Rich Rodriguez Named West Virginia’s 36th Football Coach
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Rich Rodriguez, winner of 190 games and 12 outright or shared conference or division championships, has been named the 36th head football coach at West Virginia University, Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker announced today.
"We are thrilled to welcome Coach Rich Rodriguez and his family back home," Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said. "Coach Rodriguez understands what it takes to win at West Virginia, and I believe he will pour his heart, soul and every ounce of his energy into our program. I am convinced Coach Rodriguez wants what is best for West Virginia, WVU and West Virginia football, and I am excited about the future of our program."
The architect of the no-huddle, zone-read spread option offense started his coaching career as the youngest head coach in the nation at 24. He has spent his entire 30-plus year career, including 27 as a head coach, showcasing an outstanding resume as a coach. Rodriguez is a master tactician, innovator, developer of talent, program builder and a winner.
"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be the head football coach at West Virginia University," Rodriguez said. "My family and I are filled with gratitude to lead the Mountaineer football program again and look forward to working with the many supporters, fans, and friends to build the best football program in America! Take Me Home!"
Rodriguez has guided six different schools during his head coaching tenure, producing a 190-129-2 overall record and winning nearly 60% of his games. He has earned conference or national coach of the year honors seven times (WVIAC 1993, 1994; Big East 2003, 2005; Pac-12 2014; C-USA 2024 and NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1993). He has led his squads to eight or more wins 15 times, 10 or more wins five times and has won the conference or division championship seven times (Glenville State 1993-96, West Virginia 2003-05, '07, Arizona 2014, Jacksonville State 2022, '24).
"West Virginians always find their way home again," said WVU President Gordon Gee. "I have spoken to Coach Rodriguez, and it is clear that his time away has provided reflection and renewed appreciation for West Virginia and West Virginia University. We look forward to having Rich, his family, and his winning record back in Morgantown. I extend my thanks to Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker for his leadership in running an efficient and thorough search."
He has led his programs to 14 bowl games, including three BCS games (2006 Sugar, 2008 Fiesta, 2014 Fiesta) and two NAIA Division I playoff appearances (the championship game in 1993 and the quarterfinals in 1994). He has coached offenses that have produced 10 conference players of the year, has coached 56 NFL players and more than 30 All-Americans during his career.
Rodriguez coached arguably two of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks in the history of college football (Pat White – West Virginia, Denard Robinson, Michigan) and several other outstanding signal-callers (Shaun King – Tulane, Woody Dantzler – Clemson, Rasheed Marshall, West Virginia and Kahlil Tate - Arizona).
He returns to West Virginia after leading Jacksonville State to outstanding success, guiding the Gamecocks from NCAA FCS level to the FBS ranks over the past three seasons. The 2024 Conference USA Coach of the Year compiled a 27-10 record (three-straight nine-win seasons), earned the 2024 C-USA regular season and conference championships, won the 2023 New Orleans Bowl and had a first-place finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2022.
In 2024, the Gamecocks boasted eight first or second team all-conference members and three all-freshman team members. The 2023 season saw the Gamecocks make history under Rodriguez, becoming the first program to win a bowl game in its first season of FBS competition. In 2022, the Gamecocks posted a 9-2 record and a 5-0 mark in ASUN Conference play en route to the conference title to wrap up the school's FCS Era.
Prior to Jacksonville, he served as the associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Louisiana-Monroe, where he was new head coach Terry Bowden's choice to lead the Warhawks' offense in rebuilding after ULM suffered a winless campaign in 2020. The Warhawks improved in every offensive category in 2021. He spent the 2019 season as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss.
At Arizona, Rodriguez helped establish the Wildcats as one of the most explosive offensive programs in the Pac-12. During his tenure, Arizona tied or set more than 100 offensive school records and all-time leaders were set for career rushing and all-purpose yardage.
Rodriguez led the Wildcats to a 43-35 record and five bowl games. Arizona won the 2014 Pac-12 South Division title and advanced to the Fiesta Bowl, finishing the season with a 10-4 mark, one of just three 10-win seasons in the program's history. He was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year at the season's end.
He compiled 33 wins in his first four years with the Wildcats, the most in school history over a four-year period. The Wildcats also defeated a top-10 team and advanced to a bowl game in each of those four seasons, the only time either of those feats have happened in school history.
Prior to Arizona, he spent three seasons at Michigan, where he coached quarterback Denard Robinson. As a sophomore in 2010, Robinson set the single-season Division I FBS record for rushing yards by a quarterback and became the first player in NCAA history to pass and rush for 1,500 yards on his way to earning first-team All-America honors.
Rodriguez was 60-26 in seven seasons at West Virginia, where he won the Big East Conference championship four times (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007) and was named the Big East's Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005. The Mountaineers won the 2006 Sugar Bowl and the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.
Before accepting the position at West Virginia, Rodriguez was Tommy Bowden's offensive coordinator and associate head coach at Clemson in 1999 and 2000, when the Tigers recorded a 15-9 record over two seasons. He went to Clemson from Tulane, where he was Bowden's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 1997 and 1998. He helped lead the Green Wave to a 19-4 mark, including a 12-0 season, Conference USA Championship and Liberty Bowl victory in 1998.
Rodriguez went to Tulane after a seven-year stint as the head coach at NAIA Glenville State in Glenville, West Virginia. His Glenville State teams won or shared four consecutive West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and he was named WVIAC Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994, as well as the NAIA Coach of the Year after leading his team to a national runner-up finish.
His head coaching career started earlier than most in 1998, when Salem College made the 24-year-old Rodriguez the youngest head coach in college football after he'd served the previous two seasons as an assistant at the school.
A 1986 graduate of West Virginia and native of Grant Town, West Virginia, Rodriguez started at defensive back as a walk-on in 1981 and became a three-year letterwinner as a defensive back for the Mountaineers from 1982-84 under Hall of Fame coach Don Nehlen.
Rodriguez and his wife, Rita, have two children, Raquel and Rhett.