West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez isn’t overly concerned with factors like remaining eligibility when building his roster. His main priority is simple: finding players who can help the team win.
“Just get guys that are good enough to win with,” Rodriguez said on The In the Gun Podcast.
Although the coaching staff hopes to bring in transfers with multiple years of eligibility in the future, that isn’t a requirement. The focus is on securing the best talent available, regardless of whether it comes from the transfer portal, junior colleges, high schools, or elsewhere. Due to the late coaching transition this past offseason, the team leaned more heavily on portal players, believing they offered the strongest immediate options.
That approach, however, is likely to change soon.
“Next year, we’ll have more high school guys than portal guys. Probably a lot more,” Rodriguez noted.
He feels confident about the direction of recruiting, pointing out that the program is attracting quality players. Rodriguez maintains a consistent message to recruits: while there are no promises of starting roles right away, no one is brought in to sit on the bench. Every recruit is seen as someone who can make an impact.
Looking ahead, Rodriguez envisions a younger roster that can grow together over time. The recent changes forced the team to get older quickly, but the long-term plan is to develop from within and build around a strong team culture.
“In today’s world, everything from social media to other outside influences encourages individualism. But we’re staying committed to our culture. It’s always about the team. It’s ‘we’ over ‘me,’” Rodriguez explained.
He added that the top players still want to be coached and that’s exactly what they’ll get at West Virginia.
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