Rich Rodriguez radio show summary 9-22
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez appeared on his weekly radio show Monday night and here is a summary of what was said ahead of the Utah game.
–Rodriguez joked that he’s not as good as last week but the game was a tough one. Everybody takes it hard when you don’t play well, nobody harder than the coaches or the players. They weren’t physical enough and didn’t coach well. He felt the guys attitudes was good and they turned the page pretty good and understand what they have at stake with Utah coming into the game.
–Rodriguez said that he cut back on a few things in practice because he sensed they were a little tired last week in practice. He didn’t see anybody loafing but he didn’t see the same intensity against Kansas.
–Rodriguez said that the call doesn’t match the defense they’re playing or one guy makes a mistakes on offense. When you’re not dominant everything has to be aligned right. There has to be a point in time where everything doesn’t have to be aligned right and they can still make a play. But they have to be better executing than they were on Saturday. You better execute better on offense.
–Starting center Landen Livingston is questionable with a deep bruise. Cyncir Bowers has a concussion so he’s questionable. Running back Tye Edwards has a hip pointer and is questionable and they have some other guys that are banged up. He’s had some years where they lost one or two guys and that’s it but one year at Arizona they were down to their fifth quarterback and fifth mike linebacker. It was just a crazy thing.
–West Virginia has to move on and they can’t feel sorry for themselves. They can’t make excuses but outside a few players that were at Jacksonville State they don’t have any experience in the system. It’s painful but the stuff will get right hopefully sooner rather than later but is there going to be some inconsistency? He hopes not more than the past couple of weeks.
–Rodriguez has played Utah before six times at Arizona but they are doing some stuff differently now than they were back then. But right now they’re still figuring out what they can do. But they’ll have a plan ready and will be ready to go. Utah is very big and physical and they don’t try to trick you. They are physical up front and very active at linebacker and in the right spot. You have to play well and you can’t give them anything cheap and make sure you’re blocking the right people all the time.
–Right now Tye Edwards is more doubtful with his hip pointer.
–Rodriguez offered his condolences for West Virginia native Shawn Clark. He is thinking about his family.
–Today is a big game plan and prep day you’re watching your opponents. A lot of players come in the afternoon voluntarily to watch film with coaches and talk about the plays. That is always a constant. Minds are getting swamped with what they want to do, but things they have to do as well.
–You have to stick to the process but over the years of experience there is a tendency to how they practice and they have to stick to it because they’ve worked before. The process of preparing and getting your guys ready you double down on it. He has enough years of experience that he knows what it looks like and hopefully it will get there sooner rather than later. You make a few adjustments but more than anything else they have to be right mentally because it gives you a chance.
–Not nearly as many missed assignments as you would think but the physicality of it and the execution of it is another thing. You can miss five or six touchdown plays if you’re better than them but if you aren’t and you miss it’s going to cause a long night.
–Defense played really hard but gave up a couple big plays. Most of the time it was just one guy which was unfortunate. Their quarterback made some plays on his own that you just can’t practice for which is what he was worried about coming into the game.
–Fred Perry is such an aggressive guy and he leads with his head. He has to stop doing that. It’s not good football but also for health and safety of him and others.
–Utah quarterback Devon Dampier is similar to Jalon Daniels. They don’t do as much things offensively but he has changed their offense being an athletic guy and bringing the quarterback run game.
–You have to feature what every quarterback does well when they’re in the game. More and more teams are playing with 11. If you don’t have that when the quarterback will be a quick decision maker. West Virginia has to play better at all positions and they have to coach better. They’re trying to find out who can give them the most at every single position and it’s their job to put them in that spot.
–Jaylen Henderson ran well and had some nice runs but Rodriguez liked his demeanor. Khalil Wilkins also competed pretty well in the short stint that he had, too. There is nothing like experience at any position but especially at quarterback and that’s the part they are struggling the most. Everything happens a little faster at this level.
–Rodriguez said they might have to make some lineup changes depending on who’s out. If you’re not playing well and somebody can play better they’ll do that.
–Carson Lee is a big guy that is still learning.
–They can take Cam Vaughn away a little bit by putting a safety over top. They are always looking at that because he’s the most explosive guy with Jaden Bray out.
–Rodriguez has challenged the seniors a little bit so that leadership is important but it’s even more important to execute better.
–Utah is really big on the offensive line and defensive line. They have guys that have grown up in their program and he has a lot of respect for Utah.
–It’s just as much getting out of trouble in the pass plays with a mobile quarterback as what it is in the run game and the ability to extend the play. That’s what you’re seeing in the pros.
–Rodriguez felt they could have blocked two punts if they took the right angle.
–Preston Fox is a lot better and they’re hopeful he will practice at least by Wednesday and will play. Scotty Fox they didn’t have a chance to get him in but he is in their future plans for sure. The easiest way for Fox to forget what happened is to go in and play well. He is a young guy that’s learning and he has plenty of time to get that good feeling back. The biggest thing he has to get better at is understanding not only what West Virginia does but the defense as well. It’s all about eye discipline and as a young quarterback you have to look at their guys instead of your guys. When it becomes second nature when a play is called that you don’t have to think about where everybody is going to be that’s a process.
–The tempo on Saturday sucked but a big reason for that is because they couldn’t get first downs. They weren’t able to use tempo like they need to.
–Pat McAfee will be inducted into the Hall of Fame and Rodriguez said that when they were recruiting him you didn’t need to see him kick you could hear him kick.
–Rodriguez said they have around 25 players committed for the next year’s class. They’re away ahead and they will build more out of high school than portal guys but they will still recruit that. You’re going to start evaluating portal guys soon. Once the portal opens in January you have to hit it quickly. They’ll sign 30 high school guys and 7-8 portal guys to fill the roster out. Rodriguez thinks that the finances part of it is also a reason to go more heavy on high school outside of the development piece.
–Rodriguez said it depends on the league who has more money to spend on players. It’s great if you have it but it doesn’t mean you can’t find good enough players. It makes it easier to recruit from that standpoint but you can always find guys. There is less of that now though because there is so much information out and there is so many people with a vested interest. There aren’t as much hidden gems but they can get really good players. They have a great environment and great facilities. Rodriguez feels comfortable with the revenue sharing and who he’s talked to when it comes to getting help.
–Rodriguez said that if you have a business and you want to sponsor one of the players they have people that can tell you who. They want to have an earned success model. They’re running a business now and the hardest part about this is everything costs money. You don’t want somebody to come and buy your best players. You can find guys that fit your system and can be great players and can show what they can do. Then you have to retain them.
–Rodriguez dealt with agents the first month he was here but he’ll never do that again that’s why he hired General Manager Chuck Lillie.
–Rodriguez said that money is a factor but you want guys that want to play for the love of the game and to get an education. It’s a better place than they were a year ago with the rev share cap but it’s not fixed and it probably won’t be until there is some congressional involvement.
–Rodriguez said that the defensive backfield is showing improvement and are hard working. They are playing some pretty good people and are getting better. Michael Coats is one of them and has played pretty well this year.
–Rodriguez expects the ruling to pass with players getting five for five. Recruiting is nonstop and you’re doing something with it every single day. If a freshman is good enough to win with you have to get them ready to play. They’re going to have some guys that will help them immediately. Rodriguez has the mindset right now if they have freshmen to win with right now they’ll do it. The job is to recruit guys that you think will be better than what you have right now. They want to sign some guys that will help them win right now. June is the craziest month in recruiting now. That’s when they got some commitments and they’re still recruiting those guys and looking at many more.
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