Rich Rodriguez stresses discipline, culture in return to Pat McAfee Show
Rich Rodriguez joined his former player Pat McAfee on The Pat McAfee Show today, and the conversation felt like a full-circle moment. McAfee, who played for Rodriguez at West Virginia, introduced him as “one of the greatest football coaches of all time” and praised the “hard edge” mentality he instilled in his teams.
Camp progress and culture shift
Rodriguez said he was encouraged by his team’s response to his demanding style during preseason camp.
“It’s a different type of challenge no matter what coach, what system you bring in,” he said. “From an attitude standpoint, a culture standpoint, I don’t think we’re a hundred percent there, but we’re a lot further along than we were a month ago and six months ago”.
He also noted the size of today’s support staff compared to his first stint at WVU. “We’re feeding 250 people every day in our building,” he joked. “When I first got here, there were 10 coaches, a few GAs and administrators, and one strength coach. Now that’s the recruiting room. You’ve got to have more people buy into the culture than ever before”.
No room for loafing
Asked about his non-negotiables, Rodriguez pointed to effort and toughness. “Don’t loaf and don’t be soft,” he said. “If you hold, you’re lazy. You’re a traitor. You play for the other team. I don’t want lazy people and I don’t want traitors”.
Rodriguez emphasized that discipline is a form of care, not punishment. “Discipline is what you do for somebody, not at somebody,” he said. “The day you start screwing up and I don’t say something to you, that’s when I gave up on you. And I ain’t giving up on nobody”.
College football’s uncertain future
When McAfee asked about the changing landscape of the sport, Rodriguez didn’t mince words. “College football is a cluster,” he said. “I think there’s a separation coming where 50 or 60 Power Four schools will have their own league. We’re running a professional league now, and as many professional rules as we can follow, we’ve got to follow that”.
He added that despite frustrations with inconsistent rules, his focus remains on what he can control. “What we can control is our guys playing really hard, playing with passion, and being disciplined”.
Offer Alert
Fall camp is here and there’s no better time to sign up with us to get all your WVU intel! Sign up today – $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic included. Join – http://gowvu.us/Join
__________________________________________
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
