WEBVTT 00:00:00.009 --> 00:00:03.410 Brian Fisher here for Sports Illustrated at Big 12 Media Day is joined by West Virginia 00:00:03.410 --> 00:00:09.859 head coach Rich Rodriguez. Always seems like this is the time of year where you know 00:00:09.859 --> 00:00:12.929 football's right around the corner, isn't it? Yeah, well, it's a little early. We should 00:00:12.929 --> 00:00:17.048 probably be on vacation right now, Brian, but you know, as, as you can sense it in the air a 00:00:17.048 --> 00:00:21.370 little bit. There's a lot of excitement, you know, our players are all on campus and, and 00:00:21.370 --> 00:00:26.370 working hard, and it's, we're an interesting time, are we not, in college, college athletics 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:30.670 in general and college football in particular, so. You know, the, uh, the, all the turnover 00:00:30.670 --> 00:00:34.329 and all that stuff, it makes you a little bit nervous, but it also makes you pretty excited 00:00:34.509 --> 00:00:38.469 as, as somebody who's been around the game for a while. I mean, it, it, it seems like 00:00:38.469 --> 00:00:42.149 everything changes year by year. Are, do you get used to that at this point? Yeah, I think, 00:00:42.228 --> 00:00:46.310 you know, we'll look back at this era in 10 or 12 years now and think, what the hell was going 00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:50.668 on in that 5-year NIL period? You know, we hadn't got it all figured out yet. We need some 00:00:50.668 --> 00:00:55.618 help and trying to get help from DC, but good luck with that, right? So it's, it's a, it's a 00:00:55.618 --> 00:01:00.000 unique time. Uh, but as a coach you can throw your hands up and say, oh gosh, this, what are 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.750 we gonna do? Or you can say, tell me what the rules are today and how do we go and compete 00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:07.948 with it. And that's what, that's the kind of path we're told, we're taking, when it comes to 00:01:07.948 --> 00:01:11.180 West Virginia last year, obviously, you know, there's a lot of excitement about you, you 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:14.719 coming back. You know, how, how would you kind of sum up the, the mood going into this season? 00:01:14.838 --> 00:01:18.079 Yeah, it's a little different. The roster flipped again. I've never done that, you know, 00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:23.424 80 new guys last year. 80 new guys this year, but we had a little bit more money this year, a 00:01:23.424 --> 00:01:27.584 little bit, a lot more time, and we're a little bit more intent, intentful on how we 00:01:27.584 --> 00:01:31.823 want to go and build our roster. And so we don't have 30 seniors like we did last year. 00:01:31.894 --> 00:01:36.224 We're gonna have 14 seniors, I think this year . And so we got a lot of good young players. You 00:01:36.224 --> 00:01:40.944 know, we're able to find some guys at, at the, at the group of 5 level, group of 6 level that 00:01:40.944 --> 00:01:45.769 wanted to play at a higher level. Um, we ever get great value with some of the guys we got, 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:50.609 and it's the 2nd year in the system, even though most of the rosters new, most of the 00:01:50.609 --> 00:01:54.209 staff is returning, and so it's the 2nd year of us together in the system, and I feel really 00:01:54.209 --> 00:01:57.888 good where we're at. I mean, have you had to kind of adjust in terms of who you look at, how 00:01:57.888 --> 00:02:02.969 you evaluate? Oh, hell, you gotta adjust everything nowadays. I mean, it's nuts, you 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:07.105 know, you're crazy that, uh, You know, where, where it's standing right now, but we were, you 00:02:07.105 --> 00:02:11.574 know, we have a plan for it and, and we got to execute the plan. I thought we had some really 00:02:11.574 --> 00:02:15.133 good young players that we can build on and, you know, if we picked the right guys, which I 00:02:15.133 --> 00:02:18.933 think we did, we got to make sure we keep them . If they do what we think we're gonna do, we're 00:02:18.933 --> 00:02:22.344 gonna make sure we sign on the multi-year contracts and they don't go somewhere else. But 00:02:22.455 --> 00:02:26.014 we got a great environment. I got a really good staff. A lot of us have been together for 00:02:26.014 --> 00:02:31.330 a long time. And I feel good where we're at, you know, we won't be predicted to be pretty 00:02:31.330 --> 00:02:35.288 good, but I expect this to be pretty good. And then that's usually when you guys do surprise 00:02:35.288 --> 00:02:38.969 when you kind of got that, that disconnect. But, uh, in, in terms of roster, certainly a 00:02:38.969 --> 00:02:42.080 highly rated transfer class, a lot of guys that you did bring in. Was there somebody that 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.288 kind of stuck out in your mind after watching them through, uh, spring ball? Well, we tried 00:02:45.288 --> 00:02:49.210 to get guys that had proven production, you know, we didn't really want to get any guys 00:02:49.210 --> 00:02:52.679 that, oh, this guy, if he couldn't play over there, why do we think he's gonna play for us, 00:02:52.750 --> 00:02:57.308 you know, we're trying to beat that team. So, we, but we have a few guys that were young guys, 00:02:57.429 --> 00:03:02.629 maybe redshirted, uh, which is no longer a thing, uh, at a Power 4 school, but most of the 00:03:02.629 --> 00:03:07.270 transfers we got were, were a group of 5 guys that have been highly productive and want to 00:03:07.270 --> 00:03:10.949 play at this level. You know, for instance, Cam Cook, and he's, Cam Cook was successful in 00:03:10.949 --> 00:03:15.069 the Big 12, the leading nation's leading runner last year at Jack State. We had a little 00:03:15.069 --> 00:03:19.349 in there at Jack State. And so for his final year, you know, he's gonna get a chance to 00:03:19.349 --> 00:03:25.058 prove it at the power 4 level. And so we ever try to get proven production. Uh, as opposed to 00:03:25.058 --> 00:03:29.618 potential, and we addressed that basically at every position. I mean, does that, do you, do 00:03:29.618 --> 00:03:32.618 you think that does translate just a little bit more in this, this, this game because the 00:03:32.618 --> 00:03:38.219 rosters are so, uh, transient? It is, and it's , it's, uh, you gotta have a plan, uh, 00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:42.099 schematically as well. Like I remind our coaches, especially our young coaches, we got 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:46.000 really, really sharp young. Coaches have got great ideas, but I said, we got to be 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:51.000 freshman-friendly because these guys, he might be a 21, 22 year old grown man, but it's his 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:55.000 first year in our system. So let's not overcomplicate things. And so that's part of 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:59.580 our plan during the spring and, and during fall camp is that we want to make sure our guys, 00:03:59.750 --> 00:04:04.520 our best players are playing, uh, because they know the system. I, I know it's not the record 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:07.639 that, that you wanted last year. It certainly started out with a bang, kind of a bit of a 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:11.159 roller coaster. Is that just kind of the nature though of playing in the Big 12? Yeah, a 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:15.800 little bit of that, you know, being the first year, and then, you know, I would like to think 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:20.678 we're not gonna have to play 5 quarterbacks because of injury or 5 running backs because 00:04:20.678 --> 00:04:26.319 I've never had that, that those two positions hit that hard that quickly. I mean, about a 4th 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:30.000 or 5th game of the year, we're on our 4th different quarterback and our 4th, 5th 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.649 different running back, and so a little bit of bad luck there. Uh, but, uh, I also think it 00:04:35.649 --> 00:04:39.170 helped us learn a little bit about what we need to do going forward as far as who we 00:04:39.170 --> 00:04:43.588 brought in the room and who we're recruiting and, and I love our guys' attitude. The culture 00:04:43.588 --> 00:04:48.649 is never gonna change, you know, we, you know, we, we have a demanding culture. Um, uh, we 00:04:48.649 --> 00:04:52.809 have, we want guys that love football and not like it. And I love the way our guys have 00:04:52.809 --> 00:04:57.065 approached it so far and, you know, I think they all have something to prove. I think it's 00:04:57.065 --> 00:05:01.055 a danger when you get a guy that doesn't really feel he has to prove anything. I want 00:05:01.055 --> 00:05:03.985 everybody to have to prove something all the time. Do you feel like you, especially at the 00:05:03.985 --> 00:05:07.584 quarterback position, you're a little bit more slow? I do. We, uh, we got Mike Hawkins out of 00:05:07.584 --> 00:05:10.865 transfer portal, which we had kind of identified. We wanted to get a guy that would, 00:05:11.014 --> 00:05:16.264 that can run, can throw, was decisive, uh, and wanted, it kind of had a chip on his shoulder 00:05:16.264 --> 00:05:20.841 was Mike fits that, and then Scotty Fox, who played as a The 17 year old true freshman last 00:05:20.841 --> 00:05:25.802 year is coming back and he's a talented guy. And so we have some others as well. So a couple 00:05:25.802 --> 00:05:30.122 of freshmen I think are gonna be really good. So, uh, I like the talent in the room. Uh, we 00:05:30.122 --> 00:05:34.052 got a couple of guys with experience because Mike and Scotty both have started some, some 00:05:34.052 --> 00:05:38.122 games for us. So, uh, I like where we're at. Is there somebody on the roster that, uh, maybe 00:05:38.122 --> 00:05:41.682 we don't know now, maybe he's not a household name there in Morgantown, but he will be this 00:05:41.682 --> 00:05:45.670 fall. Yeah, I think, well, even a guy that's here at the media today, Jaden Brave, he was 00:05:45.670 --> 00:05:49.629 our best wideout last year, got hurt in the 2nd game. So we, you know, we didn't have him 00:05:49.629 --> 00:05:54.028 all year and he's back bigger and stronger and healthy, ready to go. We got, uh, another 00:05:54.028 --> 00:05:58.309 receiver named DJ Epps who's highly productive at the group of 5 level. They had a great 00:05:58.309 --> 00:06:03.540 spring for us as well. And so we, and we have several linemen that, uh, a lot of people don't 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:07.829 know about, but they were very productive again at the group of 5 level. So I'm pretty 00:06:07.829 --> 00:06:12.069 excited that defensively, you know, we have some, You know, I think we have one guy back 00:06:12.069 --> 00:06:16.509 that started or something like that. So there's not a lot of experience, but we, we 00:06:16.509 --> 00:06:21.670 thought we increased our athleticism all across the board, uh, with our portal pickups. 00:06:21.949 --> 00:06:25.509 Are you more fired up going into the season than you were last year? Yeah, last year, I 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:31.230 mean, I was excited just to be back and, uh, but I was really, you know, nervous. About, you 00:06:31.230 --> 00:06:34.750 know, where we were at. I didn't know, you know, even the returning guys, I didn't know 00:06:34.750 --> 00:06:38.588 like who, what they were doing. And we, you know, it was, it was not the year we wanted, 00:06:38.670 --> 00:06:42.629 but we also learned a lot. That's the one thing about as, as coaches, you better got to 00:06:42.629 --> 00:06:46.670 look yourself in the mirror too. How are we doing, you know, our system, our schemes, who 00:06:46.670 --> 00:06:51.629 we got, and, and so we made a couple of changes on the staff, but, uh, I've done this 00:06:51.629 --> 00:06:57.600 long enough to know, you know, are we better than we were 6 months ago and a year ago, uh, 00:06:57.970 --> 00:07:02.449 And I don't have to look at somebody else come tell me that I can see that myself, and, and I 00:07:02.449 --> 00:07:06.488 know we're better. It seems like this has been the, uh, the summer of country roads, uh, yeah. 00:07:06.569 --> 00:07:10.528 How about that? I only caught on a little bit that our baseball team's running the World 00:07:10.528 --> 00:07:14.720 Series helped, and then now I see teams in the World Cup playing it. I think we started it in 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:20.410 2002, and I just wanted a reason for fans to stay the whole game. If we were winning, I want 00:07:20.410 --> 00:07:23.939 them to stay there and sell more concessions, right, and, and sing Country Rose, and it 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:28.079 became a neat little tradition, and now it's kind of blown up, which is. It's really neat, 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:31.600 you know, especially for our little state, you know, West Virginia, you know, we don't have 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:36.879 any pro teams, no other power 4 teams, and so West Virginia athletics is a big deal, and I 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:40.108 take great pride in being a West Virginia native. Well, hopefully they'll be singing it 00:07:40.108 --> 00:07:44.189 quite a bit, uh, yeah, absolutely. uh, Richard Rodriguez, thanks for joining us here at Sports 00:07:44.189 --> 00:07:45.798 Illustrated at the Big 12 meeting Days.