Rich Rodriguez jabs opposing schools for illegally buying players in past years

From the first tenure Rich Rodriguez had with the West Virginia Mountaineers to now, the start of his second tenure, college sports have seen some massive changes. Perhaps the most notable is NIL and now revenue sharing. That has, in turn, helped to completely change recruiting.

Rodriguez knows that’s the game now. He also knows that not everyone was playing by the rules to begin with, and on The Pat McAfee Show, he took a jab at those coaches and teams who may have been buying players in the past.

“You have to ask hard questions,” Rodriguez said. “Any coach will tell you that. I think Coach [Nick] Saban said this, and I’ve been saying this the last few years. If you’re gonna buy guys, you gotta buy the right players. Right? Some schools have been buying them for years.”

Ultimately, money matters in these negotiations to get players to come to campus. However, choosing who to spend money on matters too. That’s where Rich Rodriguez believes evaluation, both of their talent and personality, is going to be vital for teams like West Virginia moving forward.

“The truth is, evaluation is always the biggest piece. People gotta realize. A five-star is probably a five-star. You’re not gonna miss on too many of those, because if you’re rated as a so-called five-star, you’re probably so dynamic that it’s hard to screw that up. But everything else is a little bit of a crapshoot if you don’t really evaluate. Not just talent, size, speed, all that kind of stuff, but does he really love football? Right now, you’re getting a lot of guys that play football in high school and college that like it, not love it. I want dudes that love it and need it. So, if you take it away from them, it bothers them,” Rodriguez said.

“I don’t want the guy that loves how many likes he gets on TikTok or whatever it is… I don’t mind if that’s a side hobby, but if how many likes he’s getting is more important than beating the block to get a sack or high-pointing the ball in a jump ball situation. Whatever the case may be. That’s the wrong dude. I want the dude who says, ‘Hey, Coach, we get to practice today.’ Not that we have to practice today. We get to. That’s what I want.”

In his first high school recruiting class back at West Virginia, Rich Rodriguez put together the 48th-ranked class in the 2025 cycle. That was good for ninth in the Big 12. Rodriguez also heavily leaned on the Transfer Portal, with better than 50 new players coming from the portal. In total, the Mountaineers have around 80 new players on their roster.

The Mountaineers are going to be tested in the 2025 season, too. That begins on August 30th when they host Robert Morris.