Desperate times require desperate measures. The saying can serve as something of a motto for various teams going into the 2025 season. But, one Big team has stayed very true to this saying and has ultimately decided to ban TikTok from their locker rooms. So, will the team ultimately benefit from the move? Or is it just for the show? Well, let’s get into its details.

Remember the days when locker rooms were the heartbeat of any team? Players getting around their usual pre-game rituals. Coaches screaming in a bid to instill motivation in players’ minds. This was a time when the locker room used to be the social glue of teams. Don’t get me wrong; it still plays a major role. But much of that space has been taken by social media now. Players posting TikTok dances, posting updates, and mostly checking what’s going around in the virtual world. And that may be partly the reason why West Virginia Mountaineer’s Head Coach has decided to ban TikTok.

The ‘Locked on Big 12’ podcast host Drake C provided the update, “West Virginia is banning TikTok. If the United States government won’t do it, Rich Rodriguez will. He will say, Congress, I’m one step ahead of you. My football program will not have TikTok in our locker rooms.“ That’s just brutally true because the US government recently backtracked on banning TikTok after it was unavailable in the US for 1 day. 

Rodriquez, who took over the reins of the program from Neal Brown on December 11, 2024, will have his second outing at West Virginia. Naturally, the new head coach wants to create the culture from the beginning. And it started with a TikTok ban. Drake provided insight into the potential implications on other teams from Rodriguez’s move. “There’s not a lot of sports on TikTok; it’s mostly brain rot. There’s the dancing, and let’s leave all that to the Savannah Bananas, and we’ll let West Virginia focus on football. So, no more TikTok in the locker room for the Mountaineers, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other coaches who seem similar in the Big 12.”

So, does that mean other Big 12 coaches will follow suit? Well, the thing is that TikTok will not hurt anyone on the team or commercially if it is banned. Also, the coaches will have some say in regulating players’ activities that may positively affect team morale. But the question then comes: will the other social media platforms, like X and Instagram, also be getting banned?

Well, the thing is that TikTok is not something that is a priority for any team. Plus, the major consensus is that TikTok promotes addictive content that may be detrimental to players’ mental well-being, too. As for others like X and Instagram, it is not very likely they will anyway get banned. That is primarily because it’s something that acts as a bridge between fans and the teams. Also, teams are heavily invested in their social media handles on Instagram and X to boost their viewership. So, it’s not something that we will see in the future happening. Moving on, let’s analyze why the desperate move was even needed in the first place.

Was the Mountaineers’ 2024 season a disaster?

Well, Drake C provided some insight about how teams are getting more careful in instilling team mentality and maintaining culture in players. “Instill your culture from day one, which is what Rich Rodriguez is trying to do, to re-instill it. I guess down his back. It’s important to have little things like these so that the entire team can rally around football, not dancing music videos.”. And, it looks like Rodriguez also needed the move too for his team. That he came to a team that finished the season at 6-7, which is not at all good with WVU’s standards, considering they finished at 9-4 last year in the Big 12. And if that may look a little bit depressing, then there’s more.

Their defensive line had problems all over the season, added to that with their faulty QB play. You have a recipe for disaster. They also lost 4 games at home this season, which is also concerning. Of course, they had many close games, too, like their game against the Memphis Tigers in the Scooter’s Coffee Bowl. In that, they fought back a huge deficit of 17-0 and notched up 21 points in the second quarter. They even had the chance to win the game at the last minute. But it was ultimately a lost cause. Furthermore, it also seems Coach Rodriguez has a lot to do in his recruiting department. That is because…

Coach Rich Rodriguez would certainly want to improve his image following his recent controversies. There were misconduct allegations by his former administrative assistant leveled against him in 2018. Furthermore, back in 2009, his Michigan players accused him of NCAA violations and making players do extra hours. However, before accepting the West Virginia gig, Rodrigues had turned things around for Jacksonville State (two back-to-back 9-4 seasons).

What can the program do in the portal? Anthony Wilson Jr., their best player on defense, is departing for the NFL draft. Furthermore, Hudson Clement, who notched up 480 yards and 22 receptions, has transferred to Illinois. Of course, their QB Nicco Marchiol is returning, and RB Jahiem White has also shown good promise. But still, the rebuilding needs to be done very aggressively, and Coach Rodriguez has a lot on his plate right now, other than banning TikTok.