The Mountaineers have had 12 winning seasons and 14 bowl appearances since Rich Rod left after the 2007 season, but \u201cCountry Roads\u201d hasn\u2019t been played often enough in recent years. During the previous six seasons, Neal Brown went 37-35. The Mountaineers had losing records in four of those six seasons, including 6-7 a year ago.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez, who was born in Grant Town, W.Va., played defensive back at West Virginia and had three previous stints on the Mountaineers\u2019 staff, is aiming to fix that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told the players (after the spring game), this is personal to me, this whole thing is,\u201d he said. \u201cI played here, coached here a couple of times. I think our guys understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rich Rod led Jacksonville State to three consecutive nine-win seasons before coming to West Virginia in December. He quickly went to work in revamping the program.<\/p>\n
In fact, West Virginia is one of the most difficult teams in the Big 12 to project this season because of the turnover. In addition to a new coaching staff, the Mountaineers brought in 52 transfers. Add in the high school recruits and there are nearly 80 new players this season.<\/p>\n
While there\u2019s a lot of talent among the newcomers, including some players who were all-conference at their previous stops, how quickly everyone meshes together will be a key to the season.<\/p>\n
![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DCC-L-CUFB-WESTVIRGINIA-01.jpg\")
West Virginia quarterback Nicco Marchiol (8) against Arizona in the first half during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo\/Rick Scuteri)<\/p>\n
Getting solid play at quarterback will help, but the Mountaineers aren\u2019t sure who will be behind center. Last year\u2019s backup, Nicco Marchiol, is back and could be the starter. He grew up in Denver and played at Regis High School for two years before moving to Arizona for his last two years as a prep. In three years at West Virginia, he\u2019s got three starts under his belt, throwing for 434 yards and five touchdowns last year.<\/p>\n
Transfers Jaylen Henderson (Texas A&M) and Max Brown (Charlotte) are also competing at QB. Both have started games, and both are at their third schools.<\/p>\n
The Mountaineers do have a star in returning running back Jahiem White, and they added some depth to that position. If the QBs and running backs can get the ground game going in Rich Rod\u2019s offense, West Virginia could be solid.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s defense gave up 31.9 points per game (109th nationally) and no full-time starters are back. That side of the ball will rely heavily on transfers coming together.<\/p>\n
Rich Rod\u2019s return could be a huge boost to the program, but with so many new faces, it\u2019s tough to figure out how good the Mountaineers can be in year No. 1. They could struggle through an adjustment period, but if the talent comes together quickly, they could be a team that pulls off a few surprises.<\/p>\n
West Virginia Mountaineers<\/p>\n
Head coach:<\/strong> Rich Rodriguez, 1st season (60-26; 190-129-2 career)<\/p>\n 2024 season:<\/strong> 6-7; 5-4 Big 12; lost to Memphis, 42-37, in Frisco Bowl<\/p>\n Series with CU:<\/strong> Tied 1-1<\/p>\n Matchup with the Buffs:<\/strong> Saturday, Nov. 8 (TBA), at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.V.<\/p>\n CB Michael Coats Jr.:<\/strong> Nevada transfer was first-team All-Mountain West last year after posting 17 passes defended \u2013 ranking second in the country. He had four interceptions, 13 pass breakups and 41 tackles.<\/p>\n DE Jimmori Robinson:<\/strong> He was the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year at UTSA last year, recording 43 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. Robinson tied for 10th nationally in sacks last year. He had 11 TFLs and 4.5 sacks as a sophomore in 2023.<\/p>\n WR Cam Vaughn:<\/strong> As a freshman at Jacksonville State last year, he was exceptional, hauling in 48 receptions for 803 yards and five touchdowns. Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State) and Ryan Williams (Alabama) were the only freshmen in the country with more receiving yards.<\/p>\n RB Jahiem White:<\/strong> Led the Mountaineers in 2024 with 844 rushing yards \u2013 the second-most among returning players in the Big 12 \u2013 while scoring seven TDs and averaging 5.7 yards per carry. As a freshman in 2023, he ran for 842 yards and four TDs, averaging 7.7 yards per rush.<\/p>\n LB Chase Wilson:<\/strong> A transfer from Colorado State, where he was twice named second-team All-Mountain West. Last year, he had 98 tackles, three tackles for loss and two interceptions. He had 234 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and six sacks in three years with the Rams.<\/p>\n Good to know<\/p>\n \u2022 CU and West Virginia have met twice before, in a home-and-home in 2008 and 2009. On Sept. 18, 2008, the Buffs upset the No. 21 Mountaineers 17-14 in overtime at Folsom Field. On Oct. 1, 2009, CU lost at West Virginia, 35-24.<\/p>\n \u2022 In the 18 years since Rodriguez\u2019s last stint at Mountaineers head coach, he\u2019s been several places. He was head coach at Michigan (2008-10) and Arizona (2012-17) before working at Mississippi (2019), Hawaii (2020) and Louisiana-Monroe (2021). He was the head coach at Jacksonville State the last three years.<\/p>\n \u2022 This is Rich Rod\u2019s 20th season as a head coach. In the previous 19, he has led his teams to 14 bowl games and 15 winning seasons.<\/p>\n \u2022 Two former CU Buffs are on the Mountaineers\u2019 roster. Carson Lee (2020-21 at CU) is projected to start at center after transferring from Eastern Michigan, where he spent three seasons. Defensive lineman Devin Grant (2021-22 at CU) comes to West Virginia after two years at Incarnate Word. He was second-team all-conference last year.<\/p>\n \u2022 Zac Alley is the new defensive coordinator, reuniting with Rodriguez after spending the 2024 season as the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. Alley and Rodriguez worked together in 2021 at Louisiana-Monroe and then Alley was the defensive coordinator for Rodriguez at Jacksonville State in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n Portal movement<\/p>\n These days, with any coaching change, there\u2019s going to be a mass amount of turnover on the roster. The Mountaineers lost 51 players to the portal and added 52. The key losses include receivers Hudson Clement (Illinois) and Traylan Ray (Mississippi), running back CJ Donaldson Jr. (Ohio State), offensive lineman Tomas Riman (Virginia Tech), linebackers Trey Lathan (Kansas) and Josiah Trotter (Missouri), and safety Jaheem Joseph (UNLV). Incoming transfers will play a significant role at just about every position, including the offensive line, where at least three transfers will start. Receiver Cam Vaughn (Jacksonville State), running back Tye Edwards (Northern Iowa) and others could make an impact on offense. Defensively, the Mountaineers will be loaded with transfers, including Robinson (UTSA), Wilson (CSU) and Coats (Nevada). Edge Braden Siders (Wyoming), cornerback Jason Chambers (Appalachian State) and safeties Fred Perry (Jacksonville State) and Jordan Walker (Chattanooga) are also potential starters. Kade Hensley (Coastal Carolina) is the new kicker after going 16-for-19 last year on field goals.<\/p>\n Originally Published: June 29, 2025 at 2:26 PM MDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Virginia head football coach Rich Rodriguez was emotional at the end of the spring game in April…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[4437,4438,4441,1428,1369,4439,1318,4440,1370,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-25479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-boulder","9":"tag-boulder-county","10":"tag-buffzone","11":"tag-college-football","12":"tag-college-sports","13":"tag-colorado","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-front-range","16":"tag-latest-headlines","17":"tag-ncaa","18":"tag-ncaa-football","19":"tag-ncaafootball","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114768807510277597","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DCC-L-CUFB-WESTVIRGINIA-03.jpg\")
West Virginia running back Jahiem White, right, runs from Memphis linebacker Elijah Herring during their game Dec. 17 in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)
\n5 Guys to Watch<\/p>\n