
And now Pat White himself is helping put it together.
That’s why I love this picture so much. White is standing there in WVU coaching gear while Hawkins is standing beside him in his practice uniform. One has already created memories that West Virginia fans will talk about forever. The other hasn’t created his yet.
One represents an era when West Virginia was regularly competing with the best teams in college football.
The other has a chance to help get WVU back there.
There will never be another Pat White, and Michael Hawkins Jr. shouldn’t be asked to become him. But if White is correct about the young quarterback he’s coaching every day, Hawkins might have an opportunity to create a legacy of his own.
The past is standing right beside the present.
And maybe, just maybe, Pat White is looking at the guy who can help make West Virginia football feel like West Virginia football again.
