The West Virginia Mountaineers finished their 2024 season with a 6-7 record. Neal Brown was fired, and the floodgates opened again for the arrival of one of their old head coaches, Rich Rodriguez. The head coach was coming on to his second stint at the Mountaineers after serving for 8 seasons from 2001-2007. His first stint didn’t reap any returns as he finished the stint with a 60-26 record and left the team for reasons that were more than his lackluster performances. This was a head coach who was coming from Jacksonville State, leading them to three nine-win seasons and clinching two conference titles. Optimism was surely in the air.

However, Rodriguez still had his reservations about joining the team. The major reason behind his reluctance was his previous stint, which ended on a bitter note. He wasn’t allowed to give raises to his assistants, and his relationship with then-director Ed Pastilong turned ugly to the point that the two weren’t even on talking terms. Naturally, now, when he joins, he has made all the things pre-ensured so that the things Rich Rodriguez had to face earlier in his stint don’t come haunting him again.

He has joined at a salary of $3.5 million per year that will increase by 100,000 every year in a five-year deal. But he also has a buyout clause that will guarantee him 50% of the remaining salary. He joked about the clause recently in a recent media press conference. “I think across the board I haven’t been to all of our facilities now. But I know our basketball practice facility is really nice. I’m actually one of the largest donors to that facility. I don’t know if you knew that or not, (but you knew) my buyout (laughs). I don’t know if they have a plaque up or anything, though, so.”

What the head coach was pointing to the media persons was that. When his contract was accessed by the Associated Press on December 21 through a Freedom of Information Act request, there was huge media coverage on the issue. However, his donations and charity work are going unnoticed without any major media coverage. Since he donated a huge sum to the college’s basketball facility. Rich Rodriguez was talking to the media when they were asking whether he was getting requisite facilities for his football program or not. Coming on to his assistant problem, it seems he has a solution now.

Rodriguez is also quiet in the media apart from his lucrative contract. He also will have a $5 million pool of money for his coaching staff. That will also include $2.5 million for his support staff. He made sure of the inclusion in the contract to avoid any confrontation regarding the issue like earlier. The earlier stint’s decision would also have hurt Rich Rodriguez as he had turned down a $12 million contract from Alabama to remain at West Virginia, a job that would later be taken up by the legend Nick Saban. Moving on, it seems the head coach is doing more than on-field building to ensure success in his second stint.

Rich Rodriguez explains his reasoning behind the TikTok ban

Rich Rodriguez is the type of guy he is; he surely doesn’t mince his words. Furthermore, he can also do things that would seem unconventional for regular football viewers. For example, his recent decision to ban TikTok in his locker room. He has since forbidden his players from dancing on social media platforms as he considers it a distraction and disrepute to the football program the players are part of. He opened up about his decision in a recent statement about why the move was needed.

“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” Rich Rodriguez said, acknowledging the widespread use of TikTok among college athletes. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok, ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”

Rodriguez has always emphasized that excessive time spent on the platform can be channeled into different things on the field. He has time and again defended his decision and has urged them to focus on their football instead of social media stardom. Will this move work or not in instilling a positive team culture? Only time will tell. However, one thing is clear: Rich Rodriguez will leave no stone unturned this time to take the Mountaineers to their former glories.